As citizens living in the 21st century, we are living in a radically shifting world. It has not even been 20 years since we entered the 21st century, but our lives have changed to an extent where it now seems impossible for us to imagine the lives of our parents when they were young. In this article, I would like to focus on the technological developments that we have achieved over the past ten years. To be more precise, I would like to discuss the technology that the IT – Information Technology – industries around the world are developing right now: 5G technology. Regarding this 5G technology, this article will mainly discuss practical issues that we are encountering right now and Korea's present status in this area.

Before we discuss the technology, it is necessary for us to know what it is. 5G is the fifth-generation of mobile internet connectivity promising much faster data transfer speeds, wider coverage, and more stable connections. This technology basically enables more devices to connect to the internet at the same time. It is also supposed to be 1,000 times faster than the preceding generation, 4G LTE, which we are currently using.

What will it enable us to do?

It will make IOT, or the Internet of Things, feasible, which allows objects to communicate with each other via the Internet. For example, 5G allows us to use glasses to use augmented reality and virtual reality. It will also allow us to “meet” with people who are on the opposite side of the Earth through holograms, making it as if we are actually in the same place with them.

This so-called “amazing” technology seems to be very desirable for myriads of people. If so, why hasn’t it has already permeated into our daily lives? It is essential for us to consider a few hinderances that we must surmount to utilize this technology.

First, the technology itself must be stable before it reaches out to its customers. This means that it is still an unstable technology. For example, the phones that have been released exclusively for 5G have been evaluated to have a weaker performance than those with 4G. Therefore, customers might regard getting 5G phones to be economically inefficient consumption.

Second, there are some worrying perspectives about violating the privacy of individuals. If the 5G technology becomes prominent, it would enable us to communicate with others across the globe as if they are right next to us. This might be problematic for security. Although it might be very useful in the perspective that we could literally be inside someone else's house as holograms, it simultaneously means that a stranger could be walking around our houses, too. Moreover, we have to be aware that some companies could be “watching” us through our phones and smart devices.

Lastly, commercialization would be a little difficult to surmount. As I mentioned, one must need to buy a new device that supports this kind of technology. However, is it really logical for consumers to spend not a little, but quite a lot of money to just use the 5G technology, even when the technology is not yet ready? Because people have doubts about 5G, it would not be easy to overcome this prejudice.

It is also important for us to know where South Korea is placed in this industry. However, we must first discuss our domestic industry. Mainly, there are three cellular mobile carriers in South Korea: SKT, LG U+, and KT. All three are currently putting great effort in promoting 5G phones, such as providing a lot of benefits to their customers. Not only the carriers, but also the government, are trying to promote this technology. The government announced the “5G+ strategy”, which concerns five services, such as smart factories and self-driving cars, and 10 industries, including smartphones, robots, and drones. To promote these, the government invested a few trillion won in the companies which produce products related to these industries. Moreover, it promised to provide tax credits and thoroughly implement negative regulations* to 5G businesses. This effort, however, seems ineffective in the sense that normal citizens have not felt a change. Also, people's perspective that the introduction of 5G was supposed to at least grant faster internet access to people was let down. Some even say that their internet access has become less stable and slower than when they used 4G. Therefore, it is essential for this technology to be stabilized before being used.

*negative regulation: Allowing all possible choices and services, except for a specific few.

As I mentioned earlier, this 5G technology is very desirable. If this technology becomes complete and permeates into our daily lives, many things would change. Not only making IOT possible, it would make the usage of mobile phones and the Internet faster, easier, and more effective than ever before. However, in this contemporary world, even though a myriad of companies and carriers are promoting this so-called “ideal” technology, we normal citizens do not exactly feel a change. I would not be exaggerating to say that barely anything has happened to our everyday lives because of this technology. Because of the hinderances that I have mentioned above, it still seems to be far away for us to actually use the 5G technology. Therefore, I believe that more research and effort from both the government and the companies are needed to harness this desirable technology.

Lee Taehwi  xognl1124@naver.com

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