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South Korea: a trip to the future of telecommunications

South Korea: a trip to the future of telecommunications

Fernando Martin Castro, Network Engineer in Strategy and Business Support at Orange.

The South Korean telecommunications market is one of the most advanced in the world , due to high broadband penetration, adoption of LTE and fiber optic technologies.It has the fastest internet connection of the world and also has ambitious improvement plans for the coming years.


They consider that science and technology well implemented in education are the keys to the development of society.For this reason, they have been devoting an important part of their budgets to research, education and digitalization.For years, the Internet has been a fundamental element in Korean society, to the point that it is impossible to cross the street with a person who looks up from his smartphone.


In fact, the brands launch versions of mobile phones exclusive to the Korean market given the high demand.In addition, it is the country in the world where eSports is most played, specifically the MOBA (Massive Online Battle Arena), and in 2016, South Korea led the Bloomberg Innovation Index , which scores several factors such as research and development, spending and concentration of public companies specialized in technology.


This high level of development is largely due to the Government's commitment to maintain global leadership in the sector.Since 1995, it has been driving an ambitious National Broadband Plan through which he has managed to give internet access to almost all South Korean citizens.


A commitment to the evolution of technology


This commitment is still in force, with the launch in 2012 of the Giga Korea project , whose final objective is the construction of a fixed and mobile telephone connection network of 1 Gbps for all the population in 2020.This commitment, in addition to promoting the improvement of network infrastructures, also aims to evolve the ecosystem of information technologies.


Similarly, the Government is promoting competitiveness and the entry of foreign capital through modifications in the legislation on foreign property.This momentum is reinforced by significant investments in R&D&I of the private industry, which have managed to bring global technology leadership to companies related to the telecommunications sector, such as Samsung or LG.This same policy is present in other sectors such as the automotive, case of Hyundai, Kia, Daewoo or Hankook.


This is a country with 51 million inhabitants distributed in an area similar to the size of Andalucia and Murcia, with a clearly urban character, since 83% of the population lives in cities.Population density (505 inhabitants per km²), more than five times higher than Spain (92 inhabitants per km²), favors the faster and more efficient construction of telecommunications networks, reducing costs.


Internet as a tool towards education and progress


The South Korean culture emphasizes the importance of work and perseverance, achievement and education, which historically consider a means of hierarchical advancement.The government recognizes these values ​​in its citizens and promotes the Internet as a tool aimed at education and progress.


Three main telecom operators, SK Telecom, KT and LG U + , offer fixed and mobile services.There are cable operators (CJ, t-Broad..) that offer different band services wide, pay-TV and virtual operator.Skylife operator offers satellite television services.


In the third quarter of 2016, the total number of mobile connections amounts to 60.8 million, of which 54.7 million are mobile clients and 5.1 million are Internet Of Things (IoT) devices-for example control remote, vehicle control or wearables.SK Telecom is the dominant mobile operator, with a 44% mobile market share (26.7 million mobile connections); and KT is the largest in fixed, with a fixed broadband market share of 42% (8.48 million customers).


In general, there has been a rapid adoption of 4G technology. In the third quarter of last year it accounted for 74% of mobile customers, which generated 99.2% of the traffic in mobile data.For its part, videostreaming accounts for 55% of this traffic, web browsing 17% and social networks 16%.


Also, the l average data usage profile is very high, 5.34GB/month, more than three times the usage profile in Spain. In the same way, it is significant that only 10% of customers consume 58% of the total 4G data.The profile of these intensive users exceeds 31 GB/month.


The average monthly cost of a mobile client is € 29/month, a figure that almost doubles the average in Spain.


South Korea: a trip to the future of telecommunications


South Korean mobile operators share a total of 430MHz radio spectrum: SK Telecom (185MHz), KT (125MHz) and LG U + (120MHz).Comparatively it is smaller than the spectrum used by Spanish operators (approx..600 MHz), and given the high traffic profile of South Korean mobile customers, we can say that it is used more than intensively.


Paradoxically, unlike in Europe or the United States, spectrum needs are focused on higher bands, capacity requirements and future 5G networks, and not on lower ones: in 2016, the band was auctioned 700 MHz, which is deserted.This is due, among other reasons, to the concentration of the population in urban centers and the low need for rural deployment.


South Korea will be the first country to offer 5G services


South Korea will be the first country to offer 5G services because a service pilot will be held during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018.This will happen even before it is approved the 5G standard by international organizations, which is a risky commitment to innovation.Infrastructure will be deployed in PyeongChang, Jeongseon, Gangneung and Seoul.8-band CA (Carrier Aggregation) will be offered, combining 8 carriers of 100MHz (800MHz in total), to offer a speed of 10Gbps in the devices.The three mobile operators will offer functionalities such as videostreaming 360º, video from the athlete's point of view, 3D maps of the sports venues, augmented reality and virtual reality services, or retransmission of drone racing.


With respect to Internet of Things (IoT) , SK Telecom has pioneered the installation of a LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) nationwide, ending the deployment in the first semester of 2016.Together with the existing LTE-M network, it offers two different technologies that allow you to offer differentiated services.


They establish three categories, according to the volume of data, the necessary connectivity in real time, energy consumption and mobility.In a first category with high data volume, need for real-time connection and high mobility is for example the connected car or without a driver.A second category that does not require high volume of data but if mobility, includes vehicle tracking or electronic ankle support for house arrests.And in third place are those services that require low volumes of data, low mobility and low power consumption, such as gas, electricity or water measurements, electric lighting monitoring or control services.The IoST (Internet of Small Things) is in the latter category.


The booming Internet of Things


SK Telecom has announced a plan for the commercialization of more than 30 services for localization, environmental monitoring, portable gas detectors, underground monitoring for wells, GPS tracking for people (elderly, children..), animals or objects (bicycles..), secure clock (emergency calls, route tracking).Additionally, there is a whole category of services for'mart home 'solutions, using voice recognition, artificial intelligence, recognition of usage patterns...


The IoT growth has been recorded mainly in vehicle control devices and wearables. The latter have multiplied by 20 since 2014.And a great deal is expected growth of these devices in the coming years.


South Korea: a trip to the future of telecommunications


High speed fixed broadband everywhere


In addition to the three main operators, in South Korea operate the so-called MSO's (Multiple System Operator) , which offer different services of broadband, cable and satellite TV, and virtual mobile (CJ , t-Broad..) They have 3.1 million broadband customers.


There is a penetration of 108% in fixed broadband, with 20.42 million lines for 18.9 million households, according to the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), at the end of 2015 South Korea He was a world leader in FTTH implementation, with a ratio of 26 connections per 100 inhabitants, a value that has not stopped growing since then, according to the study published by the Akamai Technologies Corporation, it is a world leader in average connection speed, with 27 Mbps (the average in Spain is 14 Mbps).


Currently, 34% are FTTH customers (6.95 million), 21% HFC (4.2 million), 39% is Fiber to The Building FTTB access (8.0 million).xDSL technology is the least used, 6% (1.2 million).


South Korea: a trip to the future of telecommunications


The launch of the Gigabit Internet project, in the fourth quarter of 2014, is allowing growth in customers and revenues.In the case of KT Telecom, they already account for 25% of its fixed broadband customers, more than 2 million of subscriptions in 2 years.


Paid Television Elexito


Pay TV is widespread in South Korea. There are 32.1 million pay TV customers, of which 13.3M are IPTV (41%), 14.5M they are Cable TV (45%) and 4.4M are satellite TV (14%) In recent years, the growth is taking place in the IPTV service, a service offered by the three main operators, which already have quality TV UHD (4K).The cable television service is the most widespread, with 45% of the market and is offered by several operators (CJ, t-Broad, D'Live, CMB, HCN..), which in the last ten For years they maintain their client base above 14 million.The Skylife operator offers satellite television with 4.4 million customers.


South Korea: a trip to the future of telecommunications

Featured photography: Pixabay.com

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