The launch schedule for the government’s planned LTE-5G integrated pricing plan aimed at encouraging lower telecom fees is uncertain. Talks between the government and the mobile industry have dragged on over the level of data safety option (QoS) coverage. With the launch delayed by nearly a year from the original notice, debate is also spreading over the plan’s effectiveness.

The Ministry of Science and ICT is holding final-stage talks with the three mobile carriers, SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus, over the launch, the industry said on Feb. 9. The integrated plan is a product that lets users choose prices based on data volume or transmission speed without distinguishing between LTE and 5G technologies.

The integrated plan originally targeted a launch last year. At a parliamentary audit in October 2024, lawmakers pointed out a price reversal in which some LTE plans cost more than 5G plans. Kim Young-seob (김영섭), CEO of KT, attended the audit and said the company would launch an integrated plan as soon as possible to address the issue.

In November that year, the ministry held a meeting with the heads of the three carriers and discussed launching the integrated plan within 2025. At the time, the ministry signalled a plan for KT to launch first in the first quarter of 2025, followed by SK Telecom and LG Uplus.

But the launch has been delayed by more than a year beyond the announced schedule. The ministry is known to be in talks with the three carriers on applying a minimum 400 Kbps QoS even in low-priced plan ranges. QoS allows users to keep using data at limited speeds without extra charges after they use up their basic data allowance.

The industry sees a prolonged tug of war between a government seeking to encourage lower telecom bills and carriers worried about worsening profitability. If QoS coverage expands, users on high-priced plans have more incentive to switch to cheaper plans. A 400 Kbps speed is slower than basic 5G data, but is sufficient for messenger use or web searches. If QoS coverage expands to plans in the 10,000 to 20,000 won range, it would effectively create a low-priced unlimited plan effect.

With the telecom market saturated, the industry says a decline in average revenue per user (APRU) would be a foregone conclusion if QoS expands even to low-priced plans. An industry official said, "We agree with the purpose of reducing household telecom bills, but if QoS expands, there is a high possibility that customers on high-priced plans will switch to cheaper ones." The official added, "There is no specific plan yet, but it is a burden because we also have to recalculate network operations such as traffic forecasts."

Debate is also growing over the effectiveness of the integrated plan. Some analysts say the price reversal problem could be resolved without creating a new plan. That is because cross-subscription between 5G and LTE is already allowed, and the three carriers have stopped taking new sign-ups for LTE plans that are more expensive than 5G plans.

President Lee Jae-myung (이재명) previously pledged, as a presidential candidate, to introduce a data safety plan for all citizens. The government policy task section on "reducing the burden of people's living costs" also presented a plan to fully introduce QoS across all pricing plans. A ministry official said, "We are at the stage of coordinating in advance with the three carriers (on a specific integrated plan) in line with the government's policy direction."