Speed of Thought
5G mobile telecommunications services that are at least 10 times faster than existing ones are expected to be available as early as 2020.
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) announced on June 18 that participants agreed on the draft of the mobile telecommunications vision at the ITU-R WP 5D meeting in San Diego from June 10 to June 18 (local time). It was also decided to set 5G standards by 2020 to realize the vision.
The agreement reflects much of Korea's proposal.
The agreed notion of the 5G mobile communications system is to offer data transmission speeds of up to 20 Gbps and at least 100 Mbps in any place. The maximum transmission speeds are 20 times faster than those offered by the 4G cellular telecommunications system, and the minimum speeds are 10 times faster than currently-available 10Mbps.
An official at the MSIP explained, “The agreed minimum speeds are 100Mbps, but local mobile carriers are aiming to deliver 1Gbps,” adding, “Then, people will be able to download a 10GB UHD movie within 10 seconds.”
In addition, it will be possible to use virtual reality content in real time. Services using holograms or smart home and office services aimed at sharing information will also be available, since all kinds of devices will be connected to each other.
On top of that, it was decided that up to 1 million devices will be allowed to be connected within 1 km2, and only a 1/1,000th of a second of transmission delay will be permitted, 10 times better than what offered by 4G tech.
Attendees also agreed to receive applications for candidate technologies from 2017 in order to commercialize 5G tech by 2020. As a result, the MSIP anticipates that it will be possible to demonstrate pilot 5G services in 2018 for the first time using a candidate technology, when the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games is held.
The government has set a goal to commercialize 5G services in the country by 2020, when 5G standards are expected to be finalized. Through this, Seoul aims to take the initiative in standardizing 5G tech at the international level.
The decision for 5G standardization will be made at the next ITU-R WP 5D meeting in July, and be finally approved by 193 ITU member countries in two months.
As Korea was leading the efforts to complete a report on utilizing frequency bands above 6 GHz for Wi-Fi hot spots, the nation was reportedly able to achieve international consensus on the necessity of discussing the distribution of ultra-high frequency (UHF) bands at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19).
“If frequency bands above 6 GHz are additionally used to realize 5G tech, it will be helpful in dealing with growing mobile data traffic occurring in crowded areas like subway stations or department stores,” said an official at the MSIP.
IMT frequency bands will take effect once the ITU revises rules on radio waves through the WRC. The nation is planning to make an effort to put research on cultivating IMT frequency bands above 6 GHz on the agenda at the first session of the conference preparatory meeting for WRC-19 to be held from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1.