KT Narrows 5G Quality Gap with SKT... Tops Download Speeds in Major Cities

In this year's evaluation of 5G service quality provided by domestic telecom companies, SK Telecom maintained its top position. KT recorded the highest 5G download speeds in major cities with many users, such as Seoul and Busan, as well as within key facilities.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced the results of this year's telecom service quality evaluation on the 30th. The 5G quality was assessed using Samsung Electronics Galaxy S23 Ultra devices from the three major carriers across outdoor areas nationwide, including crowded places like amusement parks, transportation facilities, large stores and hospitals, and cultural facilities.

As a result, the average 5G download speeds were SK Telecom at 1064.54 Mbps, KT at 1055.75 Mbps, and LG Uplus at 956.26 Mbps.

Compared to last year, download speeds increased by 77.00 Mbps for SK Telecom, 106.87 Mbps for KT, and 75.26 Mbps for LG Uplus, narrowing the gap between first-place SK Telecom and second-place KT from about 40 Mbps to approximately 10 Mbps.

Additionally, looking at the average 5G download speeds in major facilities, KT led with 1134.51 Mbps, followed by SK Telecom at 1123.98 Mbps and LG Uplus at 1004.21 Mbps.

In major cities, KT had the highest 5G download speed at 1152.75 Mbps, followed by SK Telecom at 1151.26 Mbps and LG Uplus at 1060.61 Mbps. In Seoul, the speeds were KT at 1170.07 Mbps, SK Telecom at 1169.84 Mbps, and LG Uplus at 1167.63 Mbps.

A KT representative stated, "KT and Samsung Electronics have operated a 'Base Station Performance Improvement TF' since January this year, jointly improving base station performance."