On the 15th at the mountain rescue team building of the Sancheong Fire Station in Sicheon-myeon, Sancheong-gun, South Gyeongsang Province, work was underway to replace USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module) cards in Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) tablet PCs. LG Uplus staff met at the site explained as they replaced the newly developed dedicated USIMs, “The phone number stays the same, and when the network is congested during a disaster, this device connects ahead of regular lines.” One firefighter who heard the explanation reacted positively, saying, “Accidents involving hikers have increased sharply during the vacation season, so this should help with rapid response after being dispatched.” That day, LG Uplus completed USIM replacement work on more than 4,000 firefighting communication devices, finishing with the South Gyeongsang region.
The “Firefighter Priority Connection Service,” which provides stable communication support for firefighters at fire and disaster sites, will be implemented nationwide from late this month ahead of the vacation season. It is expected to enhance response capabilities for major disasters such as monsoon flooding and wildfires.
The service, launched last month, identifies firefighting work lines equipped with dedicated USIMs as priority subscribers on the existing Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network. Even in situations where communication traffic is concentrated, access, calls, and data connections can be processed ahead of regular lines. LG Uplus became the first among telecom carriers to propose the service to the National Fire Agency, creating the first case recognized as meeting the “specialized service” requirements under the Ministry of Science and ICT’s network neutrality guidelines. SK Telecom and KT later joined, and the three telecom carriers divided the work of replacing USIMs in firefighting agency devices nationwide that use their respective networks.
The devices to which the priority connection service applies serve to complement existing radios. Park Sung-pil, head of the Sancheong Fire Station mountain rescue team, explained, “Radios based on the disaster safety communication network (PS-LTE) are used for internal command and operational communication, and AVL is equipment for checking dispatch orders and location information,” adding, “Public mobile phones are essential for communicating with external parties such as victims and medical institutions.” Rescue team members continuously check the location and condition of victims while moving after receiving initial reports and revise their rescue strategies accordingly, making stable communication important.
On May 15, a member of the mountain rescue team at the Sancheong Fire Station in Sancheong County, South Gyeongsang Province, mounts a vehicle Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) terminal equipped with a dedicated SIM for the “Firefighter Priority Access Service” beside the driver’s seat. Photo courtesy of LG Uplus
On May 15, Park Seong-pil, head of the mountain rescue team at the Sancheong Fire Station in Sancheong County, South Gyeongsang Province, speaks in an interview with Seoul Economic Daily. Photo courtesy of LG Uplus
On May 15, members of the mountain rescue team at the Sancheong Fire Station in Sancheong County, South Gyeongsang Province, mount a vehicle Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) terminal equipped with a dedicated SIM for the “Firefighter Priority Access Service” beside the driver’s seat. Photo courtesy of LG Uplus
The service is particularly useful at key rescue bases such as mountain rescue teams. The Sancheong Fire Station mountain rescue team responds to various mountain accidents such as distress, falls, and disappearances in the Jirisan area, and is also deployed to support resident evacuation when wildfires occur. Park said, “With domestic travel demand increasing recently, we carry out mountain rescues once or twice a week, about 120 times a year. This year in particular, the weather has been cooler than average, so the number of hikers has increased significantly,” adding, “When related accidents occur, an organic communication infrastructure is essential to preserve the golden time.”
In addition, the service is expected to be effective even in situations where communication demand is concentrated all at once, such as large-scale regional festivals and monsoon-season flooding. Park said, “During the Haman Nakhwa Nori Festival last year, more than 60,000 people crowded onto a two-lane road, making on-site response difficult,” adding, “If firefighting communications connect first, we will be able to focus more on rescue and suppression activities.”
LG Uplus is also considering ways to expand the coverage of the priority connection service in the future. LG Uplus said, “Stable communication infrastructure is essential for other occupations as well, such as police responding to large-scale protests,” adding, “We plan to continuously expand the role of communications in the public safety field.”