Samsung and KT this week announced they have successfully deployed Korea’s first 5G Standalone (SA) and Non-Standalone (NSA) common core in KT’s commercial network.
KT will commercially launch its SA network when 5G SA-capable devices become available in the market. Samsung’s common core will run in KT’s Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) telecom centers across eight major Korean cities, building on a collaboration towards the full commercialization of 5G SA networks in Korea.
Samsung and KT have been collaborating since the development stage to deliver key 5G SA technologies on KT’s NSA infrastructure, which incorporates Samsung’s Control and User Plane Separation (CUPS) solution, edge traffic steering, and network slicing capabilities. KT launched 5G commercial services in NSA mode last April, making them the only operator in Korea to adopt CUPS solution in its network. The CUPS architecture, defined in 3GPP standards, is a fundamental technology to 5G SA core that improves network scalability, flexibility and deployment by separating the control and user plane functions. CUPS also enables operators and enterprises to swiftly introduce 5G SA services through software upgrades, without the need to build a separate 5G SA core.
Samsung’s 5G common core can support 5G SA and NSA as well as 4G simultaneously, facilitating smooth evolution to 5G SA. This fully-integrated common core simplifies data packet flows, enabling users to experience stable, high-quality mobile services.
Young-soo Seo, SVP and Head of Network Research Technology Unit at KT
By implementing CUPS since the initial phase of 5G commercialization, we have a competitive advantage in the market. With this advantage, we are able to rapidly and easily deploy 5G SA and NSA common core in our MEC centers without additional core networks.
Taiyeon Kim, SVP and Head of Global Technology Service, Networks Business at Samsung
Our 5G common core is a powerful solution that brings unprecedented services closer to users and will unlock a new generation of enterprise applications.
