All specifications for the PyeongChang 5G pilot service unveiled, forming a 5G ecosystem centered on South Korea
KT, Korea's Representative 5G Leader, Leads 5G Standard Standardization Under Korean Leadership

KT announced that it would lead the global 5G ecosystem with South Korea at its center.

Since Chairman Hwang Chang-kyu announced the vision for 5G at MWC 2015, KT has been developing common 5G standards with major global manufacturers for the world's first 5G pilot service, jointly verifying key 5G technologies and systems, and continuously carrying out cooperative activities with global organizations to lead 5G standardization.

KT opened a 'KT 5G Service' web page on its official website (http://www.kt.com/biz/kt5g_01.jsp) and released the 'KT 5G-SIG (Special Interest Group, 5G Standards Council) Specification' document on the 8th, which was developed together with global equipment/chip manufacturers such as Nokia, Samsung Electronics, Intel, and Qualcomm.

The 'KT 5G-SIG standard' is a communication standard used for the 5G pilot service at the '2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games' and includes key 5G requirements and core technical elements from global standards organizations such as the ITU and 3GPP. With the release of this standard, domestic small and medium-sized enterprises and university research institutes will be able to conduct preliminary research in the fields of 5G repeaters, components, and devices, which is expected to foster 5G technological capabilities and enable the expansion of an ecosystem centered on South Korea.

▲ KT Network Division Head, Vice President Oh Seong-mok.
 
The 'KT 5G Service' webpage is designed to provide brief explanations of key 5G technologies and allow anyone to download and view the full 'KT 5G-SIG Specification' document. Additionally, users can view the status of KT's major system and terminal development activities, as well as technical experiment results contributed to major international organizations such as 3GPP.

This is the first time that the entire 'KT 5G-SIG specification' has been disclosed to all operators, excluding Verizon, with whom KT signed an MOU for 5G wireless technology cooperation last June, and joint developers (Nokia, Samsung Electronics, Intel, Qualcomm, etc.). KT anticipated that, given the situation where global 5G standards have not yet been finalized, major overseas telecommunications companies and equipment/chip manufacturers would need to utilize the 'KT 5G-SIG specification' as their respective 5G testing standards, leading to the standardization of 5G centered on South Korea.

The 2018 PyeongChang 5G pilot service declared the 5G era in 2019

KT plans to lead a new era by showcasing a successful 5G pilot service at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics based on the 'KT 5G-SIG standard' and commercializing 5G for the first time in the world in 2019. Accordingly, on October 26, the world's first '5G First Call' (first data transmission) was successfully completed with Samsung Electronics using the 'KT 5G-SIG standard,' and on the 3rd, 5G base station and terminal interoperability testing began with Nokia.

In addition, KT has been conducting '5G virtualization core network verification' since October to enable the open combination of software and hardware from multiple manufacturers on the 5G network for the successful 5G pilot service of the '2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games'.

Samsung Electronics and Nokia are participating in this verification process. Both companies' equipment has been implemented in a virtual form to verify whether services capable of satisfying 5G network requirements such as hyper-connectivity, ultra-broadband, and ultra-low latency are possible.

Once the '5G virtualization core network verification' is completed, solutions from various manufacturers can be accommodated on a single general-purpose infrastructure, which has the advantage of enabling the rapid launch of new services and facilitating the expansion of the 5G network infrastructure in response to fluctuations in demand.

Global manufacturers such as Samsung, Nokia, and Intel, which are collaborating with KT, plan to complete the development of 5G base stations, terminals, and core network equipment to be used for the 5G pilot service at the '2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics' by the end of the year. KT will utilize this to build a 5G test network during the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games test event in February 2017.

Furthermore, through the 5G pilot service at the '2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics,' KT plans to verify core 5G network technologies and services in a real-world environment, incorporate the 'KT 5G-SIG specifications' into the 5G standards of major standards organizations such as 3GPP, and provide commercial 5G services based on this in 2019.

Executive Vice President Jeon Hong-beom, Head of KT Infra Research Institute, is explaining the technology included in the 'KT 5G-SIG Standard'.

As a representative 5G leader of South Korea, KT plans to lead 5G standardization under the leadership of South Korea, rather than Europe, the United States, or Japan, through active global activities and proactive technology development. Starting with a proposal for 5G standardization research fields at the regular meeting of 'ITU-T SG13 (Next Generation Network Study Group)' last year, KT spearheaded the establishment of the 'ITU-T IMT-2020 Focus Group (5G International Standard Development Group).' As a result, the draft international standard for 5G network management proposed by KT in March 2016 received ITU-T approval for the first time in the world.

In addition, since announcing its 5G Vision at the 3GPP 5G Workshop in September 2015, KT has submitted 92 contributions to date to incorporate key technologies of the 'KT 5G-SIG specifications' into 3GPP standards.

In recognition of these achievements, KT was elected on the 2nd as the vice chairman of the 13th Study Group of the ITU-T at the 16th World Telecommunication Standard Assembly (WTSA) held in Tunisia, North Africa.

KT stated that the 13th Study Group is responsible for developing international standards for future communication networks at the ITU-T and is in charge of the international standardization of the latest technologies such as 5G, cloud computing, and big data, which has allowed South Korea to secure an advantageous position in the competition for 5G international standardization.

When 5G international standards are established under the leadership of South Korea, it will be possible to build commercial 5G networks faster than in Europe and the United States based on a nationwide fiber optic network without dispersing the capabilities of manufacturers, and domestic small and medium-sized enterprises that have conducted preliminary research can expand more smoothly into overseas markets.

"Since the formation of the 5G standards consultative body led by KT last November, the development of base stations, terminals, and core network equipment based on KT 5G-SIG standards has been progressing smoothly," said Seo Chang-seok, Senior Vice President and Head of KT Network Strategy Division. "We will continue to lead global manufacturers to ensure the successful preparation for the 5G Olympics and to solidify our position as the leading operator in the 5G technology field."

Jeon Hong-beom, Executive Vice President and Head of KT Infra Research Institute, said, “5G international standardization is an important activity for leading 5G technology and is one of the tasks we have devoted the most effort to this year,” adding, “We will take the lead in international standardization to showcase innovative and differentiated technologies in the 5G era.”