South Korea's Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission issued a warning after false claims that mobile phone users can receive an additional 25% discount on their bills spread online ahead of the launch of Apple's iPhone 18 series.
The commission said on the 15th that false and deceptive advertisements about mobile phone bill discounts have been circulating mainly through online communities and messaging apps, but the information is not true.
According to the commission, messages saying that users "can receive an additional 25% discount on mobile phone bills starting today" have been spreading recently through online communities and messengers.
Mobile carriers currently operate a selective contract discount program that cuts telecom bills by 25% when users sign a contract with a carrier instead of receiving a handset subsidy. There is no separate program under which carriers offer any further discount on top of that.
The commission stressed that notices about mobile bill discounts passed along by acquaintances or through group chat rooms may be false information whose origin is difficult to verify. It urged users who receive such messages not to call the phone numbers listed or seek consultations through them.
A mandatory contract discount program, which had cut telecom bills by 25% to 30% separately from handset subsidies in return for committing to use mobile services for a set period, was abolished after 2015.
Meanwhile, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are scheduled for official release in South Korea on the 18th.
