South Korea’s three major mobile operators aim to share 5G base stations in smaller administrative districts across the country to save costs and improve coverage, Korean press reported, citing government and industry sources.
SK Telecom, KT, and LG Plus will set up a consultative body for their cooperation in the deployment of 5G infrastructure in a number of smaller administrative units and rural villages.
Under this initiative, the Korean telcos will jointly install 5G base stations in the outskirts of urban areas and spend the savings on investment into Seoul and six other metropolitan areas where data consumption is high, according to the report.
The plans to share 5G infrastructure will be discussed in detail with the Ministry of Science and ICT.
A ministry official highlighted that small towns and districts with a population of less than 5,000 people account for 47% of South Korea.
The three operators have already installed a total of 121,000 5G stations across the country.
Earlier this month, SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus agreed to invest a total of KRW 25.7 trillion ($22 billion) through 2022 to boost 5G infrastructure across the country.
This new investment will primarily focus on enhancing 5G quality in Seoul and six other metropolitan cities. The investment plan also stipulates the deployment of 5G technology in 2,000 multi-purpose facilities, on Seoul Metro lines 2 and 9 and along major highways.
In 2021, the carriers committed to expand 5G connectivity to an additional 85 districts, including 4,000 multi-purpose facilities, subways and all train stations, as well as 20 additional highways.
South Korea rolled out the world’s first commercial 5G network on April 3, 2019, with the nation’s three carriers — SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus — aggressively promoting the new service to consumers.
Korean operators also expect to commercialize an ultrafast mmWave 5G network this year, according to previous press reports.
The mmWave 5G service will be initially available for the business-to-business segment. Operators have not yet finalized investment plans for the business-to-consumer sector, as the cost of building additional infrastructure still represents a major issue.
Due to the high level of capital expenditures needed, the launch of the mmWave 5G network for personal smart devices is likely to start next year or in 2022.
