The South Korean regulator has backed the government’s calls for lower mobile voice prices in the country in what is being reported as a blow to South Korea’s three main mobile operators. According to a Korea Times report, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) is mulling a number of policies intended to force the operators to offer cheaper calls, with some of the measures scheduled to be put into effect as early as October. “We will keep an earlier promise pledged by the South Korean president Lee Myung-bak to cut mobile rates by 20 percent by the latter half of 2010,” KCC chairman Choi See-joong told lawmakers in a meeting of the National Assembly’s cultural and telecommunications committee last week. He added that the KCC was talking to “market experts and companies to come up with reasonable measures” to enforce the cuts and would provide further information regarding its plans early next month.

Choi had earlier said that the KCC is considering a variety of ways to force rate cuts, including banning handset subsidies in exchange for cheaper rates, expanding prepaid plans and allowing the introduction of MVNOs into the market. He also accused the country’s operators of spending “excessively” on marketing and noted that marketing expenses by operators rose 28 percent last year, according to government figures. “Although marketing costs by local telecom companies were higher than those in developed countries, the qualities of telecom services didn’t see a significant improvement as the operators had been working with a saturated market,” a KCC official told the newspaper. Spokespeople for the country’s three main operators – SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom – were unavailable for comment.