[Digital Today reporter Jin-ho Lee (이진호)] South Korea's three mobile carriers are accelerating upgrades of 5G standalone (SA) networks and development of specialised services. They are verifying 5G SA technologies such as network slicing and stepping up preparations for on-site deployment.

The telecommunications industry and the Ministry of Science and ICT said on the 10th that the three carriers are carrying out final work for commercialising 5G SA. Last December, the ministry announced detailed policy measures for reassignment of a total 370 MHz of 3G and LTE spectrum whose usage period expires this year, and imposed an SA switch as a reassignment condition. As a result, the three carriers must link 5G base stations to SA core networks and provide related services by the end of this year.

◆ SA made mandatory as spectrum reassignment condition... expand specialised services after commercial launch at year-end

Unlike non-standalone (NSA), which uses existing LTE networks together, 5G SA provides communications services using only 5G base stations and a 5G core network. South Korea's three carriers commercialised 5G in 2019 using the NSA approach. KT introduced 5G SA services in July 2021, but SK Telecom and LG Uplus have continued providing services using NSA.

SA can process data without relying on an LTE core network, and is seen as the basis for implementing 5G specialised functions such as ultra-low latency communications and network slicing. The ministry made the 5G SA switch mandatory because it judged such upgrades are needed to respond to the spread of AI and next-generation communications services.

Network slicing in particular is seen as a key technology through which users can experience 5G SA. It divides a single physical communications network into multiple virtual networks and allocates communications resources needed for each service. It can keep communications quality stable for certain services even in crowded areas, making it highly useful for industrial private networks and public safety fields.

Commercialising SA does not necessarily mean a complete halt to existing NSA services. The two approaches can operate in parallel depending on SA support, device type and regional wireless conditions. The key is to upgrade the core network so services can be provided using only 5G base stations, rather than newly building both LTE and 5G base stations.

◆ KT expands applications in safety monitoring and enterprise networks... SKT and LG Uplus verify commercial rollout

Among the three carriers, KT is the most active in developing SA-based specialised services. Using know-how from operating an SA commercial network since 2021, it is expanding the scope of network slicing to festival safety monitoring and private communications networks for enterprises.

Earlier this month, KT supported video transmission from 15 wireless closed-circuit (CC) TVs using SA-based network slicing at the Busan Fireworks Festival. It allocated resources separated from general communications traffic to safety monitoring in areas where crowds gather, such as Gwangalli Beach and subway station entrances. Previously, it applied slicing technology to wireless CCTV and emergency contact devices for safety staff at the Seoul World Fireworks Festival in September. At the Gwanghwamun World Cup street cheering event in June, it conducted a demonstration providing separate communications resources to event staff.

KT is expanding such field deployment experience into enterprise solution development. It plans to apply 'app slicing' technology to enterprise-dedicated 5G within this year. App slicing is a technology that connects work apps on a single smartphone to an enterprise internal network and personal apps to the general internet network, separating work and personal data. For this, it is working with Samsung Electronics and Google to verify technology that distinguishes communications paths by app on commercial smartphones.

SK Telecom is conducting final verification with a goal of commercialising 5G SA in December this year. The company said on a third-quarter earnings conference call on the 4th that it had carried out optimisation of related technologies. It has also completed development of network slicing technology and entered the verification stage. SKT plans to expand application areas in stages in line with industry-specific requirements and the maturity of related ecosystems.

An SKT official said, "5G SA is a foundational technology for providing networks flexibly in line with customer needs," and added, "After a pilot service for about 1,000 employees, we are now conducting final verification for commercial rollout."

LG Uplus is also conducting service quality and stability verification ahead of commercialising SA. It has applied SA by upgrading software and hardware of existing communications equipment, and has checked connection status and communications quality on its nationwide network.

It was recently reported to be in talks on a demonstration to verify communications quality and stability by applying SA to robots in operation at Hyundai Motor's Yangjae office building. The plan is to check whether communications connections remain stable while the robots move, and to review whether the scope can be expanded to industrial sites such as factories and logistics centres.

The government has also moved to refine systems to support the spread of specialised services. The ministry is pushing to supplement net neutrality guidelines to support provision of specialised services such as network slicing. It is also reviewing measures to reflect upload speeds, transmission latency and slicing quality in communications quality assessments, which have previously focused on download speeds.

A ministry official said, "The government will also actively support the creation of innovative services based on 5G SA," and added, "We will supplement net neutrality guidelines in consideration of cases in major countries so innovative services can spread smoothly in the AI era."