"Korea's 5G Satisfaction Lower Than 4G... Due to High Consumer Expectations"

Ericsson LG Releases Report 'Five Ways to Better 5G'
"Consistent Indoor and Outdoor 5G Coverage Must Be Provided"

[Asia Economy Reporter Joeslgina] A survey revealed that South Korea, the first country in the world to commercialize 5G, is the only country where satisfaction with 5G is lower than with LTE (4G). It was pointed out that consistent indoor and outdoor 5G coverage must be provided to meet consumers' high expectations.

Ericsson LG unveiled the report "Five Ways to a Better 5G," recently published by Ericsson ConsumerLab, at an online press briefing held on the 25th. This is the largest-scale 5G consumer study representing 1.3 billion consumers and 220 million 5G users.

According to the report, global users' satisfaction with 5G was generally high. In 15 markets surveyed by Ericsson LG, satisfaction with 5G services was on average more than 10% higher than with 4G. In Switzerland, nearly 60% of respondents were satisfied with 5G, which was twice the satisfaction rate for 4G.

On the other hand, in South Korea, which has the highest 5G penetration rate, it was the only surveyed country where more users were satisfied with 4G than with 5G. The satisfaction rate for 5G services was 27%, lower than the 31% satisfaction rate for 4G.

Ericsson LG attributed this result to South Korea's 4G service quality and high expectations for 5G. Despite South Korea's 5G network equipment and base station quality ranking among the top worldwide in performance indicators, the results indicate that consumer expectations have not been met.

Byungseong Park, Senior Network Consultant at Ericsson LG, explained, "Korean consumers, having used excellent 4G and Wi-Fi, had expectations that 5G would provide far superior and innovative services." He also mentioned that exaggerated 5G performance promotions during the promotional period, unsatisfactory indoor 5G coverage, and a lack of diverse and reasonable plans limiting consumer choice also influenced the results.

However, considering that 5G commercialization is still in its early stages, the results are not considered bad. The satisfaction rate for 4G services in 2012, the early days of 4G commercialization, was 26%, similar to the 27% satisfaction rate for 5G services in 2021.

Therefore, it is pointed out that identifying consumers' pain points and improving them to some extent is important.

In a survey focused on early adopters, 5G users showed satisfaction with 5G speed, but about 70% were not satisfied with innovative services and the availability of new applications. Additionally, consumers expressed willingness to pay 20% to 30% more for 5G plans bundled with digital service use cases.

Especially due to the impact of COVID-19, as more consumers use 5G indoors, indoor coverage is considered important. Satisfaction with 5G services was 34% based on residence and 31% in public indoor places, both more than 10 percentage points lower than 4G. Consultant Park stated, "Indoor coverage is important for a satisfactory 5G experience," and added, "Since satisfaction with transmission speed, outdoor coverage, and battery consumption is similar to 4G, focus should be placed on improving indoor coverage."

Ericsson LG suggested that to meet consumers' 5G expectations, mobile carriers should ▲improve consumer awareness differences regarding 5G value and ▲provide consistent indoor and outdoor 5G coverage. They also emphasized ▲meeting network requirements for new 5G services, ▲focusing on the goals consumers want to achieve through 5G, and ▲accelerating commercialization of existing and new use cases through ecosystem partnerships.

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