GANGWON-DO < invest Korea

(PYEONGCHANG=Yonhap News) KT Corp., South Korea's biggest Internet service provider, plans to offer a trial service of its fifth-generation (5G) mobile network via self-driving buses and drone deliveries at next year's Winter Olympics, company officials said Tuesday.

KT is gearing up for the 5G trial service as PyeongChang will stage the Winter Games, Asia's second Winter Olympics after the one in Japan.

The 5G technology aims to offer data transmission speeds about 100 times faster than the current fourth-generation wireless networks.

Using the ultrafast wireless networks, KT showcased a self-driving bus that moves passengers on roads at the Olympic site.

The vehicle's telecommunication system is designed to send and receive data at a maximum speed of 3.2 Gbps, allowing passengers to watch live 3-D TV footage.

The drones will deliver goods to an unmanned delivery receiving box nearby a bus station, where the 5G network service enables passengers to receive their parcels from the box.

KT also displayed a virtual reality service, in which people wearing virtual reality headsets walk through an unbuilt space.

Oh Seong-mok, vice president of KT's network business division, said in a statement that the 5G mobile network will help transform the Winter Olympics into a "festival."

KT has said it will launch a commercial service of its 5G mobile network in 2019, in what would be the world's first commercialization of the ultrafast telecom technology.

KT and its global partners formed an alliance in 2015 and confirmed the 5G standard in June last year.

The 5G standard by KT and its partners is based on the 28GHz wireless spectrum.

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Source: Yonhap News (Mar. 14, 2017)