K-ICT Free Band

 

The Korean government has decided to provide an additional 8 gigahertz (GHz) multipurpose spectrum to encourage new information and communications technology (ICT) buinesses, which is expected to contribute to creating a 48 trillion won (US$42.9 billion) worth of new businesses by 2020.

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said on June 25 that it would add the 8 GHz multipurpose spectrum, dubbed the “K-ICT Free Band,” which is available in the frequency band from hundreds of MHz up to hundreds of GHs, to the existing 7 GHz bandwidth.

The K-ICT Free Band can be used freely without any permission or notice once users meet minimum technological requirements to avoid radio signal interference. Ordinary spectrums are allocated for a specific purpose. But multipurpose spectrums like K-ICT Free Band can be used more freely to accommodate more diverse uses without complicated approval procedure. Korea has allowed only the 7 GHz bandwidth between 57 GHz and 64 GHz for the multipurpose spectrum, compared with the United States' 10.5 GHz and Europe's 15.2 GHz bandwidths.

The government’s decision to provide additional spectrum is made to meet rising demand from new network-based services such as the fifth-generation (5G) network, telemedicine, and the Internet of Things (IoT), which will generate 48 trillion won (US$43.18 billion) in income by 2020. The government plans to allocate the new spectrua for long-range IoT services, 5G mobile networks, high-quality video transmissions, telemedicine services, and security systems.
The ministry said that more than 7,000 jobs in the IoT sector will be created every year in producing, distributing, and maintaining 180 million smart metering devices nationwide. It also expects that the new spectrum will contribute to the growth of the domestic smart home market, which is expected to reach 37.5 trillion won (US$33.5 billion) in value by 2020, up from last year’s 8.7 trillion won (US$7.8 billion).

In the mobile network sector, the additional spectrum can accommodate radio frequency motion sensors and smaller base stations called small cells, said the ministry. Small cells are used to cover network blind spots indoors or in remote areas, and have been considered as one of the key technologies for a 5G network.

The ministry said that the global market for next-generation small cells will grow to U$24.9 billion in 2020, up from US$4.6 billion in 2013. It also forecast that the domestic market for small cells will reach 503 billion won (US$449 million) by then.

Copyright © BusinessKorea. Prohibited from unauthorized reproduction and redistribution