Operator speeds up the process to implement its GiGatopia strategy with 5G
South Korean telecom provider KT and France’s Alcatel-Lucent have signed a memorandum of understanding under which the companies will collaborate to test technologies for the eventual introduction of 5G mobile networks.
The collaboration will initially focus on Alcatel-Lucent’s virtualized Radio Access Network technology, which was demonstrated at Mobile World Congress 2015.
The scope of the agreement between the companies includes the development and testing of mobile ultra-broadband access, network functions virtualization and software defined networking technologies for 5G network architectures and interfaces as well as driving interworking and 3GPP standardization activities.
“KT recognizes Alcatel-Lucent as a global leader in vRAN and SDN. We are eager to use their vRAN and SDN technology to help us implement the 5G architecture that we have defined in our GiGatopia Vision,” KT CTO DongMyun Lee said. KT’s GiGatopia initiative involves developing a high-speed converged fixed and mobile network suited for data transport, the “Internet of Things” and customized cloud-based services.
Last year, the South Korean operator announced plans to invest $4 billion to upgrade the company’s network infrastructure to support Gigabyte speeds. The investment will also enable KT to create an IoT platform and deliver convergent services to customers.
KT’s CEO and chairman Hwang Chang-gyu said that the GiGatopia strategy will enable the company to evolve from a network operator to a total provider.
The company is currently offering LTE services across South Korea through spectrum in the 900 MHz and 1,800 MHz bands. The company had initially launched its LTE offering in January 2012.
The operator ended the first quarter of 2015 with a total of 11.43 million subscribers in the LTE segment, up from 8.63 million in the same quarter the previous year. By the end of March, LTE technology accounted for 65.3% of KT’s overall mobile subscriber base. By the end of Q1 2014, LTE represented 52.4% of the total base.
The other two mobile operators in South Korea are SK Telecom and LG Uplus, which initially launched LTE services in the country in July 2011.
