Entering the 5G Era : Lessons from Korea
In April 2019, the Republic of Korea launched the world’s first smart phone based, business-to-consumer (B2C) 5G commercial services. In two years, the country’s 5G subscribers surpassed 13 million, accounting for 20 percent of total mobile subscri...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/852791623927787358/Entering-the-5G-Era-Lessons-from-Korea http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35780 |
| Summary: | In April 2019, the Republic of Korea
launched the world’s first smart phone based,
business-to-consumer (B2C) 5G commercial services. In two
years, the country’s 5G subscribers surpassed 13 million,
accounting for 20 percent of total mobile subscriptions.
Globally, 5G is in the early stage of development both from
market and technology perspectives. However, Korea is one of
the countries that have demonstrated early successes in
bringing a domestic network to scale and building a
comprehensive national strategy to maximize the
transformative potential of 5G. The country’s experience
shows that even in countries with mature mobile industry,
the government role is still critical as a key enabler for
5G ecosystem development. The government provided strategic
clarity and adopted an inclusive process in the
implementation of the new generation mobile network. This
case study examines the lessons learned from Korea’s 5G
journey, with a focus on the government strategy and actions
to nurture the ecosystem development. The challenges and the
lessons learned from Korea’s early experience can offer
interesting insights to other countries planning to deploy
5G in the coming years. |
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