This photo provided by KT Corp. on Jan. 17, 2020, shows engineers from LG Uplus Corp. (L), KT (C) and SK Telecom Co. checking their 5G networks at a subway station in Gwangju.
SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Despite about two years having passed since South Korea’s top three mobile carriers launched 5G networks, there are still a number of metropolitan cities and provinces that don’t have any 5G indoor base stations at all.
According to data that the Ministry of Science and ICT presented to Rep. Byun Jae-il, a lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party, the number of 5G indoor base stations accounted for just 2.9 percent of the total number of base stations in the country as of July 11.
The country has a total of 3,563 indoor wireless stations, of which 1,629 are concentrated in Seoul.
Among the nation’s three major mobile carriers, LG Uplus Corp. lags behind in the number of indoor 5G base stations. The company has yet to set up any indoor 5G base stations in eight cities and provinces, including Busan city and Gangwon Province.
SK Telecom Co. hasn’t rolled out any 5G indoor base stations in Ulsan and North Gyeongsang Province, while KT Corp. has yet to set up any indoor base stations in Sejong and North Chungcheong Province.
In terms of the number of indoor base stations, SK Telecom ranked first with 1,831 among the three major mobile operators, followed by KT with 980 and LG Uplus with 752.
“Given that people spend most of their daily life in indoor environments such as homes and offices, mobile carriers must greatly expand the number of indoor base stations,” Byun said.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
