South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has slapped Samsung, LG, Pantech and mobile operators SK Telecom, KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp with a combined fine of 45.3 billion won (about $40.1 million) over the biggest mobile manufacturers and operators guilty of colluding to fix prices and defraud consumers, reports Yonhap News.
The fine was handed to device makers Samsung, LG and Pantech, as well as mobile carriers SK Telecom, KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. Korea’s biggest operator received the biggest fine of 20.2 billion won ($17.9 million), Samsung was hit with a 14.2 billion won ($12.6 million) penalty, and the country’s second largest carrier KT with 5.1 billion won ($4.5 million). The companies involved were found to be working together to raise the prices of mobile devices before advertising that they were offering improved deals.
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