KT bets big on 5G global standards

KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu delivers a keynote speech during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, March 3, 2015. Hwang pledged to push for leadership in fifth-generation telecom technologies. / Courtesy of KT

By Yoon Sung-won

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecom World 2017 is presenting diverse applications based on the latest telecom technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT). It is the world's largest telecom fair jointly attended by the public and private sectors.

This year's Telecom World is also drawing attention as telecom enterprises worldwide compete for leadership in building their fifth-generation (5G) network technologies and establishing them as global standards.

KT also said one of its biggest goals at Telecom World 2017 is to introduce its own 5G network technologies to officials from the international telecom industry body.

"We will run a session called KT Partner to introduce our 5G telecom technologies that we plan to launch for the first in the world by 2019," a KT official said. "This will appeal to industry officials from around the world, as our technologies deserve to be global standards."

The telecom company said its scenario to provide 5G network-based visual services including 360-degree live virtual reality and their technological requirements have been adopted for the draft of 5G global standards.

KT started its drive for the 5G network services business in 2015, under its Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu. Hwang made this clear in his keynote address at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in March 2015.

Since then, the company has repeatedly stressed that its goal is to make its 5G technology the global standard for international standardization bodies such as the Third-Generation Partnership Project.

KT initiated the race for 5G technologies by setting up a dedicated research and development facility at its main laboratory. At the same time, it has participated in the global discussion through the ITU on how to standardize 5G network technologies, which have not been materialized.

The international telecom body needs standards on services and network connections that all device makers and mobile carriers can use. The ITU plans to complete the 5G global standards by 2020.

Engineers from KT and Samsung Electronics conduct data transmission testing over a fifth-generation telecom network at the electronics company's laboratory in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Oct. 16. / Courtesy of KT

In November 2015, KT joined the 5G Special Interest Group with Samsung Electronics, Intel, Qualcomm, Nokia and Ericsson to discuss and develop 5G global standards.

In June 2016, the group agreed upon a preliminary standardization for the 5G demonstration services that they will showcase during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in 2018.

Though these are preliminary rules set by enterprises, not by the ITU, the 5G standards for the PyeongChang Olympics includes multiple core 5G network technologies that meet ITU's technological requirements, according to KT.

"We released our 5G standards for PyeongChang through our website in November 2016. As the ITU has not fixed the global standards yet, we believe the information can be useful for many telecom companies and network equipment makers around the world for testing and demonstration. It will also facilitate the expansion of the 5G technology ecosystem as a whole," the KT official said.

Last October, KT worked with Samsung Electronics to successfully demonstrate 5G data transmission following the preliminary 5G standards for PyeongChang, the company said. They have also been chosen as the tentative 5G standards by the Telecommunications Technology Association of Korea this June.

Cooperating with its smaller partners, KT also completed development of a 5G network repeater for the demonstration service at the Olympics next year. This device is designed to stabilize network service coverage indoors.

Models introduce visual content delivered through KT's fifth-generation network system on a bus driving around Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, Dec. 13. / Courtesy of KT

KT plans to boost cooperation with global manufacturers to improve 5G devices and base station equipment before it starts establishing the final network infrastructure for the Olympics in February 2018.

"KT has successfully provided network infrastructure and services for major international sporting events here such as the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup and the 2011 International Amateur Athletic Federation World Championships in Daegu," the official said. "We will continue pushing for the successful demonstration of the world's first 5G services at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics."

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