South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT checked the results of upgrading 5G-based Wi-Fi services by the country's three mobile carriers on Incheon Subway lines 1 and 2.

The ministry on Oct. 21 held an event to experience the communication quality of 5G-based subway Wi-Fi on Incheon Subway Line 2 between Unyeon Station and Incheon City Hall Station.

The event was arranged to check improvements on Incheon Subway lines 1 and 2, the first route where all three carriers launched 5G-based subway Wi-Fi. Attendees included Ryu Je-myeong (류제명), the ministry's second vice minister, Lee Hoon-gi (이훈기), a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, Park Chan-dae (박찬대), the mayor of Incheon, Choi Jeong-gyu (최정규), head of Incheon Transportation Corp, officials from the three carriers and 11 members of a public experience group.

Participants travelled by train through seven stations from Unyeon Station to Incheon City Hall Station, using services including web browsing, social networking services and video viewing.

The ministry said the experience showed users could feel faster response times than before when browsing the web and using social media. It said users were able to smoothly use data-intensive services, such as watching high-definition videos without interruptions, even in an environment where many users connected at the same time.

The ministry said it plans to support expanding 5G-based Wi-Fi nationwide based on the results of the service upgrade on the Incheon subway.

Ryu said, "This event was a meaningful opportunity to confirm with the public the results of improving the quality of 5G-based subway Wi-Fi," adding, "We will provide policy support so that 5G-based subway Wi-Fi can be expanded nationwide by cooperating with the three carriers and local transportation corporations."