The logos of South Korea’s three major mobile carriers. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s three major mobile carriers continue to outperform global competitors by a wide margin, posting download speeds more than three times faster than those in other leading countries, according to a new industry report released Monday.
The Korea Telecommunications Operators Association (KTOA) said the nation’s mobile networks recorded an average download speed of 1,025.52 megabits per second (Mbps) last year—3.8 times the average of 268.01 Mbps measured across seven major countries included in the study.
Even when compared with the fastest foreign market surveyed, San Francisco in the United States, which logged 501.05 Mbps, South Korea’s speeds were more than double, underscoring the country’s continued dominance in network performance.
Upload speeds also showed a strong lead. South Korean carriers averaged 90.12 Mbps, outpacing the international average of 53.88 Mbps by 1.6 times. Latency—an increasingly critical metric for applications such as online gaming, autonomous systems and cloud services—was just 20.01 milliseconds, less than half the average 53.64 milliseconds recorded abroad.
Although 5G quality has improved worldwide, the report found that South Korea remains well ahead, with some overseas cities still struggling to provide stable service in transit systems such as subways.
Public Wi-Fi quality also showcased Korea’s advantage. Domestic public Wi-Fi networks delivered an average download speed of 463.55 Mbps—nearly 10 times the 48.26 Mbps average of the countries surveyed.
The findings reinforce South Korea’s longstanding position as one of the world’s top performers in mobile connectivity and digital infrastructure.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
