Korea Communications Commission

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC, 한국방송통신위원회) is an independent administrative commission under the Presidential Office, established on February 29, 2008 pursuant to the Act for the Establishment and Operation of the Korea Communications Commission.

KCC is operating to actively meet the ongoing trend to converge broadcasting and telecommunications triggered by the advancement of digital technology, and to provide citizens with advantageous results of the convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications as shown below.

KCC's strategic purposes are:
 * 1) To enhance user protection and public interest in the area of broadcasting and telecommunications;
 * 2) To develop brand-new services and various contents;
 * 3) To activate wired/wireless network resources; and
 * 4) To secure an environment for fair play and competition, and so forth.

Key words
convergence, broadcasting and telecommunications, wired/wireless networks, user protection

History
Initially the Broadcasting Commission was established under the Framework Act on the Press in March 1981, and later in August 1988 reorganized under the previous Broadcasting Act, and again in February 2000. In February 2008, when President Lee Myung-Bak was inaugurated, the Broadcasting Commission was reorganized again to combine the communications-related policy making and service functions of the previous Ministry of Information and Communication. The outcome was the Korea Communications Commission established pursuant to the Act on the Establishment and Operation of the Korea Communications Commission.

KCC shall carry out the following assignments:
 * To facilitate the convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications, thus enhancing the efficiency of policy implementation;
 * To ensure professionalism and accountability of both broadcasting and telecommunications, thus meeting the quickly changing environment; and
 * To consolidate the policy-making and regulatory functions, thus promoting the advancement of both broadcasting and telecommunications.

KCC is comprised of one Chairperson, one Vice Chairperson and three Standing Commissioners.

Chairperson and one Commissioner shall be designated by the President. One Commissioner shall be recommended by the ruling party while two Commissioners are recommended by the opposition parties, and all three shall be appointed by the President, respectively.

KCC's Functions
Under the KCC Act, KCC should take efforts to:
 * establish the policy to converge broadcasting and telecommunications;
 * develop and activate such convergence services and technologies;
 * formulate policy on broadcast frequencies and resources;
 * promote the competition in the broadcasting and telecommunications markets;
 * enhance broadcasting and telecommunications networks;
 * prevent adverse effect of broadcasting and telecommunications;
 * establish and enforce user protection policy; and
 * investigate unfair activities of, and mediate disputes among, broadcasting and telecommunications businesses, and so on.

KCC's Vision and Strategy
KCC will increase its visibility of development in the following strategic areas:

Early facilitation of Internet Multimedia TV (IPTV)
Under the principle of deregulation and promotion of competition, announcement and enactment of the enforcement decree, to be completed in July 2012 and full service to be provided after acquiring business registration in August and September 2012.
 * Lowering entrance barriers for large businesses : Softening the ban on large businesses’ cross-ownership in general programming and contents providers(total asset: more than 3 trillion Won → 10 trillion Won)
 * Safeguards for fair competition : Ex-ante Accounting Segregation, equal offering of electrical telecommunications equipments and contents, ex post facto evaluation of competition and restrictions on market share

A comprehensive plan to be drawn to help foster related industries such as VOD (order based video), TV shopping and public education by introducing IPTV services

Strengthened contents in response to the era of multimedia and multichannel
Comprehensive measures to transform regulations regarding market entry, programming, outsourced production, advertisements and distribution

Continuous support to be provided to expand infrastructure for SME’s contents production, nurture creative talents and broaden support for the production of quality programmers thereby strengthening self-sustainability of contents providers

Switchover to digital broadcasting in full scale
A Nationwide system called「Commission for promoting Digital Broadcasting」to be established by July consisted of government agencies, broadcasting stations and consumer electronics companies

Commission for promoting Digital Broadcasting to be formed with less than 20 members (Commissioner: Chairman of KCC)

Mid and long-term draft plan to facilitate the transition to digital broadcasting

Plans to be set up aiming at enhancing public awareness on the transition to digital broadcasting and distributing digital converters (DtoA) for low income families DtoA (Digital to Analog): An equipment enabling digital broadcasting on analogue TV

Entering overseas broadcasting communications service market
KCC has offered visions for the Internet economy and adopted "Seoul Declaration" as a desirable policy direction at the OECD ministerial meetings in June 2012.
 * Participants: total 2,278 from 70 countries including governments of 44 nations, international organizations, businesses and academies

23 bilateral meetings were held during the period with ministers and vice ministers from different nations to discuss ways to cooperate in providing broadcasting telecommunications service
 * Total 23 bilateral meetings held (15 countries, representatives of 5 international organizations, 2 from businesses and 1 from academia)

By taking these opportunities, international cooperation and policy support to be enhanced for overseas expansion of domestic broadcasting telecommunications services including WiBro and DMB

Network advancement including Gigabit Internet service
Continued network upgrading by introducing Gigabit internet which is 10 times faster than the current service

Broadband Convergence Network (BcN) to accommodate 21.3 million subscribers by the end of the year(17.74 million subscribers as of April 2008) with expanded service quality control system

Gigabit internet access was offered for apartment dwellers in some of the large of large cities on a trial basis enabling them to download 2 hour-long movie clip within just 12 seconds (Dec. 2008)

Mid and Long-term Development Plan for Broadcasting Telecommunications Network 2012 is supposed to show a strategy for upgrading broadcasting and telecommunications network in response to the convergence of broadcasting/telecommunications and wire/wireless networks.