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Google, Netflix, and three other major companies were slapped with a fine by the South Korean antitrust watchdog. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said on Sunday, Feb. 13 that imposed a fine amounting to ₩19.5 million or around $16,300 for five video streaming service companies.
According to Yonhap News Agency, aside from Google and Netflix, LG Uplus, KT, and Content Wavve over-the-top (OTT) media service providers were penalized due to unfair business activity related to paid subscriptions. The KFTC explained that the companies have impeded the paid subscribers’ move to cancel their subscriptions or membership.
The commission revealed the companies did this by giving false information, but the report did not elaborate on the details. It was added that the unfair business was also done by the streaming service providers by not allowing subscribers to cancel their membership via online channels.
The Fair Trade Commission said this move is an effort to make it difficult for subscribers to terminate their service contracts with the companies. The antitrust regulator also ordered Google, Netflix, LG Uplus, KT, and Content Wavve to straighten out their unjust business practice.
The OTT services in South Korea have become really popular in recent years, and in fact, last year, more than 34% of the citizens were paid subscribers of video streaming services. The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) said that the number of paid subscribers of OTTs climbed by 20.4% in 2021 compared to the previous year. The figure was based on a survey involving 6,834 individuals who are over the age of 13.
Overall, the country’s OTT usage rate increased to 69.5% compared to 66.3% from the previous year. It was noted that the rate rose during the period when most people were staying at home due to the pandemic. The stay-at-home trend resulting from the COVID-19 crisis apparently played a huge part in boosting the number of subscribers.
In South Korea, YouTube is the most popular OTT service with a usage rate of 65.5%, followed by Netflix with 24%. Finally, Business Standard added that the usage rates for local players that include Wavve and TVing are positioned at 4.4% each.
