[Comprehensive] 5G Speed and Stability Lead by SKT, Coverage by U+... LTE Becomes Slower

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] SK Telecom once again emerged victorious in the 5G mobile communication quality evaluation, marking the era of 10 million domestic subscribers. SK Telecom ranked first in the industry not only in the core aspect of 5G, 'speed,' but also in 'connection stability.'

However, despite aggressive investments by the three major carriers, the average 5G speed remains only about 4.5 times that of LTE, suggesting that quality controversies surrounding 5G will continue until nationwide network construction is completed. Although coverage and quality have improved as the third year of commercialization approaches, it is still considered insufficient to fully satisfy consumer complaints.

Moreover, since last year, as 5G investments have been concentrated, the average LTE speed, with 50 million subscribers, has actually declined.

◆Improved Compared to the First Half... 4.5 Times Faster than LTE

According to the '2020 Telecommunications Service Coverage Inspection and Quality Evaluation' released by the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 30th, the 5G download speed of the three carriers was 690.47 Mbps, and the upload speed was 63.32 Mbps. This represents an improvement of 33.91 Mbps (download basis) compared to the first-ever 5G quality evaluation published just five months ago. It is 4.5 times faster than LTE.

In the second half of the year, as each company continued aggressive 5G investments, 5G coverage expanded to an average of 5,409.30㎢ across the three carriers. The number of major multi-use facilities such as department stores and airports in 85 cities nationwide where 5G can be used increased to 2,792. The proportion of area within these facilities where stable 5G connection is possible rose from 67.93% in the first half to 90.99%. However, only about 61.8% of all multi-use facilities currently offer 5G service.

The rate of switching from 5G to LTE averaged 5.49%, meaning that out of 100 connections, about 5.5 connect to LTE instead of 5G. This is a slight improvement from 6.1 times in the first half. The average connection time, which refers to the time taken to initially connect to the network, was 73.15 ms for download and 75.01 ms for upload. Latency was 30.62 ms, and data loss rate was 0.91%.

◆Speed Leads by SKT, Coverage by LG Uplus

Among carriers, SK Telecom once again boasted the fastest 5G speed. Based on download speed, it recorded 795.57 Mbps, far ahead of KT (667.48 Mbps) and LG Uplus (608.49 Mbps). Latency, a key factor for 5G services such as cloud gaming and augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR), was also the best.

Regarding connection stability, SK Telecom had the lowest LTE switching rate. At 3.95% based on download, a lower number indicates higher service stability. LG Uplus followed with 4.29%, and KT with 8.22%.

In terms of coverage area, LG Uplus ranked first with 6,064.28㎢, followed by SK Telecom (5,242.68㎢) and KT (4,920.97㎢). Additionally, KT led in the number of 5G installations at major facilities such as department stores and cinemas in 85 cities nationwide, with 4,571 locations. KT also ranked first in transportation infrastructure including subways, KTX, and SRT.

◆Long Way to 20x Speed... Nationwide Network Construction Underway

This evaluation attracted industry attention as a measure of how much 5G quality, a core part of the 'Digital New Deal' and the so-called 'data highway,' has improved in the second half of this year.

Unlike the first half, which was limited to Seoul and six metropolitan cities, the evaluation area expanded to major administrative districts in 85 cities nationwide. During the first evaluation, overt ranking was observed, and it is reported that the three carriers have been putting all their efforts into 5G construction over the past few months. LG Uplus showed the largest increase in 5G download speed (79.89 Mbps) among the three carriers compared to the first half. The LTE switching rate was also reduced by half.

However, there is still a long way to go to reach the theoretically expected '20 times faster speed than LTE.' The 5G speed compared to LTE, released on the same day, was only 4.5 times faster. Some point out that there is no significant change compared to the 4 times level in the first half. This is interpreted as the nationwide 5G network construction by the three carriers still being in progress. The ultra-high-speed 28 GHz frequency band has not yet been commercialized.

An industry official explained, "Theory is theory. LTE's theoretical maximum speed is also 1 Gbps," adding, "Due to differences in construction methods, 5G requires more than twice the number of devices compared to LTE for nationwide network construction." Some criticize that comparing the quality of the three carriers, which differ in frequency and user scale at this point, is meaningless. The Ministry of Science and ICT also acknowledged that the total frequency allocation can partially affect quality.

The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, "We are building a nationwide 5G network by 2022," and "We will promote competitive investments by carriers to expand coverage and improve quality." According to Han Junho, a member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee from the Democratic Party, a total of 926 5G quality complaints were reported to the People's Petition system from last year to the end of September this year.

Hong Jin-bae, Director of Communication Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, is announcing the results of the 2020 Telecommunication Service Coverage Inspection and Quality Evaluation on the morning of the 30th at the Government Sejong Complex in Sejong City.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

◆Why Is LTE Speed Declining?

It was also confirmed that the quality of existing LTE has declined since the commercialization of 5G. The LTE download speed released alongside 5G on this day averaged 153.10 Mbps, down 5.43 Mbps from the previous year. This is believed to be the result of the three carriers focusing on 5G investments while relatively reducing LTE investments.

By region, the average download speed in large cities increased to 186.10 Mbps (183.58 Mbps), while in small and medium-sized cities and rural areas, it fell to 154.01 Mbps (160.96 Mbps) and 118.29 Mbps (128.52 Mbps), respectively.

Hong Jin-bae, Director of Telecommunications Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, "We need to check specifically," adding, "There was a difference in rural areas, and in urban areas, the use of NSA (Non-Standalone mode) meant some LTE resources were utilized, which is reflected in the data." He added, "Since LTE is still used by more than 50 million users, we will manage quality to ensure LTE quality does not deteriorate."

Commercial Wi-Fi download speeds were measured at 381.32 Mbps, open Wi-Fi at 414.66 Mbps, and public Wi-Fi at 335.41 Mbps. The time taken to access major sites on wired internet was ▲0.63 seconds on average for 500 Mbps and 1 Gbps services ▲0.64 seconds for 100 Mbps services. For mobile video services, the average video download speed from providers such as YouTube, Naver TV, and Kakao TV improved to 19.36 Mbps from 16.63 Mbps the previous year.

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