Stage X

History

2024: License revocation due to lack of money

In mid-June 2024, it became known that the Ministry of Science and Information Technology of South Korea was revoking the license from the new mobile operator Stage X. The reason for this decision is non-compliance with legal requirements for doing business.

Stage X was expected to be the fourth mobile operator in the country, joining SK Telecom, KT Corp. and LG Uplus. In January 2024, at an auction organized by the ministry, the Stage X consortium, which includes the virtual mobile operator Stage Five and other partners, acquired a 28 GHz spectrum band for the development of 5G services.

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In the application for the distribution of frequencies, it was indicated that the paid-up (contributed) share capital of Stage X is 205 billion Korean won (approximately $148.32 million at the exchange rate as of June 17, 2024). However, it is reported that in fact it turned out that Stage X does not have such funds. The Ministry of Science and Information Technology concluded that the announced funding plan could not be implemented in good faith. And this poses threats to business development. Therefore, it was decided to revoke the license.

We have concluded that Stage X's capital raising claims cannot be trusted. Because of this, there are concerns among partners, including equipment manufacturers, "said Kang Do-hyun, Second Deputy Minister of Science.

Despite requests from the department for additional clarification and compliance from the company, the problems remain unresolved. In this situation, the ministry may consider the possibility of holding another auction for the frequency band for the new 5G network. At the same time, Stage X says it considers the decision to revoke the license unreasonable. The operator intends to defend its position.^[1]

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