Mobile Network Experience Report South Korea June 2019

South Korea

Mobile Network Experience Report
June 2019

Opensignal is the independent global standard for analyzing consumer mobile experience. Our industry reports are the definitive guide to understanding the true experience consumers receive on wireless networks.

Author
Kevin Fitchard Principal Analyst

Key Findings

LG U+ achieves a near-perfect score in 4G Availability

All three South Korean operators were able to deliver a 4G signal to our users more than 95% of the time, putting them among the global elite in 4G reach. But LG U+ went further. Its 4G Availability score of 99.5% means that there was practically no instance where our users couldn't find a 4G connection during our data collection period.

South Korea rates highly in Video Experience

U+ and SK telecom both landed in the Very Good range (65-75 in our 100-point scale) in Video Experience, while KT was less than a point shy of achieving the same rating. That indicates that the consumer Video Experience in South Korea is commendable, exhibiting short load times and little stalling during playback. But South Korea's operators didn't score as highly in Video Experience as operators in many other countries, despite their superiority in most of our other metrics. Extremely fast speeds and ubiquitous 4G reach don't always translate into an Excellent consumer Video Experience.

SK telecom surpasses 65 Mbps in Download Speed Experience

In practically any other country, an average overall download speed of 40 Mbps would almost guarantee a win in our Download Speed Experience metric. But South Korea has set a higher bar. SK telecom won our award in this category with an average download speed of 65 Mbps, demonstrating just how fast LTE networks can become when their full evolutionary potential is maximized.

SK and U+ cross the 15 Mbps milestone in Upload Speed Experience

The current generation of mobile broadband services focuses much more on download speed rather than upload speed, making Upload Speed Experience scores higher than 10 Mbps quite rare. Not only did all three South Korean operators land above the 10 Mbps mark in our Upload Speed Experience measurements, but U+ and SK Telecom both had scores above 15 Mbps.

Introduction

South Korea is embarking down the path of 5G, but while consumers begin to make the transition to 5G devices and 5G services, Opensignal has taken a close look at the country's 4G foundation — and there's no doubt that foundation is a powerful one. South Korea has some of the fastest network connections in the world, both download and upload, and its 4G reach is unparalleled, with one operator achieving the closest we've measured to a perfect score in 4G Availability. 5G is likely to overshadow 4G in the next few years, but South Korea can rest assured it is in good 4G hands in the interim.

Opensignal Awards Table

Mobile Experience Awards South Korea
June 2019, South Korea Report
4G Availability
Video Experience
Download Speed Experience
Upload Speed Experience
Latency Experience
Download Image
Mobile Experience Awards Winners
June 2019, South Korea
4G Availability
Video Experience
Download Speed Experience
Latency Experience
Mobile Experience Awards Draws
June 2019, South Korea
Upload Speed Experience
Download Image

Overview

Click on metric labels below for a quick preview
4G Availability
% of time
SK telecom
98.3
LG U+
99.5
KT
95.3
0255075100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

National Analysis

4G Availability

4G Availability
% of time
SK telecom
98.3
LG U+
99.5
KT
95.3
0255075100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image

Video Experience

Video Experience
in 0-100 points
SK telecom
66.9
LG U+
68.4
KT
64.9
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Video Experience
Additional Metrics
in 0-100 points
4G Video Experience
67.6 (± 0.68) 68.4 (± 1.03) 68.6 (± 0.88)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Video Experience in 0-100 points
68 (± 0.68)
68 (± 1.03)
69 (± 0.88)
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Inc.

Download Speed Experience

Download Speed Experience
in Mbps
SK telecom
65.0
LG U+
47.7
KT
41.0
016.2532.548.7565
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Download Speed Experience
Additional Metrics
in Mbps
4G Download Speed
67.2 (± 1.21) 47.7 (± 1.37) 44.5 (± 0.97)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Download Speed in Mbps
67 (± 1.21)
48 (± 1.37)
44 (± 0.97)
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Inc.

Upload Speed Experience

Upload Speed Experience
in Mbps
SK telecom
16.1
LG U+
16.8
KT
11.3
05101520
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Upload Speed Experience
Additional Metrics
in Mbps
4G Upload Speed
16.7 (± 0.32) 16.8 (± 0.50) 12.3 (± 0.24)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Upload Speed in Mbps
17 (± 0.32)
17 (± 0.50)
12 (± 0.24)
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Inc.

Latency Experience

Latency Experience
in ms The lower the figure the better the latency
SK telecom
42.5
LG U+
38.1
KT
41.9
011.2522.533.7545
The brackets represent confidence intervals.
Download Image
Latency Experience
Additional Metrics
in ms
4G Latency
41.4 (± 0.14) 38.1 (± 0.25) 39.0 (± 0.20)
+/- numeric values represent confidence intervals.
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Limited
4G Latency in ms
41 (± 0.14)
38 (± 0.25)
39 (± 0.20)
Mobile Network Experience Report | June 2019 | © Opensignal Inc.
Learn more

Opensignal measures the real-world experience of consumers on mobile networks in the places they live, work and travel.

We continually adapt our methodology to best represent the true experience of smartphone users. Therefore, comparisons of the results to past reports should be considered indicative only.

For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple winners.

In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars. In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.

More about Methodology

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For every metric we calculate statistical confidence intervals indicated on our graphs. When confidence intervals overlap, our measured results are too close to declare a winner. In those cases, we show a statistical draw. For this reason, some metrics have multiple operator winners.

In our bar graphs we represent confidence intervals as boundaries on either sides of graph bars.

In our supporting-metric charts we show confidence intervals as +/- numerical values.

Why confidence intervals are vital in analyzing mobile network experience