Seoul, Jun 14 (IANS): South Korea's science ministry said on Friday that it will cancel the licence of Stage X as a new mobile carrier, saying the company failed to pay a paid-in capital.

The ministry said that it will begin a procedure to revoke the license of Stage X before formally cancelling it. Stage X has not paid a paid-in capital of 205 billion won ($149 million), the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier this year, Stage X, a consortium comprising mobile virtual network operator Stage Five and other partners, secured the 28 gigahertz spectrum band for the 5G network in an auction hosted by the ministry, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Stage X had been expected to become the country's fourth mobile carrier, following SK Telecom Co, KT Corp and LG Uplus Corp.

It was mandated to establish 6,000 base stations nationwide within the initial three years, along with implementing strategies to alleviate frequency congestion and interference in order to ensure optimal service quality for consumers.