Jeonnam Public Wi-Fi Saves 4.2 Billion Won Annually on Personal Communication Costs

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Jeonnam Province announced on the 22nd that the public Wi-Fi network it established to realize a digital inclusive society and improve digital welfare is generating an annual personal communication cost savings effect of 4.2 billion KRW.

According to the analysis of last year's operational performance of 3,327 free Wi-Fi locations installed by Jeonnam Province in public places, the annual number of uses was 210 million, and the amount of free mobile data used was confirmed to be 1,726 terabytes (TB).

This volume corresponds to the data amount used by 210,000 people based on the monthly average personal LTE usage of 8.4GB announced last year by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

When converted into monetary value, it amounts to 4.2 billion KRW, which is three times the 1.4 billion KRW line usage fee borne by Jeonnam Province, indicating a significant contribution to personal communication cost savings.

Jeonnam Province has been expanding public Wi-Fi every year since 2018. The total construction cost invested until 2021 reached 19 billion KRW. The construction cost is shared by the Ministry of Science and ICT and telecommunications operators at a 7:3 ratio, and Jeonnam Province pays the line usage fees.

This year, with an investment of 6.5 billion KRW, public Wi-Fi will be installed at 608 locations including bus stops in 22 cities and counties within the province frequently visited by residents.

A Jeonnam Province official said, “We will continue to improve the digital communication infrastructure so that residents can use information services free of charge without communication fee burdens anywhere closely related to daily life in the province.”

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