Assemblyman Yongbin Lee, Serious Local Neglect of 5G Base Stations

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Amid high user dissatisfaction with 5G call quality and expensive communication fees, it has been revealed that rural fishing and farming areas are severely lacking 5G base stations, resulting in inadequate service.

According to the 'National 5G Wireless Station Status' submitted by the Ministry of Science and ICT to Rep. Lee Yong-bin (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Gwangsan Gap), among metropolitan cities and provinces, Jeju and Sejong have the fewest base stations, followed by Jeonnam, which has the third fewest. Sinan-gun has no base stations installed at all. Wando-gun has only one, and Gangjin, Goheung, and Jindo have just two each.

There are five places nationwide with no base stations at all: Sinan-gun in Jeonnam, Yeongyang-gun and Bonghwa-gun in Gyeongbuk, and Cheorwon-gun and Yanggu-gun in Gangwon-do.

Among the 226 basic local governments nationwide, 34 have 10 or fewer 5G base stations, with Jeonnam accounting for 10 of these.

Additionally, 17 regions nationwide have not had any 5G base stations added this year, with Jeonnam accounting for 7 of these.

Despite no significant differences in population or area among local governments, Jeonnam is uniquely unable to properly receive 5G call quality services.

Coverage is inevitably poorer in rural fishing and farming areas compared to urban areas. Nevertheless, residents are paying the same communication fees as those in large cities.

Rep. Lee Yong-bin stated, “Mobile carriers are not submitting base station installation status data citing trade secrets,” and added, “If mobile carriers do not actively expand investment in underserved areas and fail to provide proper services, the government should prepare measures to impose differentiated communication fees.”

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