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| Oh Seong-mok, president of KT's network business, speaks at a press conference at the firm's Gwanghwamun building in downtown Seoul, Thursday, stressing the firm will launch commercial 5G network services early next year based on its successful provision of the 5G trial service at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. / Courtesy of KT |
By Jun Ji-hye
KT's preparations are in full swing to commercialize the fifth-generation (5G) wireless network by next March, before any other telecommunications companies in the world, a head of the firm's network sector said Thursday.
Oh Seong-mok, president of KT's network business, said during a press conference in Seoul the firm had successfully provided the world-first 5G network trial service during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics last month.
During the Games, KT provided four 5G-driven visual technologies _ sync view, interactive time slice, 360-degree virtual reality live broadcasting and omni-point view _ sending various quality video clips in real time to viewers. The firm also showcased a 5G-connected autonomous bus at PyeongChang.
Based on those experiences, the firm's project to launch commercial 5G services early next year is going smoothly, Oh said.
"KT kept its promise, made three years ago, to showcase the world's first 5G network trial service at PyeongChang," Oh said. "I can promise KT will show perfect 5G network services in March 2019 by utilizing its 5G technology and knowhow accumulated so far."
At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) held in Barcelona last year, KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu announced his company's goal to commercialize its 5G network by 2019, surprising industry leaders who expected 5G services to be commercialized around 2020.
Next-generation 5G networks are expected to boast speeds up to 100 times faster than current long-term evolution (LTE) networks and allow data transmission speeds 40 to 50 times faster than the current generation.
According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the key requirement for 5G technology is it must back 1 million connected devices per square kilometer, and the total download capacity for a single 5G mobile phone must be at least 20Gbps.
Since the chairman's announcement, KT, the nation's biggest fixed-line internet operator and the second-largest mobile carrier, has made consistent efforts to grab the leadership in the global 5G competition, at a time when its two domestic competitors _ SK Telecom and LG Uplus _ as well as U.S.-based Verizon and AT&T are also racing to provide 5G services before their competitors.
In support of Korean companies' goal of leading the global 5G competition, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced late last year it would hold a frequency auction in June 2018, a year earlier than initially planned.
Oh said KT's goal is to implement perfect 5G services for mobile phones that work on a nationwide network.
"True 5G services should guarantee mobility and coverage," Oh said.
But he added the 5G service at the early stages of commercialization would be only in some major cities before expanding to all parts of the country.
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