South Korea is going to officially operate LTE-based national PS-LTE (Public Safety-LTE), which was first developed by South Korea. It is going to first establish PS-LTE in Pyeongchang, Gangneung, and Jeongseon, where 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics is going to take place, and this will be a signal for commercialization of national PS-LTE.
South Korean Government voted for ‘spending plan on 2017 general accounting’s reserve fund (fund for establishing and operating PS-LTE)’, which was submitted by Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MoSF), at a cabinet meeting on the 4th. MoSF is going to work with Ministry of Public Safety and Security (MPSS) and proposed that $7.59 million (8.733 billion KRW) to be spent from reserve fund that is necessary to establish and operate PS-LTE.
MPSS is going to select a business and is going to establish PS-LTE in Pyeongchang, Gangneung, and Jeongseon by end of this year. These regions are places where demonstrations took place in 2015 and 2016. MPSS along with a business that is chosen are going to add partial equipment such as base stations to current infrastructures.
“We have worked with MoSF and have decided to establish PS-LTE in regions where 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics is going to take place.” said a representative for MPSS. “We are going to have everything ready so that we can successfully support 2018 Winter Olympics.”
With this decision, South Korea has taken its first step to operate its own LTE network that prepares for any disasters. It has been 14 years since South Korean Government started to talking about taking actions against paralysis of telecommunication network and unifying management system when Daegu subway tragedy happened in 2003.
PS-LTE is a technology that adds public safety functions to LTE. Wireless image with high quality and multimedia service, which are impossible through TRS (Trunked Radio Service) and eMBMS-based (evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service) GCSE (Group Communication System Enabler) are possible through PS-LTE.
Actual businesses are also going to have new turning points. MPSS and KDI (Korea Development Institute) have been verifying validity of actual businesses since end of last year and are going to draw results during second half of this year at the earliest.
It is likely that support for 2018 Winter Olympics and commercialization of PS-LTE will help MPSS and KDI to verify validity and help to push for actual businesses.
Commercialization of PS-LTE technologies is a golden opportunity for South Korea to introduce its ICT (Information Communication Technology) capabilities to the world. Samsung Electronics, KT, and SK Telecom have secured competitive edge in related technologies by leading standardization of technologies for an international standardization group called 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project).
When PS-LTE is established in Pyeongchang, Gangneung, and Jeongseon, group committee, firefighters, policemen, and representatives of local government groups will all use single telecommunication network during 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Demonstration of technologies such as backpack-type base stations, linkage between commercialized network, and sharing of base stations are also expected. Representatives for 2022 Qatar World Cup and international nuclear power plant organizations are asking South Korea for know-how on PS-LTE.
“If South Korea introduces its technologies, which are first developed by South Korea, at a place where the whole world is going to watch, it will be easier for South Korean businesses to enter global markets.” said a representative for an industry. “We hope that South Korean Government to help us not only to establish PS-LTE in advance but also help actual businesses to be pushed as soon as possible.”
Staff Reporter An, Hocheon | hcan@etnews.com