South Korea’s SK Telecom released a white paper calling 5G “over-hyped.” The assessment criticized 5G for “under-delivering” and failing to produce “a killer app,” reported The Register.
The white paper titled “5G Lessons Learned, 6G Key Requirements, 6G Network Evolution, and 6G Spectrum” observes that 5G was “sold as an enabler of autonomous driving, unmanned aerial vehicles, extended reality and digital twins.” However, SK Telecom claims 5G did not deliver due to a combination of “device form factor constraints, immaturity of device and service technology, low or absent market demand, and policy/regulation issues.”
The paper notes that 5G met some of the goals set out by the UN’s international standardization organization ITU-R, but many tasks are still in progress after four years. Although a deadline was not set for completion, SK Telecom argues that the deployment of advancements was misrepresented, leading to “excessive expectations” from consumers. SK Telecom did outline some 5G “wins,” including a 70 percent reduction in data cost per gigabyte compared to LTE, leading to 50 percent more data usage.
The telecom also predicts that 6G, expected to debut in 2030, can avoid the pre-launch mistakes made with 5G, including encouraging “all participants in the ecosystem” to work together. Stakeholders can accurately manage public expectations by transparently outlining which products and services 6G can enable. “It is necessary to design an architecture that can maintain service quality, including speed experienced by customers, at a level equal to or higher than that of existing services,” the paper suggests.
The Register reported that SK Telecom plans to take the lead in developing 6G technology to help South Korea become a leader in the marketplace. The US and China are also leading the 6G effort, with Japan and the EU making progress.
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