South Korea has integrated 5G mobile data networks into its infrastructure faster than any country on earth. The country’s rapid implementation of 5G makes it a case study for what the future hold for countries adopting the technology. The Wall Street Journal reports:
South Korea was the world’s first country to roll out commercial 5G networks, in 2019, and currently has the highest proportion of the population using 5G—roughly 36%, compared with 21% in China and 16.5% in the U.S.—according to Omdia, a tech-market research firm. As of 2021, South Korea also ranked No. 1 in 5G download speeds globally, four times faster than Taiwan and around 10 times faster than the U.S., according to internet-speed analysis firm Speedcheck.
South Korea’s ability to achieve widespread 5G coverage quickly stems from a combination of robust government support and an end-to-end ecosystem of telecom providers, network equipment makers, smartphone vendors, and consumers keen to pick up new technologies, says Ramona Zhao, a research manager for the Asia-Pacific telecom market at Omdia.
The country’s comprehensive lead in the 5G space gives South Korea an edge in the development and uptake of various 5G-backed applications as well, like augmented and virtual reality and more recently, the metaverse, according to Ms. Zhao. “The consumers are willing to try new things and adopt them faster,” she says.
The fast speed at which various technologies including telecom move forward in South Korea also effectively pushes homegrown companies in the 5G network ecosystem to stay at the forefront of technology development, says Woojune Kim, executive vice president and head of global sales and marketing at Samsung Electronics Co. ’s network business.
“It forces us to develop the next-generation equipment much more quickly,” he says. “Korea is a place where we can test out the latest thing much faster than in other countries.”
One such effort is now happening in mass transportation. South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT is collaborating with Samsung’s network business and the nation’s three telecom providers to deploy a 5G Wi-Fi network in Seoul’s subways for riders. It’s the first large-scale attempt globally to deploy 5G on high-speed mass-transit vehicles and is expected to provide subway passengers network speeds that are roughly 10 times faster than the current average, Samsung says. The 5G Wi-Fi network is expected to become operational across Seoul’s subway lines by the end of this year, the ICT ministry says.
5G also has made significant progress in the business sector as a technology helping to digitize and upgrade various industries. Enterprise 5G networks, which prioritize low-latency connections, are helping companies and institutions make the technological leap in everything from smarter factories to remote surgeries at hospitals.
For example, South Korean telecom provider KT Corp. has deployed private 5G networks at Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. to support autonomous robots sent to dangerous construction sites. The telecom provider also has worked with Seoul-based Severance Hospital to install a 5G system and 360-degree cameras inside ambulances to enable live communication and patient data exchanges between hospital staff and first responders. KT’s rivals are pursuing similar projects, further incorporating 5G into the local corporate landscape.
Read more here.