S. Korea's 5G base stations account for 11% of total in Q2: data

The number of 5G network base stations in South Korea accounted for just 11 percent of the total in the second quarter, data showed Monday, amid continued user complaints against the latest generation networks.

As of the April-June period, there were 162,099 5G base stations in the country, compared with a total of 1.47 million mobile network base stations, according to data from the Korea Communications Agency.

The number of 5G base stations was far outnumbered by around 1 million 4G base stations and over 300,000 3G base stations.

In comparison, the number of 5G users accounted for 23.8 percent of the total in July at just over 17 million, while there were 50.5 million 4G users and 20.2 million 3G users.

The latest data comes as local mobile carriers have faced complaints from 5G users over spotty connection and slower-than-expected speeds since the networks' launch in April 2019.

Earlier this year, some 5G users filed a lawsuit against the country's three major carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- seeking compensation for disappointing network services.

Under growing pressure to improve services, the three carriers earlier this year agreed to share their 5G base stations in remote rural areas to speed up coverage expansion.

South Korea aims to establish nationwide 5G coverage by the end of next year. (Yonhap)