Why has South Korea's Internet speed been ranked first in the world for many years? Domestic operators should really learn from this

While Chinese netizens are still complaining about the frustratingly slow Internet speed, South Korea, across the sea, has long been among the world's fastest in Internet speed.

Recently, Akamai, the world's largest CDN service provider, released a list of countries and regions with the fastest Internet speeds in the world. The report shows that South Korea is still the country with the fastest average Internet speed in the world, at 28.6 Mbps. The average Internet speed in mainland China is 7.6Mbps, ranking 74th.

Start early, go fast

South Korea started its network construction early. At the end of the last century, South Korea elevated the construction of high-quality networks to a national strategy, encouraging network operators to provide broadband access to every home, school, and government office to achieve "fiber to the home", and providing financial subsidies and policy support. It has invested billions of dollars in the construction of fiber optic trunk networks, and basic network facilities have developed rapidly under the promotion of the government.

In 2005, South Korea had already achieved basic universalization of 100M broadband access, and currently the broadband coverage rate in South Korea has reached 97% of the total population. At the same time, South Korea's small land area and relatively concentrated population distribution provide favorable objective conditions for the construction and maintenance of South Korea's network infrastructure.

Competition is sufficient, and people are afraid of being behind others

Similar to my country, South Korea also has three major telecom operators - SK Telecom, KTF and LGT, but South Korea also has a very strict anti-monopoly system. The telecommunications regulatory authorities stipulate that the user share of the three telecom operators must basically be maintained at a fixed ratio of 5:3:2.

In 2010, the South Korean government introduced the mobile virtual operator system, and more than 30 companies were issued licenses, which was equivalent to putting a large number of "catfish" into the telecommunications market. However, the domestic market in South Korea is small, and with many competitors fighting each other in the "fish pond", if you cannot provide faster broadband, you will face the risk of being eliminated, which undoubtedly increases the degree of market competition.

Benefit from a virtuous cycle

The fierce market has also prompted operators to open up multiple fronts. Thanks to the penetration of the Internet into industries such as commerce, finance, entertainment, education, transportation, and medical care, Korean operators not only rely on providing network services to users to generate revenue, but can also obtain new sources of profit through a large number of value-added services.

Take the rapid development of video on demand in South Korea in recent years as an example. Its charges have contributed about 20% of the revenue of South Korea's broadband business. The huge dividends created by the Internet economy have enabled operators to increase investment in network infrastructure, thereby improving the network and optimizing services, forming a virtuous circle.

Experiences of improving internet speed around the world

Take Hong Kong as an example. Although Hong Kong has a dense population, it has a developed economy and has high standards for Internet speed. There is fierce competition among multiple operators, and with strong support from the government, Internet construction has always been ahead of the mainland.

On the other hand, governments of various countries under the Internet wave attach importance to the quality of network services in their own countries and elevate broadband construction to a national strategic level, which is a powerful driving force for the growth rate of the Internet.

The Japanese government has promoted high-speed broadband in a national strategic manner, providing interest-free loans and financial subsidies to telecom operators to develop fiber-optic businesses; in Sweden, where broadband network coverage is almost 100%, the government has incorporated broadband construction, IT industry development, and the use of the Internet to provide more services to society into the digital process; in 2013, the Dutch government passed Europe's first network neutrality law, which explicitly requires Internet operators to treat all types of network traffic equally and not to hinder or slow down them.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.