promote 5G adoption and deployment by 2020, and in 2017, South Korea released its national broadband and spectrum plan (“K-ICT”) to further promote 5G.[1] In line with the K-ICT plan, South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) has since auctioned over 1,000 MHz of spectrum in the sub-6 and mmWave ranges to its three largest telecommunications providers (SK Telecom, KT Corp, and LG Uplus). South Korea has closely partnered with AT&T and Verizon to develop 5G mmWave networks, but has spread its risk in pursuing both sub-6 and mmWave by making its devices functional in both parts of the spectrum (as in the case of its Exynos 5100 5G modem).[2] AT&T is also working with Samsung to release a cell phone with mmWave and sub-6 capabilities at the end of 2019, but these dual-function devices may have less capability in the United States, given the restricted range of sub-6 spectrum available.
South Korea was able to leverage the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang to showcase its 5G investment and conduct various network trials. South Korean industry already promotes high-intensity competition for 4G and LTE network technologies, which will fuel further rapid development of 5G. SK Telecom currently leads the field in investment and 5G trials, and was also able to acquire the largest amount of spectrum bandwidth in the 2018 MSIT auction, but all three telecoms providers plan to synchronize their launches of 5G cellular service in early 2019 for “Korea 5G Day.” South Korea is well-positioned in the 5G field and will likely continue to be a leader going forward as its major telecoms providers take advantage of their newly-auctioned spectrum bandwidth.
Japan
Japan is following closely behind China, South Korea, and the United States in 5G capability. Japan has not yet auctioned off key parts of its spectrum bandwidth to commercial providers, but has plans to do so in 2019 and is currently developing both mmWave and sub-6 options (mmWave is being applied to limited, densely-populated geographic areas, while sub-6 is being used to cover the rest of the territory). Similar to South Korea, Japan hopes to use the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo to showcase and test 5G technologies and networks, and is driving most of its investment and activity around that 2020 timeline. In 2014, Japan stood up its 5G Mobile Forum (5GMF) to promote 5G research and development, coordinate 5G efforts across organizations, and promote general awareness of 5G.[3] In 2016, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (MIC) released a strategy document (“Radio Policy to Realize 5G in 2020”) that mapped out its commitment to and future deployment of 5G.[4]
- ↑ Lee Kangwook, “South Korean Government to Introduce K-ICT Spectrum Plan,” December 23, 2016, http://www.ipnomics.net/?p=16629.
- ↑ Sean Kinney, “5G modem based on 3GPP Rel. 15, Samsung says,” RCRWireless News, August 15, 2018, https://www.rcrwireless.com/20180815/5g/samsung-5g-modem-supports-sub-6-ghz-and-millimeter-wave-frequencies.
- ↑ Kohei Satoh, “Remarks by the 5GMF Secretary General,” 5GMF, July 4, 2016, https://5gmf.jp/en/committee/20160704154530/.
- ↑ Kunko Ogawa, “Radio Policy to Realize 5G in 2020,” Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (MIC), June 28, 2016, https://www.gsma.com/spectrum/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/MIC_Spectrum-for-5G-MIC-Kuniko-OGAWA.pdf.
