Home » Business » [단독]Super-fast growth with SKT etc… FTC, SKB unfair support sanction deliberation initiated

[단독]Super-fast growth with SKT etc… FTC, SKB unfair support sanction deliberation initiated


[세종=이데일리 김상윤 한광범 기자] The Fair Trade Commission has initiated sanctions on charges of unfair support for SK Broadband. It is said that SK Telecom did not properly receive fees from SK Broadband while consigning SK Broadband’s broadcasting products through its agency. The FTC believes that SK Broadband, which reduced sales and management costs, quickly invaded the market and undermined competition with other telecom companies.

FTC’s corporate group bureau, SK’s first sanctions

According to the telecommunications industry on the 25th, the FTC is scheduled to hold a plenary meeting (court order) on the charges of SK Telecom’s unfair support for SK Broadband on the 3rd of next month to determine the level of sanctions. The FTC’s business group bureau, called the’big corporate killer’, conducted the investigation. This is the first time that the corporate group country has stepped up sanctions against SK Group.

SK Telecom is reselling IPTV (Internet Broadcasting) of SK Broadband, a wholly owned subsidiary, as a combined product (communication + Internet + IPTV) through SK Telecom’s agency. SK Telecom, whose main business was wireless communication, acquired Hanaro Telecom (currently SK Broadband) in 2008 and entered the Internet and cable broadcasting markets, leaving it as a subsidiary. SK Telecom devised a support method using its strong sales network in order for the latecomer, SK Broadband, to quickly pursue KT and LG U+, the first and second largest operators.

The problem is that SK Broadband did not properly pay sales fees to SK Telecom. SK Telecom, whose IPTV business is not allowed under the Broadcasting Act, consigns sales of’BTV’, the IPTV of SK Broadband, which is a subsidiary through SK Telecom’s distributors and affiliates, and receives sales commissions from related SK Broadband. The FTC believes that SK Broadband did not sufficiently pay SK Telecom for consignment sales, and was able to rapidly increase its market share while reducing sales and management costs.

Was there excessive support for SKT? The core of’commission cost calculation’

SK Broadband’s cable broadcasting subscribers surged from 1.45 million in 2012 to 5.09 million in 2019. The FTC believes that SK Broadband properly paid the sales commission to SK Telecom in 2016-2017, but did not pay the normal price for other periods such as 2012-2015 and 2018-2019. Article 23 of the Fair Trade Act (Prohibition of Unfair Trade Acts) Paragraph 7 of Paragraph 1 prohibits trading on very favorable terms while providing goods and services to specially related persons or other companies.

In order for the FTC to finalize the sanctions, it must prove that SK Telecom has supported SK Broadband under conditions that are considerably more favorable than the normal price in the market. It is known that the FTC has secured evidence that SK Telecom supported SK Broadband at the expense of a loss by comparing transactions between KT and KT Skylife. In addition, it is reported that it has been concluded that SK Telecom has advantageously supported SK Broadband even compared to the maintenance rate applied when SK Telecom signed an operating system (OS) contract with SK C&C, a system integration (SI) subsidiary in the past.

An official at a large law firm said, “It is the key to whether the FTC has properly calculated the cost for sales commissions.” “As the sales and management costs of paid broadcasting are mixed, it is difficult to separate them clearly. I said.

SK Broadband IPTV subscribers by year. (Graph = Reporter Lee Mina)

The Fair Trade Commission must also prove damage to competition through unfair support

In order for the Fair Trade Commission to sanction SK Telecom’s allegations of unfair support, it must also prove that such actions have greatly undermined the competition of rivals. In 2014, LG Uplus publicly claimed that SK Telecom’s unreasonable support for SK Broadband has shifted its dominance from the wireless communication market to the wired market, making it impossible to compete fairly.

At the time, LG Uplus said, “SK Telecom is rapidly encroaching on the fixed-line market as SK Telecom unfairly supports SK Broadband.” By using the dominance of the No. 1 wireless communication operator, LG Uplus implemented a predatory discount policy using wired/wireless combined products to increase its share. It is sticking.”

Another law firm official said, “SK Telecom has supported the growth of SK Broadband, but rather promoted competition in the pay-TV market and boosted consumer utility.” It is also necessary to look at whether the market is promoting competition.”

It is said that the FTC did not address the issue of predatory pricing policies through wired and wireless combined sales. It is considered that the effect of promoting competition is greater because service charges are lowered for combined wired and wireless sales, which is rather a benefit to consumers. In this regard, SK Telecom spared a statement saying, “There is no specific matter to be mentioned before the FTC deliberation.”

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