First Commercial 5G Network Now In Operation

KT Corporation has launched the world's first nationwide commercial fifth-generation (5G) wireless network in South Korea. The company unveiled the first business-to-consumer (B2C) subscriber for its nationwide next-generation wireless network on April 3. The first customer uses Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy S10 5G, the first available smartphone with built-in 5G. KT launched business-to-business (B2B) network service in December 2018.

 

As South Korea's primary 5G network operator, in global race for 5G commercialization, KT is said to be outpacing rivals from China, Japan and, Vietnam to Switzerland the UAE and the U.S. Most likely, 5G connections will reach 1 billion worldwide in mid-2023 and 2.7 billion by 2025, taking less time than 4G to reach this milestone, according to a latest report by CCS Insight.

 

The next-generation 5G technology is up to 20 times faster than the current LTE or 4G networks, offering extremely low latency and the ability to connect more devices at once. The South Korean government pledged this week to support the completion of the full-nationwide 5G network by 2022 and raise more than 30 trillion won to invest in the world's best 5G ecosystem. For more info, visit KT Corporation.