5G Coverage Expands to 269 Eup and Myeon in 50 Cities and Counties... Phase 1, Stage 2 Commercialization of Rural Shared Network

Rural 5G Shared Use Phase 1, Second Commercialization Target Areas. Table=Ministry of Science and ICT

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 26th that the second phase of the first stage of commercial operation for 5th generation mobile communication (5G) roaming in some rural fishing villages has commenced.

The three telecommunications companies plan to complete the phased commercialization of the 5G shared network by the first half of 2024, targeting eup and myeon areas located in 131 cities and counties, according to the 'Rural 5G Shared Usage Plan' announced in April last year.

The 5G shared network involves the three telecom companies dividing low population density areas into three zones, each building a 5G network, and allowing subscribers of other telecom companies to use the network via roaming. This aims to accelerate the deployment of 5G services and reduce the gap between urban and rural areas.

The Ministry of Science and ICT began pilot commercialization in November last year (covering some eup and myeon areas within 12 cities and counties) and started the first phase of the first stage of commercialization in July 2022 (covering 149 eup and myeon areas within 22 cities and counties).

After the first phase of the first stage commercialization, the Ministry and the three telecom companies proceeded with network construction aiming for the second phase of the first stage commercialization in December, completing the network construction on the 15th of last month, followed by test operations to conduct quality inspections and stabilization work.

This second phase of the first stage commercialization was carried out targeting 269 eup and myeon areas located in 50 cities and counties, with the three telecom companies selecting the target areas comprehensively considering network construction status and communication quality.

The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, “We will continue to monitor and support the phased and smooth construction and commercialization of the rural 5G shared network to promptly provide 5G services to rural areas.”

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