Mobile operators in South Korea had recently announced plans to launch commercial 5G services next year
South Korean mobile operators have plans to share the costs for the deployment of a nationwide 5G network in the Asian country, according to published reports citing government sources.
The initiative reportedly will be carried out by local telcos SK Telecom, KT, LG U+ as well as broadband operator SK Broadband. This shared infrastructure projects had the main aim of avoiding redundant investment in 5G deployments, according to officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT.
The initiative is expected to generate savings of nearly 1 trillion won ($938 million) over the next ten next years, Yonhap News Agency reported.
“Our is goal is to lead the fourth industrial revolution and to support the early commercialization of 5G technology,” said Jun Sung-bae, a senior ICT ministry official.
Last month, KT confirmed plans to launch its commercial 5G network by March 2019.
The operator said that its 5G rollout will not be based on the Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) model currently being pushed forward by U.S telco Verizon. The country’s second largest telco has recently completed a 5G trial during the Winter Olympics Games, which took place in the city of PyeongChang February 9-25.
During the PyeongChang Games, KT Corp. provided five 5G-driven visual technologies including 360-degree virtual reality live broadcasting, omni-point viewing and a 5G-connected bus.
In November 2017, LG U+ signed a partnership with Chinese vendor Huawei to complete a large-scale 5G network test in a pre-commercial environment in Gangnam District, Seoul. The vendor said this network consists of both 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz base stations. The test also helped to successfully verify new technologies including IPTV 4K Video and many other future-proof commercial 5G services. High-speed mobility, dual connectivity, and inter-cell handovers were also validated.
The test results returned average data rates of 1 Gbps over the low band and more than 5 Gbps for dual connectivity over high and low bands. A peak data rate of 20 Gbps and an average data rate of more than 5 Gbps were achieved through dual connectivity over 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz. During the test, a 5G tour bus delivered 5G-based IPTV 4K, and a VR drone was demonstrated in the ‘5G for All’ experience room at the LG U+ headquarters, which required data rates ranging from 20 Mbps to 100 Mbps.
In October 2017, SK Telecom carried out a successful demonstration of network communications in a real-world setting. SK Telecom used an in-building relay repeater operating in both 28 GHz and 3.5 GHz spectrum bands in the trial network at the company’s Bundang office, in Seoul.
The Korean government had announced plans to award 5G spectrum in June this year. The Ministry of Science and ICT said 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz spectrum will be auctioned. The government plans to hold a public hearing this month regarding the 5G spectrum auction.
