ⓒ YONHAP News

South Korea’s three telecom companies will launch fifth-generation or 5G mobile services simultaneously in March next year for the first time. On July 17, the three mobile carriers and the Ministry of Science and ICT agreed on the joint commercialization of the services so South Korea will become the world’s first country to put 5G services into commercial operation and take the lead globally in 5G development. Here is Professor Park Hee-joon of the Department of Industrial Engineering at Yonsei University to examine the new era of 5G network in Korea. 

The key of 5G mobile telecommunication services is connectivity, through which various products and services related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution will be released. The 5G network can access and transmit a large amount of data in real time. “Ultra-low latency” and “hyper connectivity” comprise the core of 5G mobile services. 5G mobile services allow data transmission speeds 20 times faster than the existing 4G LTE. The commercialization of a 5G mobile network will enable us to use self-driving vehicles. Let me put it this way, if we send a stop signal to a car running at a speed of 150 kilometers per hour using the current 4G network, the car stops after proceeding 1 meter. But with the envisioned 5G network, the car stops after proceeding 8 centimeters. In other words, it is impossible for us to experience autonomous cars using the 4G system. 

The World Economic Forum defined the Fourth Industrial Revolution as the fusion of the physical, digital and biological worlds. It means that information and communication technology, combined with new technologies including artificial intelligence or AI, will spread to all industries. For the successful implementation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where things are connected with one another and all services are linked through networks, a way to connect these things or services is necessary. The means would be a super-fast 5G network, which allows the real-time transmission of massive amounts of data without a moment of delay, no matter how far the distance is. That’s why 5G technology is considered core infrastructure to facilitate the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Professor Park talks about some potential changes in the new, dreamlike era. 

We’ll see self-driving vehicles, as I said before. Automobiles will no longer be a simple means of transportation but will serve as a mobile living space as drivers don’t have to drive themselves. The manufacturing industry will make the most of smart factories to benefit from “ultra-low latency.” Wearable equipment or working robots based on 5G mobile services will be deployed to industrial scenes to increase work efficiency. The healthcare industry is also expected to see a major change. “Hyper connectivity” will allow the real-time transmission and analysis of personal health information. Medical treatment will transcend the boundaries of space and time, contributing to improving people’s health and increasing life expectancy. 

In the 5G era, energy optimization and robot automation will cut costs and increase sales in the agricultural sector, while high-definition images provided by surveillance cameras will reduce security blind spots. 5G services will enable the media industry to transmit large-size ultra-high-definition, AI and VR content without any errors. That’s not all. Thanks to AI and VR services using 5G technology, intelligent logistics centers will appear and online shopping will overcome its limitations. Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, has already introduced robots in its logistics center to cut operating costs by 20 percent, while improving space occupancy by more than 50 percent. The social and economic values generated by 5G services are estimated to reach at least 47 trillion or 42 billion US dollars by 2030. The global community is moving fast to secure a share of this huge market.

With a goal of commercializing a 5G network in March next year, South Korea’s three mobile carriers, SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus secured frequencies for their 5G services at an auction in June. The U.S., meanwhile, has set a goal of launching commercial 5G services in the second half of this year. But they are not mobile services but fixed wireless ones. AT&T, a major communications firm in the U.S., is preparing to commercialize a 5G network using a mobile hotspot. China is investing astronomical sums into 5G telecommunication services, with the aim of releasing the services around the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022. Japan plans to launch similar services when it hosts the Summer Olympics in 2020. 

Since last year, the South Korean government has pledged to launch the world’s first commercial 5G services in March 2019. Following the successful 5G trial service at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics early this year, 5G network frequencies were sold to local mobile carriers last month. Despite the nation’s proactive move, some are expressing concerns. 

Domestic telecom companies have already acquired ideal frequencies for their 5G services, and they are set to build necessary infrastructure in earnest. As an IT powerhouse, South Korea has built telecommunication infrastructure boasting a world-class level over the last two decades. But now, there are worries that the nation might lose ground in the global 5G competition. That’s because the global 5G equipment market is dominated by foreign firms, including Huawei of China, Nokia of Finland and Ericsson of Sweden. Korean mobile carriers will have to invest nearly 20 trillion won or 18 billion US dollars to build a 5G-related system over the next five to six years. Although Korea may be the world’s first country to commercialize 5G mobile services, it should make relevant investments in foreign providers of 5G equipment. 

The Korean telecom firms plan to select equipment suppliers by next month, but it won’t be an easy task. Samsung Electronics, the largest communication equipment provider in Korea, accounted for 40 percent of the domestic telecom equipment market in 2017. But its global market share is a mere 3 percent. Korea will build a 5G communication network, but it will likely depend on foreign companies for relevant equipment. Huawei, Intel and Qualcomm have developed particular chips that meet 5G standards, and Chinese handset makers plan to unveil 5G smartphones equipped with the chips. But South Korea is still in the process of developing them. It seems the need for Korea to build infrastructure for the new 5G era is urgent.  

The establishment of a 5G network doesn’t mean that Korean society will enter a 5G era right away. It is necessary to develop various services and products for the new era. Personally, I don’t think Korea necessarily has to hurry to simply earn the title of the “world’s first.” If it secures more time—six months to a year, relevant technology will be more mature. The nation could build the network at cheaper costs, but I think it is being too hasty. Korea needs to be more careful and draw up detailed plans when preparing for the 5G era. 

The commercialization of 5G services will create new value in a wider range of industries, moving beyond the scope of the mobile telecommunication business. With the 5G era approaching, it is important for Korea to build strong infrastructure for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and 5G networks to propel the nation into another economic take-off.