Prime Minister Chung Hong-won vowed Wednesday to impose “heavy” penalties on local mobile carriers after their retail dealers sold the newly-launched iPhone 6 in overnight pop-up sales last week in breach of a new handset sales law.
Over the past weekend, buyers lined up in queues overnight in front of a handful of retail mobile handset shops which offered the iPhone 6 at a price far lower than those allowable under the newly enacted handset distribution law.
The law took effect from the start of October to restrict financial subsidies that retail dealers provide to some select handset buyers, with an aim to increase transparency in the market.
During the weekend pop-up sales, the retail shops illegally doled out financial subsidies for iPhone purchase in order to entice more wireless service users.
“After thoroughly investigating (illegality of the weekend sales), I will order (officials) to issue the heaviest penalty possible, including fines,” Prime Minister Chung Hong-won said in a parliamentary interpellation session.
Chung called the weekend illegal handset sales “very deplorable,” as he pledged to punish the three local wireless service firms for spurring such illegal handset sales.
Chung, however, said the government has no plans to directly intervene in the wireless service market, despite users’ criticism over expensive service fees.
“I have no intention to defend (mobile) conglomerates, but the government does not plan to directly, actively intervene in (setting mobile service) prices,” Chung noted, adding that the government will try to take policies to induce quality enhancement and price reduction.
Chung said it is too early to judge, but the new handset law also had some positive results one month after its enactment.
The prime minister’s comment came after the communications watchdog Korea Communications Commission and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning also gave a stern warning to the three mobile carriers — SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Inc.– over the payment of illegal subsidies. (Yonhap)
