[Digital Times, Jong Ye-rin] Three mobile carriers are accelerating the expansion of partner companies by releasing proposal requests (RFP) to take advantage of competition in commercialization of 5G mobile communication (5G).

The Ministry of Science and Technology has recently announced a concrete roadmap to announce the 5G frequency allocation in June, aiming to commercialize 5G for the first time in the world in March next year. As the government is moving to commercialize 5G in the early stage of the commercialization, it is a strategy to secure 5G-related technologies and expand 5G ecosystem by selecting talented partners.

According to the industry on January 29, mobile carriers are sending RFPs to their manufacturing partners for their 5G commercialization requirements.

KT held the `5G RFP briefing session for selecting 5G commercial system development partner`, attended by 6 manufacturers at Gwanghwamun building in Seoul. Through this RFP, KT presented its partners with business directions related to KT`s 5G and 5G commercial system requirements based on the World Telecommunication Standardization Organization (3GPP) standards.

Meanwhile, SK Telecom was among the fastest among the three companies to secure partners through RFP. We have already sent out the first RFP in July last year, and sent out the second RFP on the 21st. SK Telecom also included the second RFP sent out this time, detailing the commercial technology equipment and business requirements based on 3GPP 5G standard. The company plans to discuss the details of the 5G commercial network with selected suppliers through the second RFP. In May, SK Telecom held a briefing session on information requests (RFI) to 50 partner companies before sending out the first RFP. SK Telecom explained core technologies such as 5G system structure, base station and core network through RFI and shared future schedule. Through this process, we also listened to our partners` opinions and reflected them in the RFP.

LG U Plus is also preparing to send RFPs in the second half of this year. LG U Plus plans to send RFPs for the construction of 100 Gigabit switch equipment in the second half of this year as large capacity switch equipment is essential for realizing core performance of 5G network including high speed download and 10 times faster response speed.

An industry expert said, "It is also linked to the strategy of building intelligent networks for the 4th industry revolution versus the 4th industrial revolution introduced by the Ministry of Information and Communication last year." The Ministry of Knowledge and Economy (MIC) has proposed 5G network construction and joint development of equipment industry, especially small and medium sized enterprises, as one of the strategy implementation measures.

By Jong Ye Rin yeslin@


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