The domestic telecom industry has pushed back against an analysis by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications claiming that mobile communication plans in Seoul are the most expensive in the world, calling it "an arbitrary comparison made to produce results favorable to Japan."
On the 27th, the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association (KTOA) stated that there are issues with the objectivity of statistics regarding data released by Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications comparing mobile communication fees across six major countries.
According to the data previously released by the ministry, 4G and 5G communication fees in Seoul are the highest when compared with those in six major cities: Tokyo, Japan; New York, USA; London, UK; Paris, France; and Düsseldorf, Germany.
Based on 4G plans, consumer payments for SK Telecom in Seoul amounted to 6,916 yen (approximately 59,760 won), which is higher than Verizon’s rate in New York (6,684 yen). Compared with London (3,259 yen) and Tokyo (2,974 yen), the fees were found to be more than double.
In response, KTOA refuted this by stating that "the selection of plans and comparison criteria were arbitrarily applied to derive results favorable to Japan."
According to KTOA, Korean consumers have been able to subscribe to both 4G and 5G plans interchangeably since 2023, and integrated fee plans were introduced starting last July. For users on 4G plans with a monthly data allowance of 20 gigabytes (GB), there is also the option of plans priced around 42,000 won. Nevertheless, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications substituted older, more expensive plans into its calculations, resulting in the conclusion that Korean fees are the highest among the six countries.
The ministry also claimed that it excluded additional charges for voice calls and text messages during its fee calculation process, significantly distorting the results.
Among the six countries surveyed, five excluding Japan offer unlimited voice and text services, whereas Japan imposes separate fees based on usage volume for these services. However, KTOA argues that by excluding these costs in its calculations, the ministry underestimated fees by at least 2,000 yen (approximately 20,000 won).
Furthermore, the association noted that the survey included special plans such as low-cost and standalone plans, which are typically excluded from international communication fee comparisons, thereby undermining objectivity and credibility.
KTOA added that if Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications were to address the flaws in its criteria and recompare mobile fees across the six countries using consistent standards, Japan’s ranking would drop to between fourth and sixth place, while Korea’s fees would shift to a mid-to-lower range, placing it third or fourth among the six nations.
KTOA emphasized that "since (Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications) has officially acknowledged the limitation of not sufficiently considering factors such as service provision areas and communication quality in international fee comparisons, it is necessary to avoid applying arbitrary criteria when comparing communication fees."
in TECH
