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| KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu, third from right, poses with Samsung Electronics' mobile business chief Koh Dong-jin, second from right, and Lee Hee-beom, third from left, the chief of the PyeongChang Organizing Committee, during a ceremony to unveil the telecom company's 5G exhibition hall at Gangneung Olympic Park, Wednesday. At left is Intel Korea President Kwon Myung-sook. / Courtesy of KT |
By Kang Seung-woo
GANGNEUNG, Gangwon Province -- KT, Korea's first official partner of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, said Wednesday that it is fully ready to provide the fifth-generation (5G) trial service for the upcoming sports event.
The announcement came as the nation's second-largest mobile operator unveiled its 5G exhibition hall, located at Gangneung Olympic Park -- the first among partners of the PyeongChang Games, such as McDonald's, Alibaba Group and Visa.
KT plans to take advantage of the trial service for the nation's first Winter Games as a springboard to commercialize 5G technology by early 2019, which would be a first achievement in the hard-fought competition among global telecom firms.
The Winter Olympics is scheduled to kick off on Feb. 9 and run through Feb. 25.
The 5G network is forecast to enable a data transmission speed that is 100 times faster than current networks amid expectations that it will generate a major economic impact.
"The 5G Exhibition Hall, operated by KT during the PyeongChang Olympics, will serve as an opportunity to experience a 5G future in advance," KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu said during the opening ceremony.
"With partners such as Intel and Samsung Electronics, KT will make all efforts not only to provide the world's first 5G trial service in PyeongChang, but also to commercialize the world's first 5G services."
Also attending the meeting were Koh Dong-jin, head of Samsung's mobile business, and Intel Korea President Kwon Myung-sook as well as Chang Byung-gyu, head of the Presidential Committee on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and Lee Hee-beom, chief of the PyeongChang Organizing Committee.
For those who cannot spare time to visit PyeongChang, KT will also open the 5G promotion hall at Gwanghwamun in Seoul to allow visitors to experience the next-generation mobile technology and give them the Olympic site's atmosphere.
After Chairman Hwang announced in March 2015 that it would provide the world's first broad-scale 5G trial service during the PyeongChang Games, KT has strived to bring forward the era of 5G.
In particular, KT has played a leading role in completing the "PyeongChang 5G Trial Specification" and emphasized the role of 5G as key infrastructure for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
To this end, KT has worked together with global companies such as Samsung and Intel and it has paid off.
Last October, KT successfully connected Samsung's 5G device to KT's 5G trial network based on PyeongChang 5G specifications of the stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies and the main stadium of the Olympics _ also the world's first according to the company.
KT has named the two promotion halls as "5G.Connected" in Gangneung and "Gwanghwamun KT live site" in Seoul and the former will run from Feb. 8 to Feb. 25, with the latter in operation from Feb. 9 to Feb. 25.
KT said 5G.Connected is a pentagon shape to symbolize 5G and will contain the history of mobile communication from 1G to 5G and the future that the 5G network will bring.
"Visitors can enjoy the Games more vividly than ever before, and also can experience the 5G network for the first time," a KT official said.
The official also said the promotion hall will allow visitors to experience the torch relay by using its virtual reality technology. At the Seoul pavilion, visitors can enjoy various 5G programs, helping them to gauge the potential of a 5G network.
During the PyeongChang Games, KT aims to provide five 5G-driven visual technologies -- sync view, interactive time slice, 360-degree virtual reality live broadcasting, omni-point view and 5G connected bus.
The sync view allows audiences to watch 3D live performances from a bobsledder's viewpoint. The service comes with a combination of super-small wireless camera and telecom modules, sending quality video in real time over the 5G network.
The interactive time slice is used to send videos of short track speed skaters from multiple angles. With virtual reality hardware, those at home can also enjoy a live visual experience of Olympic matches, according to KT.
The omni-point view service will be available for the cross-country skiing competition, allowing viewers to catch up with a certain athlete's performance -- such as ranking -- in real time.
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