TTA, the three mobile carriers and ETRI jointly proposed
Open 5G Fronthaul Interface Standard Finalized


It is expected that it will become easier for small and medium-sized telecommunications equipment manufacturers to enter the 5G market.

On the 17th, the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) of Korea confirmed the open 5G fronthaul interface standard jointly proposed by SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus, and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) as the TTA standard at the 97th Information and Communications Standards General Assembly.

This standard is about the fronthaul specifications, which are wired networks that connect the antenna devices (Radio Units; RUs) and distributed base station equipment (Distributed Units; DUs), which are components of the 5G base station (Radio Access Network; RAN). It standardizes specifications that have been different for each manufacturer.

Previously, fronthaul specifications differed for each major telecommunications equipment manufacturer, and base station equipment and solutions were operated primarily by a few manufacturers. However, with the establishment of this open standard, any small or medium-sized equipment manufacturer can easily participate in the development of related equipment.

The importance of fronthaul is significant in 5G networks, which require denser antenna devices and distributed base station equipment than LTE. This standardization is expected to expand the participation of new manufacturers and accelerate future network construction.

SK Telecom's 5GX Technology Group Leader Park Jong-kwan said, "With the establishment of this standard, the barriers to market entry for small and medium-sized enterprises and startups have been lowered," and added, "We will not spare support so that domestic equipment companies can use the domestic market as a stepping stone to advance into overseas markets."

Meanwhile, the standards meeting agreed to establish a new Mobile Communications Technology Committee dedicated to standardizing future mobile communication services, including 5G and 6G. The committee will be comprised of five project groups, and recruitment for these groups will begin soon.