South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) penalised the country’s three major mobile operators a combined KRW114 billion ($78.5 million) for illegal handset promotions and colluding to keep sales incentives at similar levels, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The commission reportedly fined SKT KRW42.7 billion, LG Uplus KRW38.3 billion and KT KRW33 billion.

South Korea’s trade regulator determined the companies agreed to work together to stabilise subscriber churn, with an operator reducing incentives when additions rose and raising them when new users declined, the news service stated.

The FTC alleged the operators coordinated to monitor net increases and decreases on a daily basis to avoid fluctuations between November 2015 and September 2022.

In October 2024, the FTC faced a standoff with the Korea Communications Commission over penalties relating to handset promotions.