This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz RM Report website at 6:04 p.m. on Aug. 24, 2026.
To lower rent for locations where mobile communication equipment such as base stations and repeaters are installed, SK Telecom(017670)·KT(030200) and LG Uplus(032640), which set price benchmarks, filed suit challenging the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC)'s penalty surcharge disposition totaling 5.8 billion won, but lost in the first trial.
The court found that the three mobile carriers, who are in effect all of the demand for renting such locations, shared rent negotiation benchmarks and restricted competition.
The Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 6-1 (High Court Judges Kim Min-gi, Choi Hang-seok and Park Young-joo) on the 19th ruled in favor of the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in the first trial of a suit by LG Uplus seeking to cancel the corrective order and other measures.
Under this ruling, the FTC's corrective order and the payment order for a 5.807 billion won penalty surcharge imposed on LG Uplus were upheld. SK Telecom and KT, which were sanctioned by the FTC for the same conduct, did not file suits to cancel the measures.
The three mobile carriers made large-scale investments from 2011 to build fourth-generation (4G) service networks. To quickly install base stations and repeaters, they offered high rents to landlords such as building owners, pushing up rents nationwide for locations where mobile communication equipment is installed.
To reduce the rent burden, the three carriers discussed countermeasures starting in 2012. From Mar. 2013 to Jun. 2019, they formed and operated consultative bodies at the headquarters and regional levels.
They shared lists of locations with high rents for base station and repeater installations and jointly set rent benchmarks to present to landlords when renewing existing contracts or signing new ones. They also established rent benchmarks in the process of newly installing fifth-generation (5G) equipment.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) found these acts to be unfair concerted actions prohibited by the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. Accordingly, in Jan. 2024 it issued a corrective order to LG Uplus and imposed a 5.807 billion won penalty surcharge.
In court, LG Uplus argued that exchanging lists of locations with high rents was merely sharing status information. It also said that because transaction conditions differ for each installation site, a rent cartel cannot be deemed to have been formed.
They also argued that the carriers' concerted actions did not cause side effects such as delays in installing mobile communication equipment or increases in phone rates. The point was that if rents fall, network buildout expenses can be reduced, which could have positive effects for consumers.
However, the court did not accept LG Uplus' arguments. It found that the three carriers sent the lists of high-rent locations to regional managers and that the managers used them in actual rent negotiations.
The average rent paid by the three carriers fell about 22%, from 5.9 million won in 2013 to 4.6 million won in 2019. The court found that the carriers' concerted actions influenced this decline in rents.
The court said, "The concerted action in this case is conduct that distorted rent price setting artificially for more than six years in a situation where the carriers accounted for 100% of the demand for renting the locations," and added, "It is clear that there is a competition-restricting effect, and it is difficult to see any different efficiency or positive aspect for consumers."
It also found that the penalty surcharge was calculated lawfully. The reason was that in calculating the penalty surcharge, the FTC had already considered factors such as it being difficult to view the carriers' unjust gains or the damage to landlords as large.
Administrative litigation challenging the FTC's corrective orders and penalty surcharge dispositions proceeds under a two-tier system in which the Seoul High Court handles the first trial and the Supreme Court handles the appeal.
An LG Uplus official said, "We will review the written judgment and consider follow-up measures."