LG Uplus Vice Chairman Ha Hyun-hoe (right) poses for a commemorative photo shoot with Norwegian Ambassador to Korea Frode Solberg in a ceremony to grant an ISO information security certificate at the LG Uplus headquarters in Yongsan on Jan. 21. (Photos: LG Uplus)

LG Uplus announced on Jan. 28 that it obtained an information security certificate from the International Standardization Organization (ISO) in the operation of 5G mobile communication base stations.

The mobile carrier became the first company to have received an information security certificate in the 5G field among 5G telecommunication service providers in Korea.

In particular, the acquisition of the certificate is expected to enable LG Uplus to resolve controversies over information leakage raised by IT security experts as the mobile carrier introduced telecommunication equipment from Huawei, a Chinese telecommunication equipment vendor.

LG Uplus acquired the international standard information security certification ISO27001, from DNV-GL, a global certification organization for information security management, for the information security management system for base station operation management, a key area of 5G networks.

The ISO 27001 certification is an international standard information security certification established by the ISO. Its certificate is one of the most prestigious certificates in the field of information security.

The certificate is granted to a company only after it successfully passed an audit through a due diligence inspection in accordance with 114 management criteria in 14 areas.

On Jan. 21, LG Uplus held a ceremony to receive the certificate from DNV-GL at LG Uplus headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul.

In attendance were Ha Hyun-hoe, vice chairman of LG Uplus and other LG Uplus officials, Lee Chang-seop, CEO of DNV-GL Korea and Frode Solberg, Norwegian ambassador to Korea.

LG Uplus had set the scope of certification and drawn up an audit plan in June, and has conducted an on-site due diligence inspection through consultation with DNV-GL since October 2019.

DNV-GL verified compliance in all areas including policies on information security, physical and environmental security, access control, and communications security for the operation of 5G base stations.

LG Uplus expects to receive strong trust in its information protection and security response system from LG Uplus 5G services subscribers.

Since last year, LG Uplus has been investing in various ways to strengthen security, such as reestablishing information security regulations and guidelines through cooperation with network and security engineers, as well as receiving audits by external experts and consulting services.

“We will manage our facilities and services more thoroughly so that customers can use while trusting not only the best 5G services by LG Uplus but our information protection,” said Lee Hyuk-joo, chief financial officer of LG Uplus.

In the meantime, LG Uplus subscribers enjoyed stable roaming services during the CES 2020. Dozens of videos of CES participating startups uploaded by media and visitor from around the world appeared on smartphones with zero premium services by LG Uplus’ roaming service plan.

Film actor Ma Dong-seok in an LG Uplus ad.

They could enjoy big data video streaming without any interruption.

LG Uplus released 10 types of integrated roaming zero plans in September of 2019 which greatly increased voice and data service time and volume and lowered service fees. An LG Uplus service user can enjoy unlimited data and telephone services for 13,200 won (including VAT) per day in 78 countries.

 LG Uplus provides roaming services in more than 230 countries around the world.

LG Uplus is focusing on 5G roaming services as its subscribers has come close to 5 million in Korea and the number of countries that commercialized 5G services has risen.

In July last year, the company succeeded in testing the world's first 5G network linkage with Elisa of Finland. Since September, it has been providing 5G roaming service by partnering with China Unicom and Switzerland’s Sunrise.