ICT Minister Choi Ki-young visited South Korea’s 5G equipment manufacturer OE Solutions’ facility on Monday as part of the government’s efforts to encourage small and medium-sized firms here.

OE Solutions is a local supplier of optical transceiver solutions for both wired and wireless network equipment. It provides parts to major players in the market, including Samsung, Ericsson and Huawei.

“The nation’s efforts to become the first in the world to provide 5G network services were undertaken to nurture local companies like OE Solutions,” ICT Minister Choi said during his visit to the company’s production line in Gwangju, South Jeolla Province.

The earnings of OE Solutions skyrocketed after the nation introduced 5G services in April 2019. The company’s sales jumped to 210 billion won in 2019 from 81.4 billion won, having increased about 2 1/2 times. Its operating profit increased about 160 times to 58.2 billion won in 2019, from 0.3 billion won in 2018.

“The government will continue to ramp up efforts to help local companies to enter international markets,” Choi added.

By Shim Woo-hyun (ws@heraldcorp.com)