LG Uplus to expand 5G network nationwide

By Baek Byung-yeul

LG Uplus will build 25,000 more fifth-generation (5G) base stations nationwide by June to increase the total number up to 50,000 to deliver stable and high-quality coverage of the super-fast network service, the firm said Monday.

The country's third-largest mobile carrier plans to secure a total of 80,000 5G base stations across the country by the end of this year to ensure over 90 percent of the population will benefit from the 5G network service.

The telecom firms here began their 5G mobile network service on April 3 but consumers have complained about the poor network coverage as their 5G network coverage has been concentrated on Seoul, its neighboring areas and a few major cities.

LG Uplus said the lack of service in areas outside the metropolitan shadow stems from difficulties in securing more 5G network equipment. To offer high-density network coverage, it will solve the imbalance of supply and demand of 5G network equipment in cooperation with network suppliers and increase manpower for base station installation.

The firm said it will expand its coverage to Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon and Ulsan by June and 85 cities by the end of 2019. The firm currently has secured about 20,000 base stations throughout the country.

“LG Uplus is accelerating the establishment of infrastructure for 5G network services by operating a task force team that supervises every process ranging from contracts for network equipment to installation,” said Choi Taek-jin, vice president of the firm. “By securing dense network coverage with 80,000 5G base stations, customers will be able to experience distinguished 5G services.”

For Seoul and its neighboring areas where the firm already installed more than 10,000 5G base stations, the firm will install additional 7,800 networks to beef up its 5G service in highly populated areas such as apartment complexes and commercial districts.

To cut installation time, the firm has applied multiplexer technology to build a 5G infrastructure using the existing wireless network for LTE. It also contracted an increased number of infrastructure construction companies ― two to three times more than earlier this year ― to boost the installation of 5G base stations.

The mobile carrier added it will join forces with other telecommunications firms ― SK Telecom and KT ― to co-build 5G network infrastructure for public locations including subway stations, high-speed trains such as the KTX and SRT, airports, department stores and hotels, starting in the second half of 2019.