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| SK텔레콤 (사진=SK텔레콤) |
[Alpha Biz=(Chicago) Reporter Paul Lee] The Supreme Court ruled that SK Telecom's support of a portion of Internet TV (IPTV) sales fees to its subsidiary SK Broadband constitutes unfair economic support.
The second division of the Supreme Court (Supreme Court Justice Lee Dong-won) announced on the 1st that it has rejected the original trial that ruled against the plaintiff in an appeal to cancel the disposition of corrective orders and fines filed by SK Telecom and SK Broadband against the Fair Trade Commission.
In March 2021, the FTC said that SK Broadband provided SK Telecom with a commission for the sale of IPTV products through SK Telecom's agency from 2016 to 2019, and imposed a correction order and a fine of 3.2 billion won on SK Telecom and SK Broadband, respectively.
SK Broadband should pay IPTV product fees.
"SK Broadband intended to use SK Telecom's influence to secure competitiveness in the IPTV market," the Seoul High Court said. "SK Telecom provided excessive economic benefits to SK Broadband through support activities."
Based on the number of subscribers, SK Telecom is the No. 1 mobile carrier and SK Broadband is the No. 2 paid broadcaster.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
