The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) announced Friday that it will allow mobile carriers to block access to free Internet calls among other services if deemed necessary.
The nation's top telecommunications regulator revealed new guidelines for the rational use and management of networks, which states that carriers may control network traffic if it becomes necessary to prevent a data explosion.
SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus will be allowed to control the amount of access users have, which depends on varying monthly packages, to Kakao Talks' mobile voice over Internet protocol service among others.
Smart TVs and other Web-based services are also subject to limited access.
The KCC will also allow them to control people's use of applications, content and other services that don't follow a standard approved by a legitimate organization.
The telecommunications regulator explained that the world's Internet traffic is rising by 32 percent annually and the latest step is to mitigate the increasing likelihood of data traffic becoming extremely heavy.
Of the possibility that mobile carriers may exploit such a law, the government agency said due to market competition, companies will not be permitted to unfairly limit content providers or subscribers' network use.