| Completed application of mesh structure to 5G backbone network
| Traffic is transferred between regions without going through Seoul
| Up to 63% reduction in latency compared to existing LTE

KT introduced a mesh network structure to minimize delay in the backbone network.

KT announced on the 12th that it has completed the application of a 'mesh structure' that directly connects major cities across the country to the 5G backbone network for the first time in Korea to provide high-quality, ultra-low latency 5G services.
5G requires a transmission speed of 20Gbps, which is up to 20 times faster than LTE, and a delay time of 1/10. In order to handle large-capacity traffic with ultra-low delay to meet these 5G requirements, it is important to reduce delay in the wireless network, but the delay in the backbone network that occurs when transmitting traffic between regions across the country cannot be ignored.

To minimize delay in the backbone network and provide high-quality, ultra-low latency 5G services, KT applied a mesh structure to its 5G backbone network for the first time in Korea and significantly reduced inter-regional traffic transmission delay.

The backbone of existing wired and wireless communications, including LTE, does not have a direct connection route between regions due to the traffic processing structure, so when processing traffic between regions, it must go through the metropolitan center. As a result, the traffic transmission distance increases, which inevitably leads to transmission delays. Therefore, the need for a backbone network that is differentiated from the existing LTE has emerged in order to provide high-quality 5G services.

To this end, the mesh structure applied by KT to the 5G backbone network refers to a net-like structure that directly connects major regional centers across the country. When applying the mesh structure, a direct connection path is created between major regional centers across the country, so when transmitting traffic between regions, it is possible to directly process it between regions without going through the metropolitan center, which can drastically reduce transmission delay.

For example, when processing traffic between Busan and Gwangju, the transmission delay was approximately 16ms in the existing backbone network that passes through the metropolitan area, but in the mesh-structured 5G backbone network, the transmission delay is reduced by up to 63% to approximately 6ms.

In addition, since applying the mesh structure diversifies the connection paths between regional centers, it is expected that it will be possible to secure various alternative paths even in the event of a failure in a specific section, thereby improving network survivability and providing more stable 5G services. KT plans to provide high-quality 5G services that maximize the ultra-low latency characteristics of 5G based on the 5G mesh backbone network in the future.

Seo Chang-seok, executive director and head of KT’s Network Strategy Division, said, “KT is making continuous efforts to provide customers with the highest quality 5G network,” and “With the application of this 5G backbone mesh structure, we will provide customers with even more stable, high-quality, ultra-low-latency communication services that they can experience in their daily lives in the 5G era.”