One in Five Uses 5G... Densifying the B2B Convergence Ecosystem

2nd Anniversary of 5G Commercialization... Accelerating B2B Convergence in Healthcare and More
Average Speed 429Mbps Dominates... World No.1 Equipment and Content Export Achievements

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] South Korea's 5G mobile communication service, the world's first to be commercialized, marks its 2nd anniversary on the 3rd. Characterized by ultra-high speed, ultra-low latency, and ultra-connectivity, the 5G service has secured 14 million subscribers even amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on the world's first commercialization, achievements such as exports of 5G equipment and content are gradually emerging. The controversy over perceived quality that followed the initial commercialization is steadily improving through continuous 5G investment.

One in Five Uses 5G

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 2nd, the number of 5G subscribers in South Korea was counted at about 13.66 million as of the end of February. It is estimated to have surpassed 14 million as it marks two years since commercialization. With about 70 million total mobile subscribers in the country, one out of every five subscribers uses 5G service.

It’s not just about growing in size. The perceived quality, which was pointed out as an issue, is also improving. Currently, the three major telecom companies are building 5G base stations at a speed 3.1 times faster than the initial frequency utilization plan. In a recent survey by the U.S. research firm Speedcheck earlier this month, the average speed was measured at 429 Mbps, ranking first in the world. Compared to Australia’s second-place average speed of 142 Mbps, it is more than three times faster. The UK research institute Omdia evaluated that "South Korea leads in 5G frequency availability, commercial service, coverage, subscriber numbers, and ecosystem policies."

According to the domestic mobile communication quality evaluation results announced by the Ministry of Science and ICT in December last year, the 5G speeds of the three telecom companies in the second half of last year were recorded at 609?796 Mbps for download and 60?70 Mbps for upload. These figures show improvement compared to the first half’s download speeds of 529?789 Mbps and upload speeds of 53?76 Mbps.

5G Export Achievements Continue... Convergence Services Also in Full Swing

The COVID-19 pandemic that shook the world last year acted as a growth opportunity for 5G mobile communication. As society rapidly shifted to non-face-to-face interactions, an environment was created that accelerated entry into the 5G convergence ecosystem.

In particular, as telecom companies accelerated the development and distribution of 5G immersive content services, export achievements continued mainly in Asia. LG Uplus recently succeeded in exporting 5G solutions and content worth $11.14 million (about 12.6 billion KRW) to AIS, Thailand’s largest telecom company. Starting with China in 2019, this is the fifth country including Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan, with cumulative amounts reaching $22 million (about 24.8 billion KRW).

Prior to this, Samsung Electronics signed a 5G network equipment supply contract worth 7.9 trillion KRW with Verizon in the U.S. This month, it also signed an exclusive contract to supply 5G base station equipment with Canadian telecom company SaskTel.

In the future, 5G networks are expected to become the seeds of new business-to-business (B2B) models across all industrial sectors such as smart factories, smart plants, autonomous driving, healthcare, and public safety. Especially in connection with the COVID-19 situation, 5G convergence services are being rapidly discovered and spread in areas like digital healthcare. Yongin Severance Hospital, in cooperation with SK Telecom, implemented Korea’s first digital innovation hospital equipped with advanced 5G-based medical systems and equipment.

Perceived Quality and Other Challenges Remain

However, limited coverage mainly in major urban centers remains a challenge. The government and industry plan to actively accept such criticism and work together to improve quality and enhance consumer satisfaction.

The three telecom companies will start 5G standalone mode (SA), which does not use LTE networks, in the first half of this year to advance services. To connect 5G networks more densely, 5G infrastructure is also being expanded in daily radius areas such as major administrative districts in 85 cities, transportation networks, and multi-use facilities. By the end of next year, the number of 5G base stations is expected to reach a level similar to that of LTE currently.

An industry official emphasized, "While discovering B2B services to expand the 5G convergence industry ecosystem, we also plan to steadily develop new content and services utilizing artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR)."

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