SK Telecom’s announcement of plans to terminate its third-generation (3G) mobile service has brought equipment replacement and cost burden issues at industrial sites to the fore. Some industrial equipment, including elevator emergency call devices, still operates on the 3G network and must be replaced with equipment supporting successor networks such as LTE.<\/p>\n
The unresolved question of who bears the equipment replacement costs \u2014 and to what extent \u2014 is also being flagged as a problem. During the government’s approval process for the 3G shutdown, transition measures for industrial lines and the scope of cost-sharing are expected to emerge as key issues.<\/p>\n
According to industry sources on the 25th, the 3G service introduced in 2003 has entered its wind-down phase. SK Telecom recently announced plans to phase out 3G service and has decided to halt new subscriptions. KT is also preparing to stop accepting new 3G subscribers.<\/p>\n
The decline in subscribers is behind mobile carriers’ move to scale back 3G service. According to wireless communications service statistics from South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT, 3G mobile phone subscription lines stood at 328,124 as of June this year \u2014 approximately 0.6% of total mobile phone subscription lines. As subscribers migrate to LTE and 5G, the need to maintain a separate 3G network is diminishing.<\/p>\n
However, the situation is different at industrial sites. Some industrial Internet of Things (IoT) equipment, including certain elevator emergency call devices, still uses the 3G network. When 3G service ends, these devices will require modem or communication equipment replacement to operate on successor networks such as LTE.<\/p>\n
A representative example is the emergency call devices in some elevators. The 3G lines installed in elevators are primarily used for emergency calls rather than elevator operations. When a passenger is trapped and presses the emergency call button, the 3G modem connected to the emergency call device automatically dials the management office or maintenance company through the mobile network.<\/p>\n
The replacement scope varies depending on the equipment. If the emergency call device is structured to accommodate a modem supporting successor networks like LTE, only the modem needs to be swapped. Conversely, equipment that only supports 3G modems and cannot be easily replaced may require replacing part of the communication device or the entire emergency call unit.<\/p>\n
The problem is cost. Who bears the equipment replacement costs \u2014 and to what extent \u2014 has not yet been determined.<\/p>\n
An industry official said, “3G is still widely used in industrial IoT lines,” adding, “Elevator emergency calls in particular are directly tied to safety, so the government is expected to demand a sufficient user protection plan from SK Telecom.” The official continued, “There is also a possibility that the government, after reviewing the user protection plan, will require SK Telecom to bear a portion of the costs.”<\/p>\n
South Korea’s Telecommunications Business Act provides grounds for ordering telecommunications operators to bear costs. Article 19, Paragraph 2 of the Act stipulates that the Minister of Science and ICT may order operators to take necessary measures, including subscription transfer assistance and cost-sharing, if the Minister determines that separate user protection is needed. However, the Act does not specify the concrete scope of cost burden, such as modem replacement costs or device installation fees.<\/p>\n
The 3G network will not be shut down immediately. For SK Telecom to terminate its 3G network, it must apply for government approval to partially discontinue its key telecommunications business. The Ministry of Science and ICT will review the application and the user protection plan. If the Ministry determines that separate user protection is necessary, it can order SK Telecom to take necessary measures such as subscription transfer assistance or cost-sharing. Approval for discontinuation is granted only after the Ministry determines there are no issues with user protection measures.<\/p>\n
The exact scale of industrial 3G lines has not been confirmed. As of June this year, SK Telecom’s total IoT lines numbered 7,191,714. However, the Ministry of Science and ICT’s statistics do not categorize IoT lines by mobile generation such as 3G, LTE, or 5G. The number of IoT lines using 3G cannot be determined from the total.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Science and ICT has indicated it will review relevant matters to prevent confusion during the transition of industrial 3G lines. A Ministry official said, “SK Telecom has expressed its intention to no longer accept new 3G subscriptions, but procedures remain, including the submission of a user protection plan,” adding, “Given that 3G is still in use in the industrial sector, we plan to closely examine the relevant details.”<\/p>\n
Regarding separate support measures for corporate lines, SK Telecom stated, “The same transition support standards applied to individual customers will apply,” and added, “Large-scale lines and special-purpose lines will be handled through separate consultations with the responsible dealerships.”<\/p>\n
Exit After 23 Years \u2014 Later Than Overseas<\/p>\n
Since its commercialization in 2003, 3G service opened the era of video calling and mobile internet. But with subscribers and traffic plummeting, the economics of maintaining the network have deteriorated. SK Telecom’s 3G subscribers fell to 134,413 as of June, and monthly data usage on 3G smartphones amounts to only about 8TB.<\/p>\n
Compared with major economies, South Korea’s 3G shutdown is late. The United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Australia have already terminated 3G service. Observers note that redirecting spectrum and investment toward LTE and 5G rather than maintaining aging networks is a natural choice.<\/p>\n
“No Disruption for the Last Subscriber”<\/p>\n
However, some point out that retiring a network and retiring users are different matters. While 0.6% of 3G subscribers may seem small from the carrier’s perspective, more than 340,000 users still use 3G mobile phones. Some users may not be familiar with transitioning to new devices and services, and special lines requiring the 3G network \u2014 such as elevator emergency calls and IoT \u2014 remain.<\/p>\n
Telecommunications services also differ from ordinary products. When an old smartphone is discontinued, a purchased device can continue to be used. In contrast, when a carrier shuts down a network, users must move to LTE or 5G whether they want to or not. Voices are emerging that sufficient notice and transition support must be prerequisites.<\/p>\n
There is a coexistence of views: that 3G has fulfilled its role, and that it is time to hand over limited spectrum and investment to LTE, 5G, and next-generation networks. Yet ending a service that has been around for 23 years does not end simply by powering down the network. Only when the last subscriber transitions to the next network without inconvenience will the farewell to 3G truly be complete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SK Telecom’s announcement of plans to terminate its third-generation (3G) mobile service has brought equipment replacement and cost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[65163,66533,29001,16460,1042,241,240,1364,66534],"class_list":["post-130677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sk","tag-3g","tag-elevator-emergency-call-devices","tag-internet-of-things-iot","tag-kt","tag-ministry-of-science-and-ict","tag-sk","tag-sk-group","tag-sk-telecom","tag-telecommunications-business-act"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}