TESTS ON 5G QUALITY AND SPEED

[Anchor Lead]

It’s been two and a half years since 5G phones were introduced. But users complain the fare is expensive while the speed and quality is the same. But government assessment reports show 5G quality has been improving by the year. KBS ran some tests and found that actual 5G speed was 70% of the government survey and only half the level when indoors.

[Pkg]

​The speed of 5G networks is said to be up to 20 times faster than LTE, reaching some 20,000 Mega bit per second(Mbps). Is this true for customers? Measurements have been taken in a test. Here in an apartment hallway, the phone signal has been bouncing between LTE and 5G and the final speed measured is 227Mbps. The reading briefly went up to 1400Mbps at one time outside, but upon entering a building, the speed plummets to the 300 range. This is far from the proclaimed speed of 20 fold of LTE. It’s closer to barely two times faster.

[Soundbite] Yang Seong-yeol(5G subscriber) : "5G is much more expensive but I don’t feel a notable difference in the speed. I wonder if cost-appropriate service is being provided."

These papers contain government-announced 5G quality assessment. The average download speed in 35 Seoul areas stands at 972Mbps. KBS and a civic group joined forces to verify the claim.

[Soundbite] Kim Joo-ho(People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy) : "Korea’s 5G is promoted as world-class. Consumers trust that fact and subscribe."

In the test, ten locations were chosen from the government-surveyed areas in consideration of even spread, and measurements were taken indoors, outdoors, on the ground level as well as underground. First in a survey covering five areas, the average download speed clocked in at 711Mbps, about 72% of the government report. This further drops to the 50% range when inside public offices. 5G speed measured underground or in restrooms don’t even reach half the level mentioned in government findings. Then how do we explain the discrepancy? The government evaluation takes place only outdoors where signal jamming is less frequent and 5G base stations are installed.

[Soundbite] Woo Sang-ho(Nat’l Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting and communications Committee) : "The gov’t survey is biased. If 5G service is not uniform, it is necessary to reduce prices accordingly."

Around 17 million South Koreans use 5G. Unlike the generous state-level review assuring 5G speed and quality were fast improving, nearly 2,000 consumer complaints were filed last year alone, an increase of 16%.