[Digital Today reporter Jin-ho Lee] "I believed there should not be a situation where people cannot use even basic data services in the AI era."

Gu Hee-seon (구희선), a director at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said this in an interview with Digital Today. The ministry in April announced the "direction for revamping pricing plans of the three mobile carriers to guarantee basic communications rights." Gu, who now heads the OTT and Platform Policy Team in the Telecommunications Policy Competition Division, handled the working-level tasks for the policy while serving in the Telecommunications User System Division.

The core is to apply a "data safety option (QoS)" to all LTE and 5G data plans of the three mobile carriers without separate price increases and to expand voice and text allowances for users aged 65 and older. The aim is to ensure users can still access basic services needed in daily life, such as messaging apps and map searches, even after they use up all their data, and to improve communications access for older people.

Gu has continued consultations with the three mobile carriers since last year, persuading operators and coordinating carrier-by-carrier interests to build the framework for the revamp. Recognised for this contribution, she was recently selected as one of the main awardees of the ministry's third Special Performance Reward scheme. She also received a commendation from the deputy prime minister, who is also the science minister, along with a 10 million won reward.

◆"If you use up your data, you get cut off... Basic services must be guaranteed"

Gu focused on the communications environment after data is exhausted. Some plans did not provide a safety option that allows continued data use at reduced speed after the included data is used up. It was a structure in which users could bear additional costs or face restrictions on data use. As of January this year, lines among the three carriers' subscribers that did not receive the safety option totalled 7,170,000.

Gu said it was an environment in which internet use could be cut off unless additional fees were paid after all data was used. She said the first goal was to create an environment where basic services such as KakaoTalk or Naver can be used in the AI and digital era.

That is also why the revamp was approached not as a simple expansion of plan benefits but as an issue of "basic communications rights." Communications has become an essential means connecting daily life broadly, from finance and transport to maps and messaging, beyond voice calls and texts. The direction the government presented was to eliminate blind spots where even access to basic data becomes difficult depending on the subscribed plan.

As a result, the data safety option will be applied to all LTE and 5G data plans of the three carriers. Even after using up all data allowances, users can use data at about 400 kbps, enabling basic services such as messaging and map searches. The measure applies not only to newly launched plans but also to existing plans that previously did not have the safety option.

The revamp direction also includes simplifying the roughly 250 LTE and 5G plans combined across the three carriers to less than half and preparing 5G plans in the 20,000 won range. It also proposed letting young people and seniors automatically receive additional benefits based on age without having to seek out and sign up for separate dedicated plans.

◆More benefits mean burdens for carriers... Final plan prepared after over a year of talks

The policy goal was clear, but turning it into reality was not easy. Mobile pricing plans are not an area the government can change unilaterally. Cooperation from operators that design the actual plans and provide services is essential. Gu said it was an area that required operators' cooperation, not something achieved only by changing laws or systems, and that talks with the three carriers alone took about 1 year.

In particular, there were significant differences between the government and operators over expanding the scope of the safety option. If expanded, subscribers who use up all their data may be less likely to use separate add-on data services or move to higher-tier plans. Because expanding user benefits could affect operators' profitability, the consultation process was accompanied by difficulties.

The speed level under the safety option was also subject to consultations. The ministry considered a higher speed than at present, but after discussions set 400 kbps as the minimum guaranteed level. The judgment was to first guarantee a level that allows basic services such as messaging and map searches, and then potentially raise the speed in stages depending on future conditions.

Gu said she explained to operators the broader cause of the policy, which is "guaranteeing basic communications rights." She said communications is a basic means of daily life in the AI and digital era, and that discussions continued from various perspectives, including the benefits to users and the role and responsibilities of communications operators.

Gu cited the nature of telecommunications policy as a service for the public. Even a single change to fees, data allowances, or subscription and cancellation systems directly affects people's lives and household communications costs. At the same time, it changes carriers' cost and revenue structures. That is why the government must examine both user convenience and impacts on the market.

She said praise and criticism always coexist in telecommunications policy, and that she works by reviewing every matter one, two and several more times. She said she is always cautious because it deals with services that touch the public directly.

◆"It was not a result I made alone... Rewards for achievements become another challenge"

The Special Performance Reward scheme provides compensation to public officials who deliver outstanding results and encourages innovation in the public service. President Lee Jae-myung also in a cabinet meeting last December called for appropriate rewards for public officials who deliver outstanding results.

The ministry has continued to implement the scheme, starting with the first round in February this year. In this third round of awards, Lee Jeong-eun (이정은), a junior official who analysed the status of mobile pricing plans and managed follow-up measures, also received an award. Separately, Heo Ji-su (허지수), a deputy director, and Kim Mi-mi (김미미), a division director, were also selected as awardees for results from actively using AI specialised for the research and development budget review process.

Gu emphasised that this award was not a result she made alone. She said everyone worked together to produce these results, from junior staff and colleagues to the division director, bureau and office heads, the vice minister and the deputy prime minister. She added that she felt rather sorry to receive the award as a representative and credited those who pushed the policy together.

Gu said she viewed the reward system as something that can lead to another challenge in the public service.

She said she has been a public official for more than 10 years, and that the existence of a chance to reward achievements like this and publicise them externally is motivating in itself. She stressed that she hoped the reward system would continue for a long time and create an atmosphere in which junior officials can actively pursue policies and produce results.