'5G to change everyday life'

A KT employee wears a VR device for an audio-visual experience during a press conference on 5G services at the company’s headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. / AP-Yonhap

By Baek Byung-yeul

Korea's mobile carriers ― SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus ― officially turned on their fifth-generation (5G) networks, Wednesday, creating high hopes that the super-fast network speed will bring huge changes to people's daily lives as well as the industrial sector.

In the business-to-consumer sector, the telecom firms said the 5G services will enable them to offer enhanced online experiences to their subscribers such as group video calls, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) content and holograms.

They also expect the next-generation network services, which will be up to 20 times faster than 4G, will create new industries such as self-driving vehicles and smart cities and factories.

The telecom firms are putting their priorities on expanding their 5G subscriber volumes. They have been offering a wide range of pricing plans, ranging from affordable $44 monthly plans to $75 plans that offer unlimited data.

With more affordable pricing plans, they said they are prepared with enjoyable content running on 5G networks.

“The 5G services can accelerate the development of core sectors in the Fourth Industrial Revolution such as self-driving vehicles, smart cities and an increase in the number of the number of internet of things (IoT) devices,” Kang Byeong-gwon, professor of Soonchunhyang University’s Information Technology Engineering department, said.

“The biggest difference between 5G and 4G is latency time. As 5G provides ultra-low latency, the next-generation network services form the infrastructures to help those new businesses grow.”

SK Telecom said it has secured around 8,000 different kinds of content in five sectors ― games, ultra-high definition media, AR, VR and communications. Especially, the firm will create VR and AR versions of esports content in cooperation with Riot Games, which is famous for its “League of Legends” online combat battle games.

KT also introduced various kinds of 5G services including its own 5G video call service “narle” that enables group video calls for up to eight people. LG Uplus, the No.3 carrier, has been focusing on VR and cloud game services. It plans to launch U.S. tech firm Nvidia's GeForce Now cloud gaming service within the first half of 2019.

Though Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S10 5G is the only smartphone that supports the next-generation network connectivity, consumers will have more options as there will be more 5G-enabled handsets available this month. LG Electronics said it will release its 5G-enabled smartphone V50 ThinQ on April 19 and Samsung's 5G-enabled foldable smartphone Galaxy Fold will be available from April 26.

Telecom firms have claimed that the 5G services could also have an enormous impact on the overall industry as the super-fast network service with low latency will work as an “enabler” to promote innovations in many industry sectors.

According to a 2018 report by KT Economic Management Research Institute, the effect 5G services will have on the country's economic development will be at 47.8 trillion won in 2030. The institute also presumed the wide availability of the 5G service will accelerate the industrial shift to self-driving vehicles, as well as smart cities and factories.