[Edaily Reporter Yun Junghoon ] “My elementary school-aged child kept watching YouTube without realizing they had used up their prepaid mobile plan’s basic data allowance, and ended up paying tens of thousands of won in overage charges.”

This is a common complaint heard among budget mobile plan users. Although they signed up for these plans to save on communication costs, it was all too common for them to be charged steep overage fees per MB—or have their data completely cut off, leaving them unable to communicate—the moment they exceeded their included data allowance, even by a small amount.

Going forward, budget mobile users will be able to use communication services without worrying about exorbitant overage charges or sudden data cut-offs.

This is because the government’s newly announced “MVNO 2.0 Revitalization Plan” will significantly open up the “Data Peace of Mind Option” offered by the three major mobile carriers to the MVNO industry.

Until now, the MVNO industry often did not offer “Data Peace of Mind Options” (QoS, or speed control) because the three major carriers either did not provide them properly at wholesale rates or required MVNOs to bear additional costs for these value-added services.

“KakaoTalk Will Keep Working”… Preventing ‘Data Bombs’ with Free 400 Kbps QoS

The key benefit consumers will notice from this plan is undoubtedly the expansion of QoS availability. QoS is a feature that, instead of completely cutting off data once the basic allowance is exhausted, limits the speed to a certain level, allowing users to continue using data unlimitedly without additional charges.

Until now, in the MVNO market, users could only enjoy speed-capping benefits by subscribing to high-capacity unlimited plans in the 30,000 won range, such as U-Mobile’s “11GB + 2GB daily + 3Mbps (around 33,000 won per month).”

Teenagers on a tight budget and users of low-cost plans had to live in constant fear of “bill shock” every time they exceeded their data limits.

Starting this August, the government will provide the “Data Peace of Mind Option” (QoS 400 Kbps) from the three major carriers to MVNOs on a wholesale basis for new plans, and will apply the 400 Kbps speed-limiting option as standard to approximately 90 existing MVNO plans at no additional cost.

400 Kbps is a speed that allows users to maintain everyday communication, such as sending KakaoTalk text messages and browsing the web, without any issues. For users of low-cost plans, this effectively provides “unlimited data.” However, a QoS of around 1 Mbps is required to smoothly watch YouTube and other content on a smartphone.

Unlimited Tethering, Too?… The Three Major Carriers Also Impose Limits: “Checking QoS Conditions Is Essential”

While the introduction of this “Peace of Mind Option” has alleviated concerns about unexpected high smartphone data bills, users who connect laptops or tablets via tethering (hotspot) must keep in mind that this is not truly unlimited.

Contrary to the name “unlimited plan,” even the three major carriers impose strict, separate limits on shared data for tethering to prevent wireless network overload. The recent announcement by LG Uplus(032640)that it will block bypass connections via APN (Access Point Name) settings and forcibly limit tethering speeds to 1 Mbps is also a measure to prevent users from exploiting loopholes by using a single smartphone unlimited plan to substitute for unlimited wired internet or data for other devices.

MVNOs also have varying tethering conditions depending on the carrier’s network and plan structure. While some plans continue to support tethering at the QoS speed (400 Kbps–3 Mbps) after the base data allowance is exhausted, others completely block the tethering function once the base data is used up, causing the connection to be cut off.

Therefore, since you could end up with a massive bill due to tethering, you must check the “data allowance specifically for tethering” and “whether tethering is available during QoS periods” in the “Important Notes” section of the plan details page before subscribing.

Wholesale Rate Cuts and Radio Frequency License Fee Reductions… Securing Room for Consumer Plan Price Cuts

These measures have also laid the groundwork for MVNO operators to reduce their cost burdens and make their rate plans more reasonable.

The government will reduce wholesale rates for approximately 15 types of 5G plans by 1.0 to 3.0 percentage points (p) and significantly expand the radio spectrum usage fee reduction rate for small and medium-sized MVNOs from the current 50% to 90%.

This is expected to generate annual cost savings of approximately 25 billion won across the industry, leading to an increase in value-for-money plans—including those with “peace-of-mind” options—even in the mid-to-low price range of 10,000 to 20,000 won per month.