Private 5G Frequency Allocation Status in Korea

 

 

 

On October 28, 2021, the South Korean government (Ministry of Science and ICT: MSIT) started offering private 5G frequencies (100MHz@4.7GHz, 600MHz@28GHz) in an effort to deploy private 5G, a crucial infrastructure for enterprises' digital transformation, across a variety of industries in South Korea.

 

This private 5G frequencies provided by the MSIT can be used in two ways.

• Private 5G Operator: Approved by MSIT as a private 5G common carrier and assigned private 5G frequencies by MSIT to provide private 5G network services to enterprise customers.
• Enterprise DIY: Enterprises are assigned private 5G frequencies by MSIT to build their own private wireless networks.

Mobile network operators (SK Telecom, KT, and LG U+) in South Korea are not permitted to become private 5G operators. Because of antitrust issues, the government has barred MNOs from operating as private 5G operators.

 

The table below lists the operators and enterprises to which the MSIT has assigned private 5G frequencies. As of May 10, 2023, private 5G frequencies have been assigned to 36 locations in 21 companies.

 

Private 5G Operator	Customer Location	Priavte 5G Frequency	Acquisition Date	5G Vendor
LS Electric	LS Electric Cheonan Factory (Cheonan)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'23.05.02
Hyundai Autoever	Hyundai R&D Center (Uiwang)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'23.05.02
Newgens	Lotte World (Seoul), Newgens Building (Anyang)	4.7GHz (100MHz),  28GHz (600MHz)	'22.11.28	Ericsson
Wizcore	Yonsei University (Seoul)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'23.05.02
	Wi.lab (YongIn)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.10.28	Ericsson
Sejong Telecom	TLB cluster (Banwolshihwa Industrial Complex)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.10.06	Samsung
KT MOS	Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (Bundang)	4.7GHz (100MHz),  28GHz (600MHz)	'22.10.06	Nokia
	Samsung Medical Center (Seoul)	4.7GHz (100MHz),  28GHz (600MHz)	'22.10.06	Samsung
CJ Olive Networks	CJ Logistics Icheon Distribution Center (Icheon)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'23.05.02
	CJ Songdo IDC (Incheon)	4.7GHz (100MHz),  28GHz (600MHz)	'22.08.30
Nable  Communications	Nable Communications H/Q (Seongnam)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'23.05.02
	Ewha womans university medical center (Seoul)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.08.10	Samsung
SK networks service	Gyeongnam RobotLand Foundation (Changwon),  Foodpolis: Korea National Food Cluster (Iksan)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.11.28	5G Core:  Flectory  5G Small Cell:  Innowireless
	Central's Changwon Factory (Changwon)	4.7GHz (100MHz),  28GHz (400MHz)	'22.05.26	Ericsson
LG CNS	Kyung Hee Univ. (Global Campus in Yongin)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.12.22
	Add 2 factories	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.06.03
	LG Innotek Gumi Factory 2 (Gumi)	4.7GHz (100MHz),  28GHz (500MHz)	'22.03.31
Naver Cloud	The 2nd head office building of Naver (Budang)	4.7GHz (100MHz),  28GHz (600MHz)	'21.12.28	Samsung

Source: Ministry of Science and ICT

 

Enterprise DIY	Enterprise Location	Priavte 5G Frequency	Acquisition Date	5G Vendor
LG Electronics	LG Digital Park   (Pyeongtaek)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.12.22
Government   Building   Management Office	Government Complex Sejong (Sejong)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.12.22
KAI	Jongpo Business Site (Sacheon)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.12.22
UANGEL	UANGEL H/Q (Budang)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.11.28
KHNP (Energy)	Hanul Nuclear Power Plant (Uljin)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.11.28	HFR
K-Water	Busan Echo Delta Smart Village (Busan)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.10.28	Samsung
KT	KT Research and Development Center (Seoul)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.10.06
Republic of Korea  Navy	Republic of Korea Navy Headquarters (Gyeryong)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.10.06	Nokia
KEPCO (Energy)	Shin-Jungbu Substation (Cheongju)	4.7GHz (100MHz)	'22.10.06	Samsung

Source: Ministry of Science and ICT

KAI: Korea Aerospace Industries

KHNP: Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power

K-Water: Korea Water Resources Corporation

KEPCO: Korea Electric Power Corporation