A meeting was held to assess the state of mobile device distribution in the mobile telecommunications market and to hear directly from consumers to strengthen user rights.

The Broadcast Media Telecommunications Commission held talks on Feb. 23 with representatives of major consumer groups, including the Korea Consumer Federation and the Korea Women Consumers Association, to discuss user protection issues in the telecommunications market.

As it moves to formulate and implement measures to create a sound device distribution environment, the commission held the meeting to understand market changes from the user perspective and to prepare steps to strengthen user rights.

The commission has been operating a prior consultative body involving experts, stakeholders and related associations following last year’s repeal of the handset subsidy law and amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act. The Korea Consumer Federation and the Korea Women Consumers Association have participated in the consultative body and discussed user protection measures.

At the meeting, consumer groups said it was hard to feel the effects of the handset subsidy law repeal, such as more active subsidy competition among carriers, amid a muddled market situation following last year’s incidents of infringement at telecommunications firms. They also stressed the need to provide transparent information in the telecommunications market and prevent unfair practices.

The groups said telecommunications fees and subsidy payment conditions are complicated, raising concerns about harm to information-vulnerable groups, and called for improved sales transparency, including accurate subsidy information. They also stressed the need for stronger policies to report and support cases of harm, measures to increase choice in rate plans and devices, and tighter management and supervision to prevent false and exaggerated advertising.

Kim Jong-cheol (김종철), chairman of the commission, said it plans to separately form a consultative body that includes consumer groups to improve policy effectiveness during implementation. He urged them to broadly convey critical feedback on the policies and the views of users in the field.