Fierce bidding for the 1 . 8 GHz bandwidth ends at 995 billion won SK Telecom acquired the 20 - megahertz band of the 1 . 8 gigahertz range for 995 billion won ( $ 926 . 67 million ) in the country ’ s first wireless broadband spectrum auction after its rival KT Corp . withdrew from the competition on Monday . The Korea Communications Commission said KT decided to raise the white flag in the battle for the 1 . 8 gigahertz wireless broadband spectrum in the 83 rd round of bidding as the price neared 1 trillion won . KT had put pause to the auction process earlier on Friday after SKT raised the bidding price to 995 billion won . The minimum price for the range was 445 billion won . “ We have regrets that this radio frequency auction was overheated to a point which sparked concerns , ” said SKT officials . “ ( However , ) we expect to offer better services to our customers through obtaining this wireless broadband spectrum that will be used for the fourth generation Long Term Evolution technology . ” KT , on the other hand , took home the 800 megahertz range for 261 billion won , claiming it gave up on the 1 . 8 gigahertz bidding race because it had other areas of focus , such as cloud computing and developing mobile applications and contents , according to its chairman Lee Suk - chae . “ Telecoms have a role to play and we can ’ t perform our duties in other fields if we spend too much money on ( the acquiring of radio spectrum ) , ” he told reporters . The competition to take away the frequency bands in the 1 . 8 gigahertz and 2 . 1 gigahertz ranges have been overheated because the radio spectrums are to be used for the 4 G communication technologies such as LTE . LG Uplus was lucky to become the sole bidder for the 2 . 1 gigahertz range due to state regulation , which forced SKT and KT to take part in over 80 rounds of bidding for the 1 . 8 gigahertz range . The two mobile carriers both needed the new radio spectrum to either improve or start 4 G LTE services since their existing radio spectrums are currently occupied by 2 G and 3 G service subscribers . The carriers will pay one - fourth of the final bidding price for their radio spectrum within three months of state authorization and pay the remaining amount in equal sum over their period of use . The license for the wireless broadband spectrums will be given for 10 years . By Cho Ji - hyun ( sharon @ heraldm . com )