LG Uplus rolled back, after three months, its policy of excluding low-cost plans in the 20,000–30,000 won range from "bundle discounts" as it launched new unified plans. The unified plans were introduced to lower telecom bills, and the move came after continued criticism that excluding low-cost plans from bundle discounts was steering customers to higher-priced plans.
According to the industry on the 31st, LG Uplus, starting on the 27th, allowed users of ▲ Data Plan 300MB (28,000 won) ▲ Data Plan 750MB (29,000 won) ▲ Data Plan 1.5GB (33,000 won) to use bundled products. Subscribers to these plans can now sign up for three bundle products: "Very easy family bundle," "Very easy cable family bundle," and "U+ family infinite love."
LG Uplus in June launched unified plans that combine 5G (fifth-generation mobile) and LTE (fourth-generation mobile), and at that time made all bundle discounts unavailable for low-cost plans with monthly fees in the 20,000–30,000 won range.
A bundle discount means getting a discount by combining a family's mobile and internet bills when they use the same carrier. The unified plans are a policy the government encouraged to lower household telecom bills, and the three carriers revamped their lineups to unify 5G and LTE and to make the data safety option (QoS) standard. QoS means that after using up the data allowance, data can be used for free at a lower speed.
After the plan overhaul, complaints emerged among civic groups and users that LG Uplus blocked subscriptions to bundle discounts under the unified plans that had applied to existing plans. If bundle discounts are not available, the expense a user must pay increases even if they use a plan at the same price. For example, LG Uplus' existing "LTE Data 33 (33,000 won)" plan allowed discounts of 2,200 won per person when two people bundled and 4,400 won per person when four people bundled through "Very easy family bundle," but the new Data Plan 1.5GB (33,000 won), which has virtually the same price and benefits, could not use the bundle products.
The Peoples Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), in a public inquiry sent to the Ministry of Science and ICT on July 30, noted that LG Uplus excluded low-cost plans from bundle discounts and said, "It is openly pursuing a policy to steer users to high-priced plans." It added, "Aside from reducing subscriber confusion by unifying the complex LTE and 5G plans, the unified plans have minimal effect on lowering fees, and rather, due to the reduction of bundle discounts carried out under this pretext, there is a significant concern that the burden of household telecom bills will expand further."
On online communities, some said, "Didn't the government and the three carriers launch unified plans and create low-cost plans with the goal of cutting household telecom bills?" and voiced dissatisfaction that "LG Uplus blocked only the low-cost plans among the new plans from subscribing to bundle products, which is an indirect rate increase that runs counter to the government's intent to reduce telecom bills."
In response, LG Uplus changed its policy to allow bundle discounts for low-cost plans among the unified plans. A LG Uplus official said, "We allowed these plans to subscribe to bundle products to increase the number of people who receive bundle discount benefits."
Meanwhile, carriers are showing a trend of reducing bundle discount benefits. Bundle discounts were introduced to prevent customer churn and encourage long-term subscriptions by linking family or internet lines, but as average revenue per user (ARPU) stagnated, they are trimming bundle products with large discounts to defend profitability. SK Telecom stopped new subscriptions this month for "T-kiri whole family discount," which discounts mobile bills based on a family's total subscription years. It is SK Telecom's representative bundle product that gives a 30% monthly discount on the bills of all members if the family's total mobile and internet subscription years are 30 years or more. KT also stopped adding new lines last month to "customized bundle," which allowed discounts of up to 50% on basic mobile rates (when five lines are bundled).