South Korea is one of the pioneer countries in the 5G network. Not wanting to stop there, Ginseng Country also wants to be the first country to launch a 6G network in the next few years.
South Korea's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology announced its plans to launch a commercial 6G network by 2028.
Interestingly, this launch was pushed forward two years ahead of the original plan and South Korea wants to be the first country to implement this technology. South Korea was previously the first country to launch a 5G network in 2019, beating the United States and China.
South Korea plans to realize its target by using world-class technology, sophisticated software, and strengthening its supply chain network.
To drive this initiative, the South Korean government will provide incentives for local companies to produce materials and components needed for 6G development.
Currently, the feasibility study for researching the core 6G technology is already underway. This project is estimated to be worth 625.3 billion Won or around IDR 7.2 trillion, as quoted from SamMobile, Wednesday (22/2/2023).
South Korea is Asia's fourth-largest economy and accounts for 25.9% of 5G-related patents by 2022, while China ranks first with 26.8%. The South Korean government hopes to hold 30% of patents related to 6G to outperform other countries.
The 6G network itself is predicted to change the way people surf the internet. It's not yet known how fast a 6G connection will be compared to 5G, but estimates are around 100 times faster.
Mahyar Shirvanimoghaddam, a wireless communications expert from the University of Sydney, even claims 6G speeds can penetrate 1TB per second. With such speed, Ericsson also claims that 6G can better bridge the physical and digital worlds.