5G CONNECTION DISRUPTION COMPLAINTS

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The number of 5G mobile service is predicted to surpass 20 mn this year. Complaints over connection disruptions remain. Mobile service providers say they have no legal obligation to compensate users. Compensation is paid only to a paucity of users.

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This 5G mobile service map is posted on the website of a mobile service provider. It says 5G signals are available across all areas of Seoul and the greater Seoul area. But in reality they are oftentimes either severed or switched to LTE inside buildings and in the basement. This customer who subscribed to a 5G mobile service plan late last year experienced the same conundrum. He raised the issue with his mobile service provider multiple times because his phone could not catch 5G signals indoors. But the service provider said he had been warned of signal disruptions when he was subscribing to the service and gave his personal consent. His signature on a paper that he received when subscribing to the service had been fabricated by the mobile service center staff.

[Soundbite] (5G service subscriber) : "They wrote my family name only. No one writes their surname like this. I can tell at a glance it’s not my handwriting."

As the customer filed a complaint with the Korea Communications Commission, the mobile service provider offered a compensation of 300,000 won in return for withdrawing his complaint. It has been confirmed that mobile service providers have paid compensation in more than ten cases since 2019, but in reality there could have been more. Last year more than 2000 complaints regarding the 5G mobile service were received by a consumer protection group. Some consumers even filed action lawsuits this year. Consumers and civic groups are demanding official regulations on compensation, because mobile service providers pay compensation only to those who file complaints via public agencies.

[Soundbite] Ahn Jin-keol(People’s Livelihood Economy Research Institute) : "Mobile service providers remain alert to any complaint they receive, because the Ministry of Science and the Korea Communications Commission have the authority to devise regulations and policies and supervise the matter. If so many complaints have been filed, the government must devise measures on refunds, compensation and fare discounts."

As more and more consumers are subscribing to the 5G service, the nation’s three mobile service providers posted sales of more than 5 trillion won in the second quarter alone.