According to SK Telecom’s analysis on 5G subscribers, people in their 30s and 40s are taking up 53 percent of the company’s total 5G subscriber base, which is significantly higher than the proportion of people in their 30s and 40s in total LTE subscriber base, which currently stands at 32 percent.
The total amount of data consumption of SK Telecom’s 5G subscribers reached 62,000 TB on average per month over the period between December 2019 and February 2020. During the same period, the average monthly data usage of subscribers who switched devices from LTE to 5G has increased about 2-fold from 14.5 GB (LTE) to 28.5 GB (5G) per person. The analysis also found that 5G subscribers are using 7 times more VR services, 3.6 times more video steaming services and 2.7 times more game apps than LTE subscribers.
SK Telecom plans to continue to work with Microsoft to prepare mobile cloud streaming games and will also open ‘Jump Studio’, a mixed-reality content production facility. Jump Studio is expected to provide services that enable the creation of 3D content like holograms by combining the technological strengths of augmented and virtual reality technologies. SK Telecom and Microsoft are currently providing 92 games through Project xCloud.
SK Telecom plans to release mobile device applied with global leading quantum cryptography technologies and provide advanced security services to 5G users.
SK Telecom plans to build 5G MEC (Mobile Edge Computing) Centers in 12 different locations across Korea. To this end, the company is preparing to launch nationwide 5G edge cloud service in cooperation with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft.
SK Telecom has also announced plans to deploy a private 5G network at SK Hynix’s semiconductor manufacturing facility for a 5G smart factory for the semiconductor industry. The company is planning to add ICT including AI video analytics and AR technology to its 5G network.
SK Telecom is also cooperating with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP) to develop a 5G smart power plant. It plans to initially upgrade real-time drone monitoring system for dams, remote water level monitoring system, and situation sharing system by applying private 5G network and quantum cryptography technologies to KHNP’s hydro-electric/ pumped storage power plant.
SK Telecom also seeks to continue to work with Seoul Metropolitan Government to accelerate the C-ITS (Cooperative Intelligent Transportation System) project and deploy the Road Learner platform, which consists of 5G ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) and Live HD Map Update service. The 5G ADAS and Live HD Map Update services are designed to power autonomous driving as 5G ADAS improves driving safety through features including lane departure warning and forward collision avoidance, and Live HD Map Update solution reflects road situations to HD maps in real time.
This year, SK Telecom plans to increase the total number of its 5G Clusters to 240 and expand 5G coverage to neighborhoods (‘dong’) of 85 cities nationwide. The company also seeks to secure indoor coverage for a total of 2,000 buildings, including not just airports, department stores and large shopping malls but also small-to medium-sized buildings, by applying its 5G in-building services.
