Using Wi-Fi Four Times Faster Than Nationwide City Buses

Bus Wi-Fi LTE to 5G Transition

On the 5th, the Ministry of Science and ICT held an event at the National Palace Museum in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to review the achievements of public Wi-Fi deployment and announce policy directions.

The event was held to commemorate the complete transition of public Wi-Fi on 29,100 city buses nationwide from LTE to 5G, attended by Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT, telecommunications company officials, and public Wi-Fi users. With bus Wi-Fi speeds improving by about four times (300~400Mbps), it is expected that users will be able to conveniently use various internet services even while riding on moving buses.

Additionally, public Wi-Fi has been installed in a total of 58,000 public places, including 4,400 newly established public locations this year. By providing free data, it is also expected to contribute to reducing communication costs.

The public Wi-Fi project, which began in 2012, saw a cumulative 9.2 billion connections last year alone, and it is estimated to have provided 66PB of data (equivalent to about 57.96 million HD videos). Only equipment that has completed security testing and certification from accredited testing and certification institutions is deployed, and the service offers excellent security through OWE (Opportunistic Wireless Encryption) technology that encrypts user data.

This event was the third field visit to public welfare sites following visits to the Budget Phone Square and Smart Senior Centers. Minister Lee Jong-ho toured the public Wi-Fi equipment at the National Palace Museum and boarded a city bus to directly experience the 5G-based public Wi-Fi service by connecting video calls with students and youth. He also announced that future public Wi-Fi policies will be pursued in four directions: promoting the application of new technologies, improving the method of opening commercial Wi-Fi, reallocating public Wi-Fi, and strengthening operation management and fault response systems.

Wi-Fi devices based on Wi-Fi 4 and 5 that have exceeded their lifespan (7 years) and were installed between 2015 and 2017 (14,000 units) will be replaced with Wi-Fi 7-based devices by 2025. However, Wi-Fi devices causing inconvenience due to faults will be replaced on a pilot basis starting next year to improve quality.

Wi-Fi 7 is expected to be released after the global standard is finalized in 2024. It offers speeds approximately 2.4 times faster than Wi-Fi 6, enhancing internet access performance in public places where many users and devices connect simultaneously. Furthermore, high-bandwidth networks will be actively introduced, such as upgrading the wired network infrastructure that underpins Wi-Fi to 10Gbps, enabling faster and more comfortable public Wi-Fi usage.

In the event of wired or wireless communication failures (when a disaster alert of 'Warning' or higher is issued), the three major telecom companies will automatically open commercial Wi-Fi networks. The system will be improved by the first half of next year to ensure that citizens can quickly and worry-free use data during disaster situations.

Wi-Fi access points (APs) with low usage and poor operational efficiency due to facility closures will be reallocated to places with high visitor traffic, such as libraries and traditional markets, in consultation with local governments sharing operational costs. This aims to enhance quality and operational efficiency.

The government plans to reduce the dispatch response time for public Wi-Fi faults from the current 48 hours to within 24 hours to minimize user inconvenience. In addition to phone-based complaint submissions, users will be able to report issues through the ‘Public Wi-Fi App,’ improving convenience for the public using public Wi-Fi.

Minister Lee Jong-ho of the Ministry of Science and ICT stated, “Public Wi-Fi has practically helped alleviate communication cost burdens by allowing citizens to use data for free, and we have made every effort to ensure security so that users can use the service with peace of mind.” He added, “We will continue to actively support pilot applications of new technologies such as Wi-Fi 7 and the expansion of 10G wired network-based backhaul.” He further emphasized, “In particular, we will make every effort to ensure that citizens receive stable public Wi-Fi services by strengthening management of public Wi-Fi operations and fault response.”

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