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| LG Uplus worker installs a 5G base station in Seoul in this Feb. 12 photo. Korea Times file |
By Kim Hyun-bin
The Ministry of Science and ICT said Friday that the country's three major telecom companies, SK Telecom, KT and LGU+, have agreed to invest 4 trillion won in their fifth-generation (5G) networks in the first half of the year.
The investment will cover the cost of the installation of more equipment to provide better coverage for the fairly new network that was "commercialized" in April last year.
The agreement was reached Thursday during a video conference call between Minister of Science and ICT Choi Ki-young, and SKT CEO Park Jung-ho, KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo and LGU+ CEO Ha Hyun-hwoi.
The initial new investment had been set at 2.7 trillion won, but has been expanded to 4 trillion won. The additional investment will be utilized to establish 5G infrastructure in subways, railroads, department stores and universities.
The 5G network here was the first to be commercialized, and as of end of January, approximately 92,000 5G base stations have been installed nationwide ― just 10 percent of the number of LTE base stations.
"For every one LTE base station, there needs to be around four 5G base stations for there to be similar coverage. Coverage also depends on the environment and location," an official from one of the mobile carriers said.
Many industry experts say the 5G market will continue to grow in the coming months and at its current pace could reach over 11 million subscribers this year, although there were only around 4.95 million as of the end of January.
Market watchers believe diverse services such as cloud gaming and augmented reality will be launched in the first half of the year alongside new 5G-enabled smartphones throughout the year. They say this will contribute to the growth in the industry.
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