South Korea

적자 못 벗어나는 알뜰폰...전파사용료 부과에 생존기로

ZD Net Korea | Local Language | News | Nov. 28, 2025 | Regulation

Budget phone companies in South Korea continue to face significant financial challenges, exacerbated by the increasing burden of spectrum usage fees. The Korea Association of Budget Phone Operators revealed that while budget operators started bearing 20% of these fees in 2025, this share is set to rise to 50% in 2026 and 100% in 2027. Even without paying these fees in 2024, budget operators posted a 1.5% deficit, which is expected to widen to 3.9% annually once full spectrum fees are imposed.

The survival of budget phone companies is threatened as institutional support diminishes and the business environment remains loss-making. These companies generate less than half the revenue per subscriber compared to the three major carriers, making profitability comparisons difficult. Additionally, the revenue-sharing model for wholesale rates results in a duplicated financial burden since fees paid to carriers include spectrum usage fees, placing further strain on budget operators.

Compounding these issues is the shift in wholesale rate negotiations from an ex-ante to an ex-post regulatory system starting in 2025, which disadvantages budget operators due to their weaker bargaining power compared to major carriers. This shift, along with intensifying price competition and the dominance of major carriers, raises concerns about the sustainability of competitive policies in the telecommunications market.

중국, 딥시크·알리바바 앞세워 'AI 오픈소스' 미국 추월

ET News | Local Language | News | Nov. 28, 2025 | UndeterminedTech Development/Adoption

China, led by DeepSeek and Alibaba, has surpassed the United States in the global AI open-source market for the first time. A recent study by MIT and Hugging Face indicated that Chinese AI open-source models account for 17% of new downloads over the past year, overtaking the combined 15.8% share of U.S. developers including Google, Meta, and OpenAI. This shift is seen as giving Chinese AI open source an advantage in global adoption, as open source lowers barriers for developers by allowing free downloads and modifications.

The United States' approach, shaped by the Trump administration’s push to promote open-source models reflecting “American values,” contrasts with China’s strategy. U.S. tech giants focus on developing proprietary frontier models to maintain control and revenue via subscriptions and corporate deals. While Meta initially opened models like "Llama," it has since increased efforts toward closed models for superintelligence development. Conversely, Chinese firms, encouraged by government policies and restrictions on exporting cutting-edge AI semiconductors, have accelerated open-source model development and domestic collaboration, fostering a more vibrant open-source ecosystem.

Chinese companies such as DeepSeek and Alibaba release models more frequently, often weekly or biweekly, providing a variety of options compared to the less frequent releases of U.S. firms. Techniques like model distillation, encouraged by U.S. export controls on advanced semiconductors, have led Chinese researchers to develop small but powerful models. Additionally, Chinese firms are actively progressing in AI video-generation models. Experts highlight that China has more active participants in open-source AI development than the U.S., prompting concern among U.S. analysts about China's rapid advancements in this field.

여야, 반도체특별법 사실상 합의…연내 통과 가능성 커졌다

ET News | Local Language | News | Nov. 28, 2025 | Regulation

Ruling and opposition parties in the South Korean National Assembly are close to reaching a bipartisan agreement on the Special Semiconductor Act, increasing the likelihood of its passage within 2025. The Act, fast-tracked by the Democratic Party, aims to strengthen and support the semiconductor industry ecosystem with several key provisions.

The bill includes establishing a National Semiconductor Committee, government support for infrastructure development (such as power, water, and roads), subsidies for renewable energy facility costs to meet RE100 goals, the creation of a Semiconductor Industry Support Fund, and regional cooperation projects. However, the contentious issue of labor flexibilization, specifically relaxing the 52-hour workweek for semiconductor R&D, was excluded from the bill. Instead, parties agreed to continue discussions on this matter through supplementary opinions.

The Democratic Party initially fast-tracked the bill in April without full committee debate, leading to ongoing discussions at the Industry, Trade and SMEs Committee to resolve differences. Recent coordination between committee members from both parties suggests growing consensus and positive momentum toward the bill's prompt approval. Both parties commit to further talks to finalize details before the expected legislative decision.