A South Korea-based consortium led by messaging giant Kakao has won a bid for 5G spectrum in the 28GHz band, paying more than double the amount spent by each incumbent in 2018 and emerging as the country’s fourth mobile player. did.
The Ministry of Science, Technology, Information and Communications (MIST) announced that Stage X Consortium paid 430.1 billion won ($325.1 million), more than Sejong Telecom. The group is made up of cocoa unit Stage Five and other local companies.
The auction was conducted after MIST canceled the five-year spectrum licenses of SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus for failing to meet mandated base station deployment targets in the 28GHz band. The operator achieved the goal in his 3.5GHz band, which is subject to a 10-year license.
In 2018, South Korea generated 622.3 billion won from 28GHz spectrum in one of the world’s first 5G auctions.
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More than half of its subscribers, about 32 million people, have moved to 5G plans.
The three current carriers have struggled to grow their mobile service revenue and recorded modest increases in ARPU since launching 5G services in 2019.
Mark Einstein, chief analyst at research firm ITR, said: mobile world live A fourth entrant is struggling in Japan, China and Singapore. “Unless regulations such as infrastructure sharing are put in place to facilitate market access, cocoa will face a similar struggle. It will not be easy.”
The government has been pushing for more competition and lower prices in recent years, and new entrants are supporting the government’s policies, he added.
