South Korea has revealed its plan to launch commercial 6G network service in 2028, two years earlier than initially planned, Korean news outlet Aju Business Daily reported.
The government announced the K-Network 2030 plan that aims to boost private-public cooperation in 6G technology development, innovation, and structuring of the network supply chain.
The country’s Ministry of Science and ICT has also launched a feasibility study for R&D into the core 6G technologies for an investment of $481.7. The plan is to produce materials and telecom gears that will be used for its 6G network. The country wants to make a statement by employing everything of its own to deploy the 6G infrastructure.
The fresh announcement meant that South Korea expedited its plan to launch the next-generation cellular technology ahead of its original schedule. The technology race is unpredictable and the country wants no let-up. The ministry said that the decision to advance the schedule for the 6G launch is that its industrial innovation is not easy to achieve without a global edge in competition. The news also reported that the South Korean government has the plan to establish core technologies for the low orbit satellite communication which is necessary for 6G. Related: Evolution of Mobile Technology (1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G)
In the meantime, the ministry also plans to host a “pre-6G vision fest” where it will demonstrate the output of its research in 6G. Likewise, the government plans to invite global telecom companies, IT firms, experts, and officials from other countries to the flagship event.
Various states and telco equipment providers are also keen on placing an emphasis on 6G development. Japan and US have collaborated to develop core 6G technologies, while ZTE, Nokia, and Huawei are also very active in taking a leap into the 5G-successor cellular technology. But the network is not yet standardized and developers have the challenge to justify their use cases as 5G adoption still remains low.
Now, it’s highly likely that South Korea will launch commercial 6G in 2028 but would you be too eager to jump to it while 5G’s true benefits won’t be realized at least in the next 5 years? do share in the comments.