Nokia said its future 6G plans in South Korea include working with the country’s major mobile phone operators.
Finnish vendor Nokia sees South Korea as a strong candidate to commercialize 6G wireless networks and related services by 2029, a local news service reported. Korea JoongAng Ilbo Reported.
“We plan to support the rapid rollout of 6G from the very beginning, including in low-frequency bands,” said James Han, Nokia Korea’s chief technology officer for customers. “The frequency band currently being discussed is between 470 and 690 MHz, and this discussion will be finalized at the World Wireless Communications Conference in 2027, after which spectrum allocation in Korea will proceed accordingly,” the executive said at the annual Amplify Korea event in Seoul this week.
Nokia has also identified extended reality (XR) as a key content for monetization in the 5G-Advanced (5G-A) and 6G era.
Nokia also said that its future 6G plans in South Korea include working with the country’s major mobile operators. The company has reportedly already partnered with the country’s three major telecommunications companies — KT, SK Telecom and LG Uplus — to focus on research for future 6G systems.
In May, South Korean telecommunications company KT partnered with Nokia to conduct research in the field of 6G.
The two companies agreed to cooperate in developing advanced open RAN technologies for 6G mobile communications and ultra-wideband wireless access technologies using 6G candidate frequency bands. They also agreed to focus on exploring future services that can be provided through 6G technology and innovating infrastructure to thoroughly prepare for the 6G era.
KT said its collaboration with Nokia will enable it to secure global leadership in standard setting and commercialization of 6G mobile communications.
In November 2023, South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT announced a 440.4 billion won ($324.5 million) research and development plan for future 6G networks.
The ministry noted that the plan includes the development of technologies related to wireless communications, mobile core networks, 6G wired networks, 6G systems and 6G standardization.
The ministry also said it would work to standardize domestically developed 6G technology in line with international standardization requirements, which are expected to begin being formulated as early as next year, the report said.
South Korea’s 6G plans also include the development of mid- and high-band technologies covering the 7GHz to 24GHz frequency range to promote 5G network services.
The ministry also aims to showcase interim results of 6G network development in 2026 to play a leading role in setting international standards for next-generation network services.
The South Korean government previously announced the K-Network 2030 strategy, which aims to foster public-private cooperation to develop 6G technology, innovate next-generation software-based mobile networks, and strengthen the network supply chain.
The standardization process for future 6G systems is still in its early stages. At its last plenary meeting, 3GPP decided to complete the standard specifications for commercial 6G networks and terminals by 2029.
