Technical issues must be addressed before roll-out of 5G services
- City needs to be patient and learn from the experience of South Korea that now labours with weak signals and poor connections after rushing ahead
Hong Kong prides itself on the quality of its infrastructure, an important selling point for attracting foreign firms and talent. The speed at which South Korea has rolled out next-generation 5G telecoms networks, with the mainland, Japan and Australia planning to follow next year, gives the impression we are being left behind. But it is claimed to be on track, the auctioning this week of the latest batch of spectrum to four mobile phone operators making a debut possible next April. We should not be impatient, though; as South Koreans found, technical issues need to be properly resolved to ensure smooth service.
Telecoms networks built on 5G have immense potential for business applications and are essential for Hong Kong to become a smart city. Faster speeds, increased capacity and low latency will enable innovations such as precise traffic management, autonomous transport and integration of household goods. Consumers will benefit through quicker download times, improved health services and swifter e-commerce, among much else. The government is well aware of the advantages and has set aside more than eight times the existing spectrum used by current telecoms services.
Our city is fortunate in that it has not fallen prey to United States pressure to ban the Chinese tech giant Huawei, the world leader in 5G technology and equipment. A number of US allies have been forced to shun the company on unproven security grounds, but Germany recently rejected the claim, contending to shut the firm out would lead to years of delay in 5G roll-out and billions of dollars in added costs. Hong Kong can therefore have the best available infrastructure and products. But the experience of South Korea shows why there has to be careful planning.
About 75 per cent of the world’s 5G users live in South Korea, a result of early adoption, generous government subsidies and aggressive marketing by operators. But since the launch of services six months ago, consumers have been less than impressed, the main complaints being weak signals and poor connections. The reason is that 5G requires many more base stations that are more densely distributed than existing ones and services were rolled out before an adequate number had been installed.
Hong Kong authorities will open about 1,000 government premises to operators for base stations, but the industry believes many more sites are necessary. There is also the problem that 5G interferes with satellite earth stations, which for now restricts its use by more than 700,000 people, mostly in Tai Po, Ma On Shan and Stanley. Technical and coverage issues must be properly addressed to ensure the city can efficiently and swiftly make the transition.