South Korea will not be getting a fourth mobile operator anytime soon after the local regulator rejected applications from two potential new market entrants.

According to the Korea Herald, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said on Friday it would not issue new mobile licences to either Internet Space Time (ISP) or rival new entrant, Korea Mobile Internet (KMI).

Both potential new entrants failed to secure the 70 points or higher necessary in the screening process carried out by a KCC judging committee. The panel gave 65.79 (out of a possible 100) to KMI and 63.925 to IST.

The decision means the country’s three existing mobile operators – SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus – will not face fresh competition.

KMI and IST had been hoping to launch services using WiBro technology, South Korea’s local variant of WiMAX. The failure by either to secure a licence means plans to auction new WiBro spectrum this month have been cancelled.

According to the report, IST is thought to have failed the screening process because one of its key investors – Hyundai Group – pulled out of the project last Wednesday, resulting in “a sharply reduced assessment of the consortium’s financial capability.”

Meanwhile, the report noted that KMI “did not impress the government regulators over the shareholder makeup and business implementation plans.”