KT Chairman Hwang Chang-kyu talks with an Ericsson executive during his tour to the global telecommunications maker in which KT agreed to cooperate in the development of 5G technology. KT Chairman Hwang and Ericsson executives pose for a group photo session.(Photos:KT)

KT is collaborating with such global telecommunications companies as Nokia and Ericsson to advance the ushering in of an era of 5G in Korea.

KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu toured such global telecommunications makers as Nokia and Ericsson, held meetings, and agreed to collaborate on the development of 5G technology and build a technology test-bed, KT said on May 31.

The meetings took place at the invitation of Nokia and Ericsson, which were impressed with KT Chairman Hwang’s key-note speech he delivered under the theme “5G and Beyond, Accelerating the Future” at the Mobile World Congress 2015 at Barcelona, Spain, on March 3.

Initially, KT Chairman Hwang toured Nokia’s headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, on May 28 and discussed ways of collaborating on the development of the next-generation 5G network structure. During the meeting, both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation on fiber-to-the antenna (FTTA), a possible influential technology for connectivity of the next-generation 5G network. 

KT and Nokia also agreed on the joint development of the mobile edge computing technology.

KT Chairman Hwang also visited Ericsson’s headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, on May 29. At that time, KT and Ericsson successfully demonstrated the 5G Multi-Point Transmission with Distributed MIMO technology, which the two companies jointly developed. Through the joint collaboration with Ericsson, KT succeeded in securing key technologies for substation connectivity and transmission for 5G high-speed connectivity and quality improvement. 

KT and Ericsson also signed an MOU on the development and verification of LTE-M and technologies related to the Internet of Things (IoT). 

Chairman Hwang said, “We’ll lead the development of key 5G technologies through collaboration with global telecom makers Nokia and Ericsson. KT will be fully ready for becoming the first company in the world to introduce 5G telecom services during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.”