South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Telecommunication Operators Association (KTOA) and the Korea Cable TV & Broadcasting Association (KCTA) said on Tuesday they will begin a nationwide full survey of the use of shared electricity by internet equipment installed in apartment complexes.

In principle, service providers should pay the common-area electricity charges for internet equipment that uses shared power, such as internet distribution boxes installed in apartment complexes. But in some apartment complexes, residents end up paying the common-area electricity costs for such equipment because the entity responsible for managing shared electricity is not clearly confirmed during installation.

To address the issue, the ministry formed a task force in November last year with KTOA, KCTA and telecom operators KT, SK Broadband, LG Uplus and LG HelloVision. It conducted a pilot survey through December in some areas to confirm the responsible party by making site visits, communicating with residents and posting notices.

Based on the findings, the ministry will draw up a detailed plan including the scope, methods and procedures for the full survey, as well as compensation and measures to prevent recurrence. It will then begin a nationwide full survey. In addition to the four telecom operators, some comprehensive cable TV operators found to have unpaid common-area electricity charges will also participate, including Jeju Broadcasting, Seogyeong Broadcasting, Namincheon Broadcasting and Ulsan Jungang Broadcasting.

The survey will cover a total of 1,440,000 sites. It will be carried out by designating a lead operator at the city, county and district level. For apartment complexes with equipment installed by multiple operators, the lead operator will provide the management entity with information on which operator is subject to complaint filing and the filing procedure.

As with the pilot survey, notices will be posted on apartment entrances. Operators' customer service centres, the KTOA and KCTA websites, cooperation from related agencies including Korea Electric Power Corp and a range of publicity and guidance will also be provided.

If the management entity checks the internet equipment installed in shared terminal boxes or central communications rooms and finds it has been paying common-area electricity charges without a contract with the operator, it can file a complaint through the operator's dedicated call centre.

Once the management entity is confirmed, operators plan to compensate residents for the common-area electricity charges they have paid so far. Operators also plan to address future shared electricity use by signing contracts or changing payment methods with Korea Electric Power Corp.

KTOA will set up a dedicated centre to provide guidance on survey details and link apartment management entities so they can file with each operator. It will also build an integrated management system that enables information sharing among telecom companies to consolidate the application and complaint channels for electricity charges.

Choi Woo-hyuk, director general of the Information Security and Network Policy Bureau at the ministry, said, "Through this full survey and compensation, we will continue to manage the status of shared electricity use centred on the dedicated centre and integrated management system so that similar cases do not occur in the future."