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Korea’s status as an “internet superpower” is a thing of the past.

With communication companies banging on about transitioning away from communications, focusing only on making money while neglecting investments in advancing communication networks, Korean internet speeds — once the fastest in the world — are no longer even in the world’s top 30.

Given that the capacity and quality of communication networks are the base on which online services and the digital content industry develop, critics note that the drop in speed could harm the development of domestic online services and render less effective the Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s digital transition policy, a government priority.

According to the internet speed measuring site Speedtest on Tuesday, Korea’s average broadband download speed was 171.12 megabits per second (Mbps) as of November, ranking 34th in the world.

Korea’s ranking dropped from No. 2 in 2019 to No. 4 in 2020 and No. 7 in 2021, but last year, it plummeted 27 places.

Korea’s internet speed ranking has dropped precipitously over the last couple of months alone.

According to the Speedtest’s survey from August, quoted in a white paper published by the National Information Society Agency late last month, Korea’s average broadband download speed was 210.72 Mbps, making it 19th in the world.

In just three months, download speeds basically fell by 40 Mbps, with the ranking dropping 15 places.

As of November, Monaco had the world’s fastest average broadband download speed at 320.08 Mbps, followed by Singapore (295.78 Mbps), Chile (291.62 Mbps), Hong Kong (285.25 Mbps) and Switzerland (278.40 Mbps).

Internet speeds in these leading countries are twice as fast as Korea’s.

In the industry, people attribute the drop in Korea’s internet speed rankings to the fact that Korea built its internet network first using poorer quality hybrid fiber coaxial cables (HFC), while countries that started later built their networks with faster fiber optic cables.

Critics also say telecom companies have neglected to invest in communication networks as they pursue post-communications strategies, with the government ignoring the problem.

This is to say, even if companies had little choice but to use HFCs in the beginning, they should have advanced their networks in accordance with technological trends, including replacing their networks with fiber optic cables.

Looking at the operating profits and capital expenditures (CAPEX) trends of Korea’s big three telecom companies over the last four years, one sees that while operating profits have skyrocketed, CAPEX have relatively declined.

In fact, if one excludes investment in 5G mobile networks, capital expenditures in wired networks — the backbone of the system — have diminished even further.

An employee of one telecom company said since companies make large-scale investments with the introduction of new telecom networks such as LTE in 2012 and 5G in 2019, investment totals necessarily decrease during other times.

The government has practically ignored the issue, too.

In a telephone conversation with the Hankyoreh, an official from the Ministry of Science and ICT said it’s natural for telecom companies to increase their investment when launching new business models and to decrease it when those models stabilize.

“With domestic telecom companies making brisk investments prioritizing wireless fiber optics [over wired networks], the quality of wireless services is relatively superior,” he said.

However, in contrast to the government’s explanation, Korea’s wireless internet is dropping in the rankings, too.

As of November, Korea’s average mobile internet speed was 245.58 Mbps, third in the world.

This was one place below where it ranked in November of 2021, when it ranked second in the world

Last November, the country with the fastest mobile internet was the United Arab Emirates, with an average speed of 323.10 Mbps.

Qatar placed second at 310.17 Mbps.

By Chung In-seon, staff reporter

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