Mercury Supplies 5G Public Wi-Fi Devices Four Times Faster on City Buses

by Jang Hyowon

Published 07 Dec.2023 08:32(KST)

Mercury, a specialized information and communication equipment company, announced on the 7th that it participated in the bus public Wi-Fi 5G transition project and supplied terminal equipment for the public Wi-Fi service, which is four times faster, provided on city buses nationwide.

The bus public Wi-Fi 5G transition project, led by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency (NIA), has been underway since May 2019 to upgrade the LTE backhaul-based Wi-Fi service provided on city buses nationwide to 5G, aiming to improve the quality of public Wi-Fi services for the public.

The project was conducted targeting city buses confirmed through a nationwide local government demand survey by NIA. Among these, about 86% of the contracts were awarded to SKT, which carried out the project, and Mercury supplied terminal equipment to SKT.

With this 5G transition, bus Wi-Fi now provides a stable service at speeds of approximately 300?400 Mbps, which is about four times faster than the existing LTE backhaul. Notably, the latest Wi-Fi technology, Wi-Fi 6E standard products, were also included, and Mercury supplied two types of products simultaneously: Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E.

Starting in 2024, NIA plans to introduce 5G Wi-Fi APs using Wi-Fi 7 technology, which offers speeds approximately 2.4 times faster than the current Wi-Fi 6, to provide faster and more convenient public Wi-Fi services. Mercury is accelerating product launches, having exhibited Wi-Fi 7 prototypes at CES 2023.

Prior to this, Mercury was also selected as the supplier of Wi-Fi 6E equipment for the ‘5G 28GHz subway Wi-Fi AP purchase’ project, completing supply this year, thereby securing a technological advantage in the so-called public Wi-Fi market.

A company representative stated, “Mercury maintains a market share exceeding 60% in the Wi-Fi AP market leased to homes through telecom operators, and this bus public Wi-Fi project has become an opportunity to reaffirm our position as a leading Wi-Fi company in Korea.”