One out of four mobile subscribers overall is not using the optional contract that allows a 25% discount on phone bills.
According to data submitted by People Power Party lawmaker Choi Su-jin, a member of the Science. ICT. Broadcasting. and Communications Committee, from the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 2nd, the three telecom companies had 11.68 million subscribers without contracts, accounting for 25.2% of the total 46.26 million.
The optional contract discount system allows a 25% discount on the basic telecom fee if a buyer did not receive a listed subsidy when purchasing a device, or if the listed subsidy support period exceeded 24 months. Users can choose to sign up for either 12 months or 24 months.
Choi noted that, from the carriers' perspective, they are effectively earning an additional 2.2776 trillion won annually from subscribers without contracts who did not apply for the rate discount benefit.
According to a survey by the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) on consumer satisfaction and usage patterns for telecom companies, last year's average monthly mobile fee per person was 65,000 won, meaning non-contract users are missing out on an average monthly discount of 16,000 won, or 195,000 won per year.
By carrier, roughly 6 million for SK Telecom, 3 million for KT, and 2 million for LG Uplus are estimated to be subscribers without contracts.
Lawmaker Choi Su-jin said, "At last year's audit, I demanded active institutional improvements from the Ministry of Science and ICT to reduce the number of subscribers without contracts, but more than 10 million subscribers still do not use the optional contract discount system, so the government needs to strengthen active publicity and notifications."
Users can check their eligibility for the 25% rate discount through the "Smart Choice" website on a smartphone or PC.