Court bans SK Telecom ad over LTE service

A Seoul court has banned an SK Telecom advertisement, saying Friday that it falsely claimed SKT was the first to commercialize triband Long Term Evolution services.

“SK Telecom’s ad includes false and exaggerated information since it did not commercialize the triband LTE services,” the Seoul Central District Court said in its ruling.

The court also said this sort of deceptive ad could be used to secure the top position of the mobile carrier in the domestic market and could damage the market order.

The decision came after SKT’s local rivals KT and LG Uplus filed complaints with courts earlier this month to ban the use of the phrase “world’s first” in SKT’s promotions for the triband LTE services.

KT and LG Uplus claimed that SKT misled consumers with false information as the largest telecom firm was merely conducting beta testing of the new Galaxy Note 4 compatible with the triband LTE.

SKT said it would stop its ads, but would consider filing an appeal with a higher court.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)