Public Wi-Fi Expanded by 55% at Bus Stops and More... Perceived Speed Increased 3 Times

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 24th that as part of last year's Korean New Deal policy, it successfully completed the new installation of public Wi-Fi and the replacement of outdated Wi-Fi, significantly improving convenience for the public.

Over the past year, public Wi-Fi was newly installed at 10,022 local community sites such as bus stops and parks. Additionally, 18,000 outdated Wi-Fi routers that had already been installed were replaced with the latest equipment. The Ministry of Science and ICT conducted intensive inspections on usability, including installation status and perceived speed, through a quality inspection task force until February this year.

As a result, the public can now use free data at a total of 57,232 locations nationwide, including ▲28,132 public places and ▲29,100 city buses (with about 5,900 buses installed by local governments separately). The number of public places alone has expanded by 55% compared to a year ago.

The Ministry of Science and ICT explained, "Including installations by local governments, free use is available at more than 80% of nationwide community centers (administrative welfare centers), public health centers and branches, and traditional markets," adding, "In the past two years, public Wi-Fi usage locations have diversified, mainly in outdoor facilities such as bus stops and major streets."

Among the 10,969 Wi-Fi locations built and opened between 2012 and 2017, 18,000 outdated routers were replaced with the latest equipment (Wi-Fi 6), greatly improving quality. The average speed at locations where quality issues were raised increased approximately 3.4 times, from 124 Mbps to 419 Mbps.

Seunghyun Son, Director of Information Security and Network Policy at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, “The year 2020 marked an opportunity to enhance public Wi-Fi convenience for citizens through nationwide installation on city buses,” and added, “This year, we will steadily promote the new installation of free public Wi-Fi at 15,000 locations nationwide in cooperation with 16 metropolitan cities and provinces, and strengthen quality management not only by building public Wi-Fi but also through ▲usage surveys and ▲enhanced on-site inspections via an integrated management center, so that public Wi-Fi can become firmly established in the daily lives of the public.”