[W Forum] Dreaming of a World Where All 'Connections' Work Seamlessly

Rome, which started as a small city-state in 753 BC, was able to completely dominate the Italian peninsula through its national core infrastructure of 'road construction.' Although ancient Persia and China also had considerable roads, Rome's road network was undoubtedly the best. Roads 'connected' everything?military, culture, and economy?to Rome. This remains largely unchanged today. The difference is that the connection is no longer 'geographical' but rather 'data' and 'human' connections. Parag Khanna, a former Brookings Institution researcher and a leading expert in international relations and global strategy, called this phenomenon Connectography. It is a compound of 'Connect,' meaning connection, and 'Geography.' He argues that to win wars in the 21st century, "connection is destiny."

Facebook already connects 2.38 billion people, and YouTube connects 1.8 billion. This far surpasses China's population of 1.4 billion and dwarfs the United States' 300 million. China's TikTok (500 million) and Sina Weibo (465 million) are also chasing this 'connection.' On the other hand, South Korea, which prides itself as an IT powerhouse, unfortunately remains outside this economic landscape. The largest domestic global connection platform, 'LINE,' operated by Naver, has about 170 million users, and the popular app 'Kakao' disappointingly does not exceed the domestic population (50 million). Furthermore, according to the connectivity index by McKinsey Global Institute, Singapore (1st), the Netherlands (2nd), and the United States (3rd) are recognized as central countries that accommodate and transmit flows of goods, services, finance, people, and data. South Korea ranks 16th overall but is notably low in connectivity in data (44th) and people (50th). This is the current state of the 'world's first commercial 5G, IT powerhouse.' The cause is unfortunately self-inflicted due to the government's complacent 'frog in the well' approach to network policy.

The foundation of Connectography is the 'network.' Networks must be inexpensive and rapidly connect worldwide. On top of that, convenient and enjoyable platforms must develop to allow countless people and data to flow. The passenger, transportation, and lodging industries based on Rome's road network have evolved into platform economies like Google, Amazon, and Naver through data and human connections.

However, South Korea's network policy is not friendly to the platform economy's growth. First, the network access fees are among the highest globally. The access fee paid by platform operators is $9.22 per Mbps, about 4.3 times that of the United States and 7.2 times that of Europe, and significantly higher than Japan's $2 and Singapore's $1.39. Additionally, without a Tier-1 international network operator, it is neither easy to access foreign platforms nor for domestic platforms to expand abroad. Tier-1 operators are 'network operators' that do not need to pay other network operators for access and can achieve full connectivity through settlement-free peering according to their needs.

The United States has multiple Tier-1 network operators, and countries like the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, and India also have Tier-1 operators. However, South Korea lacks a Tier-1 network operator, so to bring global services like Google and Facebook to domestic users, expensive transit access fees must be borne.

In an era where 'connection' equates to 'survival,' it is difficult for domestic platforms to secure global competitiveness under such network policies. Fortunately, platforms like Naver, Kakao, and Watcha, which show potential for global advancement, still survive. Whether they end in mere survival or prosper depends largely on the government's network policy. Just as Rome's prosperity was impossible without roads, the flourishing of the platform economy is impossible without fast and affordable 'networks.' Just as all roads once led to Rome, may the good times come when all connections lead to Seoul.

Hyunkyung Kim, Professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology

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