KT, Verizon join hands for 5G standard

KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu, right, poses with Verizon Chairman Lowell McAdam, after signing a partnership over developing core technologies used for fifth-generation (5G) networks, at Verizon headquarters in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, Friday. / Courtesy of KT

By Lee Min-hyung

KT has teamed up with U.S.-based telecommunications giant Verizon, to establish global standards and developing technologies for the fifth-generation (5G) wireless network.

The Korean mobile carrier said Sunday that it has signed a partnership with its U.S. counterpart, as part of its aggressive move to strengthen its global profile ahead of its planned 5G demonstration in 2018.

As the existing long-term-evolution (LTE) network is reaching saturation in the local market, the nation’s leading mobile carriers have spared no efforts in finding next growth engines, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and media businesses.

Given that 5G will be a major building block for all those new revenue sources, KT along with SK Telecom and LG Uplus has continued the hype over their latest accomplishment to build the 5G infrastructure.

In particular, KT hopes the recent partnership speeds up the global standardization of 5G technology.

Under the deal, both firms agreed to cooperate on faster commercialization of the 5G which is expected to come in 2020. Toward the end, setting the 5G standards top the list of the partnership, KT said.

This is not the first time that KT and Verizon have joined hands. In January, chiefs of both companies agreed to collaborate on developing technologies for their next revenue sources ― including the 5G ― earlier this year at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2016.

“Global partnership for the 5G standardization is very crucial ahead of its planned commercialization in 2020, as a single firm or country alone cannot achieve the goal,” KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu said in a statement.

“We are going to offer the optimum 5G services and technologies through the partnership with Verizon,” he added.

The KT chief visited a 5G demonstration zone at Verizon headquarters in New Jersey after he signed a memorandum of understanding with Verizon Chairman Lowell McAdam.

KT is planning to premiere the 5G technology at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018. Verizon is also interested in KT’s 5G millimeter wave technology which the Korean company plans to demonstrate at the international sports event.

Verizon, for its part, is also seeking to establish stable 5G network infrastructure in the United States as early as possible, since it started investing in developing key 5G technologies last year. In 2010, Verizon established the fourth-generation (4G) LTE network infrastructure for the first time in the country.

One of the exact terms of the partnership includes collaboration in developing next-generation network technologies ― such as software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) ― both of which are called the building blocks for the next wired and wireless businesses.

SDN and NFV enable telecom operators to reduce their reliance on hardware-based network equipment and shift their focus to software- and server-based infrastructure, according to KT.

The company said the technologies are expected to be more widely adopted in such areas as networks for the 5G and cloud data centers and network systems for enterprises.