While locally we are still struggling to allocate the necessary spectrum for 5G, other parts of the world are already turning to 6G. No, we’re not talking about the US and former President Donald Trump, but rather South Korea, which has outlined ambitions plans with regard to the deployment of commercial 6G networks.

This according to Korean outlet Aju Business Daily, which reports that South Korea plans to have its first commercial 6G network up and running come 2028.

The plan is being espoused by South Korea’s Science and ICT Minister, Lim Hye-sook, who says the nation should aim to be a pioneer as far as the broadband technology is concerned. “As the next-generation mobile network is the foundation of digital innovation, we should play a bold and challenging role together to lead the international market in the 6th generation era based on our experience and know-how in the network field,” he explained in a statement.

In order to bring this plan to fruition, South Korea will look to leverage its relationship with other key technology players across the globe, with the United States, China and Finland being mentioned. As such, it will be interesting to see whether firms pushing the boundary as far as 5G goes, such as Huawei, Nokia and Ericsson, will play key roles in bringing the country’s 2028 plan to bear.

The same goes for Samsung, which is currently assisting US network provider Verizon with its 5G efforts out West.

As Mobile World Live points, earlier this week Samsung highlighted its 6G research and the strides being made, with an “end-to-end 140GHz wireless link using beamforming in terahertz spectrum”, so collaboration with other firms is certainly a possibility.

It therefore looks like some countries are looking even further ahead, which means South Africa will be playing catching once again when 6G becomes a reality.

[Image – Photo by Arisa Chattasa on Unsplash]