KT, South Korea's largest telecommunications company, has unveiled a plan to invest a total of 23 trillion won (US$ 20.4 billion) over the next five years in 5G and other innovative technologies.
The Operator also unveiled the 5G Open Lab last week at its Research and Development (R&D) center on the outskirts of Seoul, which will promote industrial collaborations with both local and global business partners.
The 5G Open Lab has three collaborative spaces -- Infra Zone, Media Zone and Smart-X Zone -- as well as an exhibition room. Any enterprise interested in the development of 5G services may use the lab to plan, test and verify services. Enterprises can experience various new 5G corporate services and solutions in the showroom.
Infra Zone is dedicated to both the development and testing of 5G-related infrastructure and virtualization technologies; Media Zone will be used for the development of AR/VR, and other 5G immersive media and entertainment services; and Smart-X Zone has been created for the development and testing of application services related to the Internet of Things (IoT).
The company also plans to provide its specialized core 5G technologies to outside developers as Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) through a separate website. Hwang Chang-GyuThe 5G Open Lab will be expanded and relocated by the end of this year to Pangyo, one of the country's newest smart cities, just south of Seoul. The expansion will allow the lab to accommodate more startups and corporate partners.
Hwang Chang-Gyu, Chairman, KT
KT will successfully commercialize the world's first and best 5G network by developing a strong and healthy 5G ecosystem, together with its partners around the world.
