Directory Assistance Fee for Cell Phone Users Jumps

Mobile phone users are now being charged 127 won per call when they dial '114' for directory assistance instead of the 80 won they were paying last month, while regular telephone users' directory assistance fee remains unaffected, free for the first three calls per month and 80 won for every additional call.
Business circles reported that the Ministry of Information and Communication raised the '114' charge for cell phones by 21 to 26 won per 10 seconds.
According to the new rate, a mobile phone user who uses the '114' service, a call on average lasts 20 seconds, will be charged 127 won.
The ministry said, 'Raising the fee by on average 58 percent was unavoidable as the number of '114' calls placed by mobile phone users has sharply increased, while Korea Telecom, the operator of '114', has been suffering increasing losses operating the service.
However, telecom companies are complaining that even the old fee of 80 won was still too high, and, notably, the business world has criticized the ministry for not even announcing the raising of the directory assistance charge.
Jooan Kang : jooan@joongang.co.kr