South Korean mobile operator KT has announced that it has initiated its commercial 5G SA service, starting from the 15th of July.
Following the commercialization of 5G SA, KT plans to accelerate the development of 5G convergence services based on differentiated technologies such as network slicing. According to KT, customers can access the new 5G SA network by using Samsung Galaxy S20, S20+, and S20 Ultra, and it plans to expand the number of applied terminals in cooperation with manufacturers in the future.
Users who want to switch to the 5G SA mode can do so by rebooting their mobile devices after 'Settings-Software Update-Download and Installation' in the terminal menu. Since 5G SA only provides services with 5G frequencies, the time spent using 5G phones has increased and can be used at super fast speeds. In addition, the 5G SA network enables the development of 5G B2B services such as network slicing (which is considered a core 5G technology), autonomous driving, and smart factory that require ultra-low latency.
SA is a method of providing 5G services by using the 5G network alone, enabling a longer battery life and faster response than NSA. Based on a comparison test conducted by the Korea Information and Communication Technology Association (TTA) on the battery usage time of SA and NSA with Samsung Galaxy S20+, SA (13 hours 38 minutes) was up to 1 hour 6 minutes (8.8%) than NSA (12 hours 32 minutes) was found to last longer.
From the beginning of its NSA-style 5G service in 2019, KT built its network with the evolution towards SA in mind. Since January this year, KT has made various efforts to secure the quality of customer experience, such as conducting SA pilot services in the nationwide 5G commercial network for KT employees.
Kim Young-in, Managing Director, KT's Network Strategy Division
We have prepared a SA service to provide 5G that can give new value to customers. We are working on it.
