The Ministry of Science and ICT and Stage X are continuing their “blame you” battle over the cancellation of Stage X’s “fourth transfer” candidate status. This is because Rep. Lee Hae-min argued that it was impossible for new operators to allow “network joint use (roaming) obligations.”
The Ministry of Science and ICT said on the 4th, “We did not cancel the selection of Stage X’s 4th mobile carrier because of legal advice that new operators cannot allow roaming obligations,” adding, “The reason for the cancellation is that the nature of the company was different from that of the corporation in the business plan.”
The remarks were made in response to Lee Hae-min, a lawmaker of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, who said, “The cancellation of Stage X’s candidate status for the fourth mobile carrier was due to legal advice that new operators cannot allow roaming obligations.” The Ministry of Science and ICT argues that Stage X’s insolvency is the reason for the cancellation of the fourth mobile carrier as before.
After Rep. Lee Hae-min’s claim was raised, Stage X turned the arrow on the government. Stage X said, “We trusted the government’s support measures and plans for new businesses, including the telecommunications competition promotion policy in July 2023 and have been preparing for the business based on them. I think there is no problem with mutual roaming with other companies as Stage X’s winning 28GHz is for mobile communication.”
“We continued to have roaming discussions with multiple MNO operators,” a Stage X official said. “We were in the process of going through in-depth discussions to the extent that we were about to select a preferred bidder.” They claim that they carried out the project as planned by the government.
Experts point out that the roaming issue cannot be a decisive factor in canceling the fourth transfer. Han Seok-hyun, head of the Seoul YMCA’s civic broadcasting office, said, “I don’t think the roaming issue was the decisive factor in the cancellation at a time when there were already bigger problems such as financing and shareholder composition.”
Some point out that the government has brought the current situation on itself. “Roaming may be a part of the problem among many problems, but it should be considered that the Ministry of Science and ICT caused the situation in the first place,” said Ahn Jung-sang, an adjunct professor at Chung-Ang University’s Graduate School of Communication and a former senior expert on broadcasting and information communication at the Democratic Party of Korea. “It is questionable why the issue of frequency allocation was entrusted to legal advice. As it was initially announced that it would provide various benefits to new operators, there have already been signs of causing various problems such as roaming since then.”
Rep. Lee Hae-min, who caused the “I blame you” battle between the Ministry of Science and ICT and Stage X, criticizes the government and Stage X at the same time.
Representative Lee Hae-min said, “The government has pushed for the introduction of new businesses without proper preparation, but since legal advice says that roaming obligations are not allowed, we are announcing the cancellation of candidate status and taking care of it,” adding, “Stage X still has a fanciful dream of roaming the existing business network to save duplicate investment costs and lower people’s fares.”
With the Ministry of Science and ICT and Stage X avoiding each other’s responsibility, the results of the hearing just before the cancellation of Stage X’s fourth transfer are still foggy.
Currently, the Ministry of Science and ICT is still waiting for a record containing the final opinion of the hearing presiding officer on Stage X’s hearing. Earlier, the Ministry of Science and ICT held a hearing on June 27 and listened to Stage X’s position before issuing the final cancellation.
If a hearing presiding officer, who is held by a person in a related field such as a professor or a person with expertise, hears opinions from the Ministry of Science and ICT and submits a record containing the final opinion, the Ministry of Science and ICT will review it and make a final disposition.
An official from the Ministry of Science and ICT said on the same day, “We are currently waiting because a record containing the final opinion of the hearing presiding officer has not come.”
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