Three Major Telecoms' 5G Coverage 3.5 Times Larger Than Last Year... Speed 5.3 Times Faster Than LTE

Ministry of Science and ICT Announces 2021 Telecom Quality Evaluation
5G Improved but LTE Speed Enhancement Remains a Challenge

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The quality evaluation results of 5G mobile communication in 2021 show that the 5G networks of the three major carriers expanded 3.5 times compared to the previous year. 5G networks are available in 98% of major multi-use facilities in Korea. However, there are also criticisms that the speed needs to be increased further, as the average 5G speed of the three carriers is about 5.3 times that of LTE.

5G Speed is 5.3 Times Faster than LTE

According to the "2021 Comprehensive Results of Telecommunication Service Coverage Inspection and Quality Evaluation" released by the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 30th, the average area of 5G coverage regions in 85 cities disclosed by telecom companies was 19,044.04 km² as of October, expanding 3.5 times compared to the previous year (5,409.30 km²).

By carrier, SK Telecom covered 22,118.75 km², LG Uplus 18,564.91 km², and KT 16,448.47 km². After checking the accuracy of the 5G coverage maps, the Ministry of Science and ICT found that the overstatement rate was 0% for all three carriers.

The average 5G download speed of the three carriers was 801.48 Mbps, a 16.1% improvement from the previous year (690.47 Mbps). This is about 5.3 times the speed of LTE. The average upload speed was 83.01 Mbps, a 31.1% increase from the previous year (63.32 Mbps). By carrier, SK Telecom was fastest at 929.92 Mbps (up 134.35 Mbps), followed by KT at 762.50 Mbps (up 95.02 Mbps), and LG Uplus at 712.01 Mbps (up 103.52 Mbps).

The 5G→LTE handover rate, an indicator of 5G network stability, averaged 1.88% for the three carriers, improving by 3.61 percentage points from the previous year (5.29%). This means that fewer than 2 out of 100 connections switch to LTE instead of 5G. By carrier, SK Telecom was 1.71%, LG Uplus 1.94%, and KT 1.98%.

Regarding latency, the average for the three carriers was 18.61 ms, a 39.2% improvement from the previous year (30.62 ms). By carrier, LG Uplus had 19.32 ms, KT 19.41 ms, and SK Telecom 17.09 ms, in order of shortest latency.

Looking at the average 5G download speeds, outdoor administrative districts recorded 780.09 Mbps, an 18.0% increase from the previous year (661.00 Mbps), and multi-use facilities and transportation infrastructure recorded 820.32 Mbps, a 12.0% increase from the previous year (732.21 Mbps). Newly measured residential areas this year showed 862.84 Mbps. These measurements were conducted by walking outdoors in apartment complexes with over 2,000 households.

5G Networks Installed in 98% of 4,500 Major Multi-use Facilities

Among approximately 4,500 major multi-use facilities, the number of facilities where 5G is available averaged 4,420 (98%), a 58.3% increase compared to the previous year (2,792) as of October. By carrier, KT had 4,495, SK Telecom 4,409, and LG Uplus 4,357 facilities. The average 5G connectivity rate within major multi-use facilities (the area stably connected to 5G service) was 95.36%, improving by 4.37 percentage points from the previous year (90.99%).

Within multi-use facilities, high transmission speeds were observed in places such as subway stations (1,127.43 Mbps), and newly measured university in-building (indoor) areas showed 766.35 Mbps. Among transportation infrastructure, subway cars recorded 802.86 Mbps, highways 576.06 Mbps, and KTX·SRT trains 439.41 Mbps. In residential complexes, there was a significant gap between apartments with 5G base stations installed (913.54 Mbps) and those where 5G installation was difficult due to resident opposition (609.34 Mbps).

By city size among 85 cities, large cities (Seoul and six major metropolitan cities) had a download speed of 840.04 Mbps, a 14.9% increase from the previous year (730.84 Mbps). The 78 small and medium-sized cities recorded 783.41 Mbps, a 17.7% increase from the previous year (665.42 Mbps). This reduced the average download speed gap between large and small/medium cities to 56.63 Mbps, a 13.4% decrease from the previous year (65.42 Mbps).

LTE Wireless Internet Remains at Previous Year’s Level… KT and LG Uplus Decline

The average LTE wireless internet download speed of the three major carriers was 150.30 Mbps, remaining at the previous year’s level (153.10 Mbps). Upload speed was also similar at 39.76 Mbps compared to 39.31 Mbps the previous year.

By carrier, SK Telecom was the only one to slightly improve its download speed to 208.24 Mbps from 207.74 Mbps the previous year. KT decreased from 142.09 Mbps to 138.23 Mbps, and LG Uplus from 109.47 Mbps to 104.43 Mbps, showing a decline for these two carriers.

LTE download speed in large cities was 178.09 Mbps, down from 186.10 Mbps the previous year. Small and medium-sized cities slightly improved to 157.12 Mbps from 154.01 Mbps, while rural areas remained at 118.62 Mbps, similar to 118.29 Mbps the previous year. Accordingly, the LTE download speed gap between urban and rural areas averaged 48.99 Mbps for the three carriers, a 5.4% reduction from 51.77 Mbps the previous year.

Jung Chang-rim, Director of the Telecommunications Policy Bureau, said, "5G coverage has expanded to small and medium-sized cities, and quality has improved in terms of transmission speed and LTE handover rate. Efforts to manage not only 5G but also LTE wired internet quality are necessary. The government will continue to conduct strict inspections to promote competition in network quality."

Less than 1% Construction Rate of 28 GHz 5G Base Stations Criticized

Regarding criticisms about the lack of efforts to activate investment in 28 GHz 5G base stations, the Ministry of Science and ICT responded that solutions will be sought in subways and specialized networks. According to data submitted by the Ministry to Rep. Yang Jung-sook of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, as of the end of November, only 312 out of 45,000 mandatory base stations for the three carriers had been constructed. By carrier, LG Uplus had 158 stations (1.0%), SK Telecom 103 stations (0.7%), and KT 51 stations (0.3%).

Jung Chang-rim said, "The three carriers have pledged to make every effort to build 28 GHz base stations, and the government has agreed to cooperate in seeking solutions. First, we will expand 28 GHz-enabled Wi-Fi to the main lines of the Seoul subway and continue efforts to discover new services through specialized networks."

A telecommunications industry official said, "Although 5G speeds are still single-digit times faster than LTE, this is because the current system is Non-StandAlone (NSA). There is potential for improvement with the future introduction of StandAlone (SA) mode. We will continue efforts to increase speeds."

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