전기통신사업법상 이용자이익 보호에 관한 고찰

Until recently, consumer issues in the telecommunications industry had not given a particular interest. In this field the terms like users are in use,therefore regulatory system aiming at end-users or consumer has not been established. Considering that market principles along with public interest considerations are being introduced and competition becomes effective their scope, consumer issues are becoming of more importance. At this momentum,it is necessary to incorporate telecom consumer into the current regulatory system and construct a coherent and intrinsic system of telecom consumer. For this purpose, the principle of private autonomy should be more widely adopted in terms and conditions in the telecom markets. Above all, the free contract should be guaranteed not only to users but also to telecom companies and in the field of universal services competition principle should be taken into account as much as possible. Prior to an agreement, critical information should be sufficiently provided. Furthermore, informational obligation, calculation of rates, cancellation or repeal of the contract, etc. which are of utmost importance for users’ interests are explicitly prescribed in the Korean Telecommunications Act. Finally, in that quality of telecom services is related to investment and rate level, the merits of facilities-based competition should be made full use of. In spite of partial legitimacy of network neutrality, proper sharing of investment costs should be discussed for sustainable development of telecom ecosystem and accompanying stable protection of users’ interest.