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A commotion erupted at South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and three major telecommunications companies on the evening of Apr. 3 as they sought to avoid losing out on bragging rights on rolling out the world’s first 5G smartphones. Hearing word that the US company Verizon had moved up its scheduled rollout date from Apr. 11, the three telecoms rushed forward their own schedules in order to stage a publicity stunt at 11 pm on Apr. 3. Amid the fierce domestic and global competitions over 5G, both the government and companies have been scrambling.

According to accounts on Apr. 4 from MSIT and the telecoms, officials with the ministry and companies convened a meeting at around 5 pm on Apr. 3 after receiving a tip that Verizon was moving its 5G smartphone release data to Apr. 4 (US time). The tip was reportedly received from related businesses. Having put their heads together amid the push to claim the “world’s first” title, they set to work, with MSIT and the telecoms deciding to move up their own rollout date.

An emergency stock of Samsung Electronics Galaxy S10 5G smartphones was acquired, and the telecoms resubmitted documents to effectively change the starting date for service changed from Apr. 5 to Apr. 3. In the end, they were able to pull off the surprise rollout before the clock struck midnight. On Apr. 3 – rather than the originally announced Apr. 4 – Verizon announced its first subscriber in Chicago and Minneapolis, with a 5G model attached like a battery pack to a Motorola device.

MSIT claimed that South Korea “beat it by two hours,” but the jury is still out.

Sources differed on the question of who was first to propose the late-night surprise operation – an unusual situation in which both the telecoms and government are declining to take credit for being the world’s first by two hours.

“We moved up the rollout because the telecoms already had their service plans and devices ready, and we figured there was no need to wait,” a MSIT source said.

“With communications technology subject to international standardization since 4G, the question of who was first and the levels of subscribers and coverage end up serving a business reference,” the source explained.

“Overseas telecoms are going to be referring a lot to South Korea’s telecoms as precedents, so the ‘world’s first’ title isn’t something we should view lightly,” the source said. Representation by the foreign press was unusually large at talks with reporters organized by the different telecoms to announce their 5G services.

The rollout date had already been delayed once before. After the three telecoms sent out the first 5G signals on Dec. 1 of last year, the date of commercialization with mobile phones was set to coincide with the domestic launch of the Galaxy S10 5G in late March. That date was eventually moved back to Apr. 5 amid delays in device stabilization efforts by Samsung Electronics.

In addition to the rollout date, service plans have also undergone some fluctuation. SKT was dealt an unexpected refusal from MSIT when it sought approval for terms of service with generally high rates; after KT presented its own unlimited service plan, LGU+ and SK Telecom, which had already set their own rates, followed suit. On Apr. 4, LGU+ introduced a special rate providing 200GB a month at a cost of 85,000 won (US$74.81), with plans to provide conditional unlimited service through the end of the year.

The three telecoms have voiced their displeasure over having to scramble to provide unlimited service plans. From their standpoint, widespread availability of unlimited service plans from the beginning will make it difficult to present different rates in the future or recover from massive investments.

But Meritz Securities analyst Jeong Ji-su said, “The unlimited service plans are appealing enough from an ordinary consumer’s perspective that they may be able to bring about a faster shift toward 5G subscription than the market has been anticipating.”

By Park Tae-woo, staff reporter

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