통신사업자의 경품지급 및 차별적 요금할인행위 등의 규제에 관한 연구

Abstract

The Korea telecommunication markets are considered relatively competitive due at least in part to deregulation and privatization policies since the early 1990's. Nowadays it is common for telecommunication companies to grant free gifts or rebates and selective price discounts to users for promotion purposes. Those practices have been regulated by competition laws as well as telecommunication laws in many countries including Korea. Formerly, competition laws tended to regulate them harshly but this trend has changed drastically. For example, the Korea Fair Trade Commission amended the 'Free Gift Notice'in 2009 to abolish maximum limits on free gifts granted to consumers. One the other hand, price discriminations among telecommunication service users have been traditionally prohibited in many countries. The Korea Telecommunication Business Act and the law enforcement practices of the Korea Communication Commission seems to be one of the traditional strict regulatory approaches to selective price discounts and other promotion practices having similar discriminatory effects on users. However, such legislation and law enforcement should be reconsidered and move towards more relaxed approaches. The analysis of relevant common law and recent regulatory policy developments in leading countries shows that selective price discounts and promotion practices having similar effects may be pro-competitive and increase consumer welfares as well.