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SK Telecom, South Korea’s dominant mobile carrier, has released a white paper titled “5G Lessons Learned, 6G Key Requirements, 6G Network Evolution, and 6G Spectrum,” in which it criticizes the underwhelming performance of 5G and highlights the lack of a “killer app.” Despite meeting some of the goals set by the UN’s ITU-R for 5G, SK Telecom believes that many tasks remain incomplete even four years into the commercial deployment of the technology. The telco argues that the exaggerated expectations of consumers regarding the potential of 5G were not accurately communicated. It also emphasizes that the incremental improvements of 5G, rather than a massive step change, result in users being less likely to notice the enhancements.

Nevertheless, 5G has achieved certain successes. SK Telecom’s white paper points out a 70% reduction in data cost per gigabyte compared to LTE, leading to a 50% increase in data usage by customers on 5G. Looking ahead to 6G, which is currently in development and expected to debut in 2030, SK Telecom suggests that it can avoid the mistakes of 5G. The telco highlights the importance of collaboration among all participants in the ecosystem to enable expanded use cases, better spectrum management, open interfaces, and simpler architecture options.

The success of 6G will also rely on the advancement of AI and sensing technology. SK Telecom emphasizes that technologies such as autonomous driving, extended reality (XR), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAM), and digital twins will heavily rely on these advancements in the next generation of cellular broadband networks. SK Telecom aims to take the lead in developing 6G technology and contribute to Korea becoming a global leader in ICT.

While SK Telecom’s criticism may ring true, it’s important to note that 5G has still made significant strides. The GSMA reports that by the end of 2022, worldwide 5G consumer connections surpassed one billion and are expected to reach two billion by the end of 2025. The growth is expected to come from markets in Asia Pacific and Latin America, including countries like Brazil and India that are at the early stages of their 5G journeys. Despite the challenges, 5G has had the fastest generational roll-out compared to previous technologies like 3G and 4G, as acknowledged by the GSMA.

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