Jo Seung-rae "LGU+ Expands Only 4,329 5G Base Stations This Year... One-Quarter of SKT's Level"

[Asia Economy Reporter Joselgina] LG Uplus has been criticized for being the most passive among the three major mobile carriers in investing in 5G base stations this year. Despite using relatively inexpensive Chinese Huawei equipment, the number of 5G base stations built was the lowest among the three carriers. The number of additional installations this year was only about one-fourth of SK Telecom's and one-third of KT's.

According to data on the status of wireless stations by carrier submitted by the Ministry of Science and ICT to Cho Seung-rae, a member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea (Daejeon Yuseong-gu Gap), LG Uplus installed 4,329 5G base stations in the first eight months of 2021. During the same period, SK Telecom added 18,583 and KT added 12,091, which is less than half the scale of the others.

Since the introduction of 5G, LG Uplus had installed a total of 49,684 5G base stations by the end of last year, leading among the three carriers. However, due to poor investment this year, the total number of 5G base stations as of the end of August was the lowest among the three carriers at 54,013. SK Telecom secured the largest number with 62,959, followed by KT with 58,605.

Recently, the government’s mid-term evaluation of the 5G service quality of the three mobile carriers announced that LG Uplus had the slowest transmission speed, which is why LG Uplus is also evaluated as having the lowest investment in 5G base stations this year.

Assemblyman Cho Seung-rae said, “I hope the 700 billion won support promise for small and medium distributors' coexistence and early investment in network equipment, which the three carriers promised last year, was not just an empty promise to reduce fines,” adding, “The carriers should respond to the public’s expectations for nationwide 5G network construction and quality improvement with more active investment and efforts.”

In response, LG Uplus explained, “The 54,013 base stations refer to those completed and approved,” and “Due to differences in counting standards and timing, when administrative procedures such as completion reports are finalized, the number as of the end of August is about 71,700.” Based on the capital expenditure (CAPEX) of the three carriers in the first half of the year, LG Uplus’s 863.3 billion won investment is at a level similar to its competitors.