Telecom operators will be required to analyse users' data usage patterns and regularly notify them of the best rate plans.

On March 24, the Ministry of Science and ICT said the cabinet approved amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act reflecting those measures. The amendments combine 12 bills introduced by lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties.

Key measures include a requirement for telecommunications operators to analyse users' charges and usage patterns and regularly notify them of optimal rate plans. They also add grounds for registration cancellation and business suspension if many improper activations occur due to lax management and oversight of agencies and retailers. During identity checks, operators must inform users of the illegality of burner phones and the risks of criminal misuse. The amendments also mandate operation of user protection manuals to prepare for security incidents and provide a legal basis for the ministry to order measures in emergencies.

The amendments will take effect 6 months after promulgation. The ministry plans to swiftly draft subordinate regulations by communicating with the industry, experts and consumer groups.

Choi Woo-hyuk (최우혁), head of the ministry's Information Security and Network Policy Office, said, "We will implement the optimal rate plan notification system without a hitch to ease households' communications cost burden, and do our utmost to eradicate livelihood crimes using burner phones and protect the public from cyber threats."