Bae Kyung-hoon, South Korea’s deputy prime minister and minister of science and ICT, said on the 23rd that he would encourage the country’s three major telecom carriers to invest in expanding 5G-based Wi-Fi on subway systems nationwide.
Bae made the remarks during a comprehensive audit of the Ministry of Science and ICT by the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee. He was responding to a question from Rep. Lee Hoon-ki of the Democratic Party of Korea, who called for the expansion of the Incheon subway’s 5G Wi-Fi system to other parts of the country.
Lee criticized telecom operators for being reluctant to improve subway Wi-Fi quality and cited the Incheon subway system, which recently introduced 5G-based Wi-Fi.
According to data released by Lee, Wi-Fi speeds measured by passengers on Incheon subway Lines 1 and 2 this month ranged from 215 to 285 megabits per second (Mbps). By comparison, LTE-based Wi-Fi recorded a speed of 83.2 Mbps in last year’s telecommunications service quality assessment.
Bae agreed that the Incheon system should be expanded nationwide and said he would actively raise the issue at a meeting with the chief executives of the three major telecom carriers.
“We will do our best at the ministry level, although this requires investment from telecom operators,” Bae said. “I will actively raise the issue at a meeting with the CEOs of the three major carriers and encourage them to invest more. We will work to expand the system nationwide.”
Calls were also made for measures to ease the financial burden on consumers who pay not only for telecommunications services but also for online video streaming services (OTT) and artificial intelligence (AI) subscriptions.
In response, Bae said, “Starting in December this year, a free AI service called ‘AI for Everyone’ will be available to all citizens. We will review the broader issue to ensure people can use OTT and AI services without financial strain.”