South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT plans to nearly double the allocation of 5G spectrum for mobile operators. That would make an additional 2,640MHz of airwaves available.
The ministry, which in introduced so-called 5G+ Spectrum Plan in April, aims for the country to lead the world in spectrum availability, with a target of 5,320MHz. Ministry has not yet designated the specific bands or a timeframe for releasing the new spectrum, but industry sources expect each operator to be allocated another 300MHz in the 3.5GHz band.
South Korea was one of the first to auction 5G spectrum, raising KRW3.61 trillion ($3.06 billion) in a sale of 3.5GHz and 28GHz airways in June 2018. SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus acquired 280MHz of 3.5GHz spectrum and 2,400MHz in the 28GHz band. The operators, which launched the service in April, ended September with a combined total of nearly 3.5 million 5G subscribers.
Nokia and SURF, the organization for IT in Dutch education and research, have successfully reached a single carrier 800Gb/s optical transmission over SURF’s existing cross-border, multi-vendor research and education network infrastructure.
Nokia and Vodafone are collaborating to test the viability of L4S technology over passive optical networks (PON).
The GSMA believes that critical reform of European laws is necessary to position the region as a technology frontrunner by 2030.
