5G Standardization
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) will start a joint study with its Chinese counterpart in the first half of this year to set a global standard for 5G mobile technology. Korea, which is conducting joint research with Japan in the private sector led by the 5G Forum, is planning to lead efforts for 5G standards, mainly in East Asia.
According to industry sources and the government on Feb. 23, the MSIP plans to embark on joint research for 5G standards during the first half of this year, in partnership with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which is in charge of ICT policies in China.
5G is expected to bring about fundamental changes in communications, going beyond the evolution of communications technology mainly with an improvement in speed. 5G could provide at least 1 Gbps of data transmission speeds, and connect people and things with communications. The connection will be possible with software-focused intelligence networks and electromagnetic interference control techniques, which can drastically improve the quality of communications. The global communications industry and governments around the world are competing to take the initiative in 5G standards so that they can dominate 5G tech, which is forecast to be commercialized in five years.
Joint research between South Korea and China was made possible by the MSIP's efforts through ministerial level meetings with officials from the Chinese government starting from last year. The two countries are planning to undertake a joint study after selecting two to three areas for 5G tech.
Both nations plan to cooperate so that original technologies secured through this joint study can be included in the draft of 5G Vision, which will be announced by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in June.
The two countries anticipate that this partnership will help East Asian countries including Korea and China show a strong presence in discussions about global communications standardization led by the U.S. and Europe.