The First 5G Quality Evaluation of the Year: SKT Ranks 1st in 5G Speed and Stability... Coverage Leads by LGU+

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] SK Telecom once again emerged victorious in the first 5G quality evaluation of the year, surpassing 16 million domestic subscribers. SK Telecom ranked first in the industry not only in the core aspect of 5G, 'speed,' but also in 'connection stability.' LG Uplus led in nationwide coverage.

First 5G Quality Evaluation of the Year... Improvements in Both Speed and Coverage

According to the '2021 5G Service Coverage Inspection and Quality Evaluation Interim Results' released by the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 31st, the 5G download transmission speed of the three major carriers was 808.45 Mbps, and the upload transmission speed was 83.93 Mbps. Compared to the second half of last year, this represents an improvement of 117.98 Mbps (17.09%) in download speed and 20.61 Mbps (32.55%) in upload speed.

The LTE fallback rate, which indicates the stability of the 5G network, averaged 1.22%. This means that 5G users connected to LTE 1.22 times out of 100, an improvement from 5.49 times in the second half of last year. The average connection time, which refers to the time taken to initially connect to the network, was 41.76 ms for download and 40.34 ms for upload. Latency was 18.66 ms, and data loss rate was 0.29%, all showing improvements compared to the previous year.

5G Service Quality Evaluation Results

As each company continues to invest in 5G, overall 5G coverage has also improved. Outdoors, the average coverage of the three carriers across 85 cities nationwide was 6,271.12 km², an expansion of 861.82 km² compared to 5,409.30 km² in the second half of last year. In Seoul and six major metropolitan cities, 5G was deployed mainly in urban areas excluding forests and other undeveloped land, while in 78 small and medium-sized cities, 5G was established primarily in areas with dense floating populations and downtown areas where people live and work.

Regarding major indoor facilities, as of April, among approximately 4,500 major multi-use facilities such as department stores, libraries, and airports, the average number of facilities where 5G was available across the three carriers was 3,707. The area within these major multi-use facilities where stable 5G service was accessible was 96.00%, showing improvement from 90.99% in the second half of last year.

Transportation infrastructure also saw progress. As of April, the three carriers had deployed 5G in 835 out of 1,028 subway stations nationwide. For high-speed rail (KTX and SRT), 5G was established in an average of 53 out of 54 stations and 51 out of 55 sections across the three carriers. On highways, 5G was deployed in an average of 94 out of 141 major highway sections with heavy traffic.

Speed Leads SKT, Coverage Leads LG Uplus

By carrier, SK Telecom boasted the fastest 5G speeds. It recorded a download speed of 923.20 Mbps, significantly ahead of KT (782.21 Mbps) and LG Uplus (719.94 Mbps). In upload speed, SK Telecom (97.05 Mbps), KT (77.64 Mbps), and LG Uplus (77.10 Mbps) ranked in the same order.

SK Telecom also showed the best latency performance at 17.34 ms, a key factor for 5G services such as cloud gaming and augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR). LG Uplus and KT recorded 19.20 ms and 19.43 ms, respectively. In terms of LTE fallback rate, which indicates connection stability, SK Telecom had the lowest rate at 1.17% for downloads, outperforming LG Uplus (1.22%) and KT (1.26%). A lower number indicates higher service stability.

5G Service Coverage Status (As of May 2021)

In terms of coverage area as of May, LG Uplus ranked first with a total service area of 6,805.25 km², followed by KT with 6,333.33 km². SK Telecom recorded the largest service area in Seoul at 501.52 km² but ranked third overall with 5,674.79 km². Additionally, in the deployment of 5G in major facilities such as department stores and cinemas across 85 cities nationwide, KT led with 4,205 facilities, followed by SK Telecom (3,923) and LG Uplus (2,992).

The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, "Although 5G coverage and quality are rapidly improving, for users to experience further enhanced quality, the three carriers need to expand network investments and promote the spread of suitable 5G application services." It added, "We will continue to promote evaluations of 5G service quality to encourage network investments by the three carriers and provide objective information to users."

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