Nokia praises Korea as 6G pioneer

James Han, Nokia's customer chief technology officer of Korea, speaks at the Amplify Korea press briefing at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul in central Seoul on Wednesday. [NOKIA KOREA]

Finnish tech giant Nokia projected Korea as a likely candidate to commercialize 6G wireless networks and related services by 2029 at its annual Amplify Korea event.

Amplify Korea, hosted by Nokia Korea to showcase the company's new technologies and marketing strategies, took place at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul in central Seoul on Wednesday.

Unlike 5G, which primarily used the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) band, 6G is expected to introduce a range spanning 7 to 15 GHz, resulting in shorter communication distances. Nokia believes that overcoming this technological limitation will be crucial.

“We plan to support the rapid deployment of 6G from the start, including low-band frequencies,” said James Han, Nokia's customer chief technology officer of Korea. “Ongoing discussions are ranging from 470 to 690 megahertz [MHz] spectrum bands, and these discussions will be finalized at the World Radiocommunications Conferences in 2027, after which frequency allocation will proceed in Korea accordingly.”

Nokia also identified extended reality (XR) as key content for monetization in the 5.5G and 6G era.

Nokia’s road map to establishing the infrastructure for advanced wireless networks in Korea involves collaborating with major mobile carriers. It has partnered with all three of Korea’s leading telecom companies — KT, SK Telecom and LG U+ — to realize this goal.

The firm also introduced products enabling telecom carriers to monetize 5G. It showcased two 5G network solutions — Modular Private Wireless (MPW) and Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (NDAC) — allowing telecom companies to choose and deploy the best 5G network according to their needs.

“What is most crucial to increasing 5G revenue is fixed wireless access, and we are particularly focusing on network cloudification,” Han said.

Nokia sees its global customer base as an advantage, as it has drawn knowledge of network slicing technology — which involves dividing core networks into multiple virtual networks to provide customizable, tailored services — from its overseas telecom partners.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]