US Competes in Millimeter Wave, While Korea Still Has Half-Baked 5G

Samsung, Verizon, Qualcomm, and Others Achieve 28GHz 5G Test Success
Maximum Speed of 4.2Gbps per Second... Three Times Faster than Domestic 3.5GHz
AT&T and Others Also Commercializing Millimeter Wave, but Domestic Progress is Slow

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] As the first anniversary of 5G commercialization approaches, significant growth is expected, but some raise concerns about frequency bands. The United States is said to have faster speeds than Korea by using millimeter wave (mmWave) services. There are ongoing calls to expedite the introduction of millimeter wave services domestically.

According to the industry on the 13th, Samsung Electronics, Verizon, Qualcomm, and Motorola recently succeeded in 28 GHz 5G testing in the U.S., achieving a peak speed of 4.2 Gbps per second on a 5G network with a smartphone. This speed is more than three times faster than the maximum 3.5 GHz 5G download speed of 1.33 Gbps currently offered in Korea. The U.S. succeeded in the first commercialization of millimeter wave through integrated 5G base stations supporting the 28 GHz band.

Millimeter Wave, About 50% Faster Speed

AT&T also commercialized its 5G Plus service using the 39 GHz millimeter wave band, allowing general consumers to use millimeter wave services with 5G smartphones after the release of the Galaxy S20. Millimeter wave services can deliver speeds exceeding 2 Gbps, enabling consumers to experience much faster speeds. Verizon offers services using the 28 GHz band in over 30 cities, and T-Mobile also provides 5G services on the 28 GHz band, accelerating competition for millimeter wave services in the U.S.

5G is characterized by simultaneous use of sub-6 GHz frequencies and millimeter wave bands above 24 GHz, which are ultra-high frequencies. High-frequency bands have narrower coverage and are more susceptible to path loss or obstacles compared to low-frequency bands. However, they have the advantage of transmitting large volumes of data quickly. Millimeter wave supports speeds more than 20 times faster than 4G. According to Signals Research Group, a telecommunications research organization, millimeter wave is approximately 47% faster than frequencies below 6 GHz.

In Korea, although 5G commercialization was much earlier than in the U.S., investment in millimeter wave bands has been passive. The 28 GHz band, which belongs to the millimeter wave spectrum, has a shorter radio wave reach than the 3.5 GHz band due to its ultra-high frequency characteristics, requiring densely installed base stations. In other words, more costs must be invested for ultra-high frequency band services, which is why domestic carriers are postponing investments.

Domestic Services to Become Visible Starting Next Year

Before the introduction of 5G services, Korea proactively proposed discussions on millimeter wave communication frequency allocation, which led to related discussions at the World Radiocommunication Conference. Korea has led research on millimeter wave bands and contributed to 5G technology standardization, but actual implementation has been slow.

Although 5G commercialization was fast, the limited services have resulted in slower growth of 5G subscribers compared to LTE. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, as of the end of January, the number of 5G subscribers reached 4.96 million. The industry expects the 5G penetration rate to increase to 25% by the end of the year. Compared to the LTE penetration rate of 40% during the same period, this is relatively slow.

Domestic carriers plan to begin investments as early as the second half of 2020 or the first half of 2021. Although smartphones supporting both millimeter wave and 6 GHz bands, such as the Galaxy S20, have been released, millimeter wave infrastructure has not been established domestically, so it will take more time before 5G services can be fully utilized.

An industry official said, "5G can be applied beyond smartphones to various fields such as autonomous vehicles, the Internet of Things, and cloud computing. Building millimeter wave infrastructure is essential to realize full 5G connectivity, so commercialization should be expedited domestically as well."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.