South Korea is set to become the first country in the world to start commercial operations of 5G wireless network.
Seoul's finance chief heaped praise on the achievement on Wednesday and pledged to come up with strong support measures for the services.
Kim Hyesung reports.
South Korea's finance minister says the 5G wireless network, which will be launched in Korea next month, will help improve people's quality of life.
At an innovative growth strategy meeting on Wednesday, Minister Hong Nam-ki said... the government's tax incentives and R&D investment in 5G have led to fruitful results, helping Korea become the first country in the world to start commercial operations of 5G mobile network services.
He added that the country's top three mobile carriers will invest more than 2-point-six billion U.S. dollars in 5G this year.
Twenty times faster than 4G LTE, the 5G network can transmit 20 gigabites of information a second.
It is seen as the key infrastructure that will enable advances in areas like driverless cars, telemedicine, smart factories and other areas... thanks to its speed and reliability.
According to market researcher IHS Markit, 5G is expected to generate over twelve trillion dollars of global economic output and support 22 million jobs by 2035.
Following the innovative growth strategy meeting, the finance minister visited the KT network control center on Wednesday afternoon to see how 5G-based services like robots and the Internet of Things work and get feedback from operators.
To further help lead advances in 5G and unleash innovation in ICT sectors, Minister Hong said the government will come up with a so-called 5G plus strategy by next month.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.
