The Korean carrier launched initial 5G offerings in December and aims to fully launch commercial services next month
Korea Telecom will use Oracle Communications for the deployment of the 5G Policy Control Function (PCF) in the deployment of its 5G networks.
The deployment will enable the Korean telco to provide new network-as-a-service (NaaS) offerings for businesses. Oracle noted that the 5G PCF is the policy management function of the 5G control plane; it is one of the 5G core network elements delivering quality of service and other network policies to communications service providers’ networks.
“Building on our longstanding relationship with Oracle Communications, we are pleased to continue working together as we take advantage of all that 5G has to offer,” said Gwangwook Lee, VP of the core network strategy and planning department of KT. “In trials, the Oracle 5G PCF solution performed beyond expectations and met our discerning metrics for driving the success of our upcoming 5G deployment. After six years of successful partnership with Oracle in the 4G realm, we look forward to continuing the partnership with Oracle in the 5G domain and as we move to deliver new, innovative offerings to our customers.”
Oracle said that via the 5G PCF, communications service providers will be able to launch NaaS solutions tailored to the specific needs of their enterprise customers that can range from AR and VR to connected cars, smart factories, and smart cities.
On a recent conference call with investors, KT’s CFO Kyung-keun Yoon discussed the operator’s 5G progress.
“With the start of 5G frequency transmission last December, commercialization will come under full swing from March, starting with metropolitan areas and major cities around the country,” said Kyung-keun Yoon.
“KT has created the largest and most optimal 5G frequency bandwidth. Together with our unmatched fixed-line infrastructure we will utilize edge cloud center located nationwide to provide Korea’s best quality 5G services,” he added.
The executive also said that the telco is in the process of developing new 5G-based services for the business-to-business segment.
“In the B2B market, after the launch of the 5G Open Lab last September, we are developing different business models and services in collaboration with multiple companies and will incorporate them as services to smart factory among others,” he added.
In April this year, the three Korean mobile operators announced plans to share the costs for the deployment of a nationwide 5G network in the Asian nation, to be carried out by SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus as well as broadband operator SK Broadband. This shared infrastructure projects has the main aim of avoiding redundant investment in 5G deployments, according to government officials. The initiative is expected to generate savings of nearly 1 trillion won over the next ten next years.
In June, South Korea completed a tender process through which it awarded spectrum in both the 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz bands. The government made available a total of 280 megahertz in the 3.5 GHz spectrum band and 2,400 megahertz in the 28 GHz band. The spectrum was divided into 28 blocks and 24 blocks.
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