5G-based industries by 2030
Projected to contribute $8 trillion to global GDP
47% of Korean companies accelerate 5G adoption despite COVID-19.


It is projected that 5G-based industries will add approximately $8 trillion, or approximately 9,187 trillion won in Korean currency, to global GDP by 2030.

Nokia announced this on the 12th through the '5G Business Readiness' report, which was prepared based on a survey of 1,628 decision makers from six industries in eight countries, including Korea, in collaboration with Nokia Bell Labs.

According to the report, 30% of domestic companies have currently deployed 5G, and 10% are already expanding. However, based on the 5G Maturity Index, 48%, or roughly half of the total, remain in the intermediate stage, while 13% remain in the basic stage.

There was some variation in understanding of 5G among domestic companies. Only 21% of domestic companies are currently investing in 5G. However, when asked about their 5G investment plans within the next ten years, 94% of respondents said they planned to invest. The report cited fierce market competition as the reason for this. Forty-six percent of domestic decision-makers who responded to the survey said they would fall behind in the competition if they did not invest in 5G.

Domestic companies' interest in 5G was evident even within their own organizations. Thirty-six percent of domestic technology decision-makers said they had a dedicated 5G planning team within their companies. When asked about 5G strategy, 48% of technology decision-makers said they already had a long-term 5G strategy in place, while only 8% said they had no 5G-related strategy in place.

Lee Jun-seong, CTO of Nokia Korea, said, “The results of this survey show that 47% of domestic companies are actually increasing their investment in technology, such as promoting digital transformation, in response to the era of contactless communication brought about by COVID-19.”

He said, “Although there are differences of opinion among domestic companies about the potential and benefits that the 5G era will bring, expectations and outlook for 5G technology are generally positive,” and “Even considering the premium of being the first in the world to commercialize 5G, domestic companies’ understanding of and investment in 5G far exceeds the global average.”

◇ 5G Maturity Index

The 5G Maturity Index is divided into five stages: ▲ Stage 1: Passive. This stage involves no formal consideration of 5G deployment, and even senior-level organizations do not recognize the need for 5G. ▲ Stage 2: Discovery. This stage involves exploring the benefits of 5G and gathering relevant data to determine if deployment cases exist. ▲The 3rd phase of the plan (Planning) is the phase where senior level agreements are made to establish 5G or lay the foundation for the future, and actual construction work is currently underway.

▲Stage 4: Implementation (Implementation) refers to the process of physically building 5G hardware and software, which has begun or is complete, and 5G is already in use or will be launched within the next six months. ▲Stage 5: Expansion (Expansion) refers to the stage where companies, after successfully deploying 5G, aim to expand operations more broadly based on positive results. Among domestic companies, 2% are in Stage 1: Passive, 11% in Stage 2: Discovery, 48% in Stage 3: Planning, 30% in Stage 4: Implementation, and 10% in Stage 5: Expansion.