The 5G bandwagon offers promise - and also challenges

ON APRIL 3, South Korea became the first country in the world to commercially launch nationwide 5G mobile services. The country's three mobile operators went live with data speeds that allow users to download entire movies in less than one second. Two days later, Samsung released the Galaxy S10 5G, the world's first 5G-powered smartphone.

These developments mark a pivotal point in the evolution of 5G from trial phase to commercial reality. In the last year, massive progress has been made - standards have been finalised and operators worldwide are in the process of testing, trialling and rollout in early-stage markets.

Amid these developments and to facilitate the commercial deployment of 5G in Singapore by 2020, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) issued a public consultation on its proposed 5G policy and regulatory framework last week.