• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.493-499
• /
• 2015

In Korea mobile phone subscribers exceeded 1 million people in 1995, and ten million people in 1998. Prevalence of the mobile phone increased dramatically over 110% compared to the population. Almost every family members including children uses more than one mobile terminal. Mobile phone is obviously more necessary good than washer, vacuum cleaner and passenger car. Our daily life are conveniently positioned with mobile communication, but communication related costs including the price of the device and service charges become a big burden on the household. But the government does not seem to do the right role at the right time to prevent the market failure to maximize consumer welfare and social welfare through supporting fair competition. This principal-agent problem issues of mobile communication policies will be understood in perspective of public choice against joint use of the mobile communication network, number portability, separation of phone distribution and phone service, network neutrality, mobile phone subsidy since the early 1990s when mobile phone service was introduced in Korea.