국내⋅외 주요 이동통신 사업자의 이용약관 비교 분석: 기기 보조금 및 위약금을 중심으로

초록

It is not only the price of plans that affects competition and welfare, but also the various aspects of mobile contracts, from signing to termination. In this study, we collect and compare the major mobile operators’ service contracts from six major mobile operators (Korea, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Australia), focusing on device subsidies and early termination fees. First, we found that the contracts offered by major mobile operators in Korea and abroad are similar in terms of the data-centered structure of plans, and that there are small differences in the details, not enough to make the consumers’ experience of each country significantly different. In the case of device subsidies, we found that while there are some cases (Telstra in Australia and Orange in France) that offer discounts on handsets based on certain plans and contract periods, they are not as active as in Korea. While penalties remain, there are differences in the structure of penalties among operators, and, with the exception of the UK and Korea, we observed a trend toward more no lock-in contracts for high-end plans (US, France, Australia), smaller penalties (Japan), and more penalty-free terminations (France). However, we also observed cases where handset subsidies were used to create switching costs that effectively amounted to penalties without explicit penalties (Orange) or to increase other types of tariff-related change fees (Verizon). This appears to be a result of carriers attempting to reinforce their profitability by increasing non-salient costs in response to competition, rather than a consequence of their monopolistic position. These findings may be instructive for domestic policies that are still mostly focused on the prices of plans.

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