Asia-Pacific has successfully deployed 5G technology despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, global economy, and geopolitical climate. South Korea, China and Japan have led the rollout of his 5G network. As 5G networks continue to be rolled out in other regional markets, Asia Pacific is on track to become the world’s largest 5G market.
key message
- Developed markets in Asia Pacific are leading the way in 5G deployment. As more markets join, countries such as South Korea, Australia, and China are among the first in the world to launch commercial 5G networks.
- 5G performance outperforms Europe. Early adopters in Asia Pacific are outperforming key European markets in terms of 5G performance. This is mainly due to factors such as early spectrum availability and government support policies.
- 5G availability varies. The region will have varying levels of 5G availability and deployment based on factors such as population density, device affordability, and pricing.
- Seoul and Kuala Lumpur are the top cities for 5G performanceboasting median download speeds of 533.95 Mbps and 523.44 Mbps, respectively.
- 5G will help narrow the digital divide. 5G FWA is a viable alternative to traditional fixed broadband to narrow the digital divide within the region
South Korea takes the lead as 5G networks expand across the region
Many developed markets in Asia Pacific are pioneers in 5G deployment. South Korea was the first market in the world to roll out a nationwide 5G network in April 2019, followed by Australia, the Philippines, China, and New Zealand later that year. Asia-Pacific is poised to become one of the world’s largest 5G markets by 2025, with a recent second wave of 5G rollouts in regions such as Indonesia, India and Malaysia, according to GSMA Intelligence forecasts. Sho.
Spectrum resource allocation is important
In our recent spectrum analysis, we discussed how spectrum is critical to 5G performance and coverage. In general, regulators in the Asia-Pacific region have been quick to allocate spectrum for his 5G applications, and in many cases carriers have been able to secure significant bandwidth in the key C-band.
The mid-band spectrum is the most awarded spectrum band in the Asia Pacific region. It offers a good balance of 5G coverage and capacity, making it ideal for commercial 5G deployments. In some markets, low-band (less than 1 GHz) frequencies are being used for 5G deployment, resulting in wider 5G coverage outdoors and better penetration inside buildings in urban and suburban areas. However, this may come at the cost of median download speeds, which typically peak at around 100 Mbps.
In some markets, 5G spectrum benefits are subject to strict milestones and requirements. Korean carriers need to have 22,500 base stations by the end of 2021, 45,000 base stations by the end of 2023, and 150,000 base stations when the 3.5 GHz spectrum deployment is complete. In addition, 15,000 base stations utilizing 28 GHz had to be installed within three years. However, a study by South Korea’s Ministry of Science, Information and Communication (MSIT) found that all mobile phone operators meet his minimum requirements for the 3.5 GHz spectrum, but not for the 28 GHz spectrum. As a result, the ministry canceled all carriers’ frequency licenses in the 28GHz band. In our recent mmWave analysis, we thoroughly covered the performance and advances specific to that spectral band.
Asia Pacific outperforms major European markets in terms of 5G performance
While Europe and Asia Pacific markets share similarities such as great cultural diversity, customers with different demographics, and mixed regulations and policies, a recent analysis of Europe’s 5G performance shows that Asia We found that early 5G adopters in the Pacific region are outperforming some key European markets. .
According to Speedtest Intelligence® H1 2023 data, several markets in Asia Pacific had faster median download performance compared to the top five European economies. Malaysia and South Korea led the pack with speeds of over 500 Mbps, with Malaysia’s median download performance at 512.10 Mbps and South Korea at 503.99 Mbps. This is a great achievement for Malaysia, which launched its 5G three and a half years after South Korea and caught up. to them in performance. There are notable differences in the communications environments between the two countries. The Malaysian government has adopted a nationwide single wholesale network (SWN) approach for its 5G deployment plan. Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) was established in 2021 to build and operate 5G network infrastructure and provide 5G services at wholesale prices to mobile network operators. South Korea has long been at the forefront of mobile technology and has one of the highest internet penetration rates in the world. As a result of its early efforts in 5G development, South Korea became the first market in the world to launch a commercial 5G network.
During the same period, median 5G download speeds exceeded 200 Mbps in Singapore, India, New Zealand, China, and Australia. By comparison, of the European countries mentioned, only France recorded speeds above 200 Mbps, while Italy, Germany, the UK, and Spain had median download speeds of less than 150 Mbps.
5G availability and deployment varies by region
5G availability (the percentage of users with 5G-enabled devices who spend most of their time accessing 5G networks) varied widely across Asia Pacific in the first half of 2023. Factors such as access to low-band spectrum, 5G affordability and availability devices will impact the reported 5G availability in each market. An analysis based on data from Speedtest Intelligence found that Hong Kong stands out as the only country analyzed with 5G availability exceeding 40%, reaching 42.3% in the first half of 2023. One reason is the city’s high population density, with 5G coverage reaching more than 90. % of the population, and 5G smartphone penetration is high, with Counterpoint Research reporting 78% in the first quarter of 2023.
Despite Australia having an area 78 times larger than South Korea and having one of the lowest population densities, both countries reported similar 5G usage rates at around 36.6%. Counterpoint Research reported that 5G smartphone penetration is over 80% in both countries, with South Korea at 88% and Australia at 82%. Across European markets, France, Spain, Germany and the UK ranged from 20% to 30%. Similarly, Thailand also falls within this range for him at 26.8%.
Based on GSMA Intelligence Q2 2023 data, measured as 5G connections as a percentage of total connections, South Korea, China and Japan lead in 5G adoption, with some European countries surveyed in this report It is higher than the market. South Korea’s 5G connections totaled 31.3 million connections, accounting for more than 48% of all mobile connections in the country, while China boasted more than 700 million 5G connections, representing 41% of connections. . Other early 5G adopters in the region, such as Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia, have seen significant increases in total 5G connections compared to the previous year. In Japan, 5G connections increased by 76% from Q2 2022 to Q2 2023 to 60.8 million connections. Hong Kong’s connections increased by 65% to 4.8 million, while Australia’s connections increased by almost 40% over the same period at 8.8 million.
Seoul and Kuala Lumpur are the top cities in Asia Pacific for 5G speeds.
Considering that both Malaysia and South Korea are ahead of their peers in 5G performance, it is no surprise that their capitals similarly ranked first in the selected city rankings. In the first half of 2023, the median download speed in Seoul was 533.95 Mbps, while the median download speed in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur was 523.44 Mbps. Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB), Malaysia’s designated 5G wholesale provider, reported 90% 5G coverage in densely populated areas (COPA) across Kuala Lumpur as of the end of 2022.
India’s Delhi and Mumbai fared well in city speed rankings despite being among the newest markets to launch 5G. Both cities reported median download speeds of over 300 Mbps in the first half of 2023, with Delhi at 357.43 Mbps and Mumbai at 319.45 Mbps. Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, and Delhi are showing 5G performance that is on par with or better than established 5G markets in the region, but their 5G networks are still relatively new. As a result, as expected, these cities have lower 5G availability than others.
Metro Manila, home to one-third of the Philippines’ population, had the lowest median download speed of all cities in this report for the first half of 2023 at 135.51 Mbps. During the same period, his 5G usage rate in Metro Manila was reported to be 35.7%, slightly lower than Seoul (35.9%) and Sydney (39.2%).
Bridging the digital divide with 5G FWA
The benefits of 5G go beyond just faster speeds compared to 4G. It also helps bring connectivity to underserved areas. Developed markets in Asia Pacific are leading the way in ultra-fast fixed fiber broadband, but internet connectivity is expensive, unavailable or inadequate in parts of the region. In these underserved areas, many people rely on mobile devices to access the Internet. According to GSMA Intelligence, mobile broadband networks are accessible to over 96% of the population and are the main choice for internet access in many households.
In some markets, mobile operators see 5G, and in particular 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) services, as a viable alternative to traditional fixed broadband. Although FWA is not a new concept, the use of 5G technology is expected to accelerate its growth, especially in areas where the deployment of high-speed fixed broadband networks is not economically viable. According to GSMA Intelligence, nearly three in five users who have upgraded or are planning to upgrade to 5G are attracted to the idea of using their 5G for home broadband. FWA is becoming one of the key 5G use cases for carriers, providing opportunities to increase revenue and monetize network investments and radio spectrum.
The Asia-Pacific region is seeing increased adoption of 5G FWA, led by Southeast Asia. In 2019, Globe Telecom of the Philippines became the first country in the region to launch its FWA. Other regional carriers have also started offering his FWA services, such as Indonesia’s Telkomsel and Thailand’s AIS. In New Zealand, carriers plan to offer FWA to 90% of the population by the end of 2023.
5G FWA shows promising growth potential, but as 5G deployments increase in networks, carriers need to ensure they have the capacity to support their FWA services and spectrum to ensure quality. there is. As the demand for 5G FWA services increases, a carrier may need to consider utilizing mmWave spectrum to maintain the quality of his FWA services while preserving network capacity.
We will closely monitor the progress and effectiveness of 5G deployment across the Asia-Pacific region. If you’re interested in performance benchmarking or want to learn more about internet speed and performance in other markets around the world, visit the Speedtest Global Index.™.
