KT Wins Two Categories at the '5G World Awards'

Seo Young-su (left), Executive Director and Head of KT Network Research and Technology Headquarters, and Kim Kyung-yeop, Team Leader of Access Network Technology Team 1, are posing for a commemorative photo after receiving the 5G World Award 2021 'Telecommunication Service Innovation Award'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] KT announced on the 22nd (local time) that it won two awards, the ‘Telecommunication Service Innovation Award’ and the ‘Best 5G Core Network Technology Award,’ at the '5G World Awards 2021' ceremony held in London, UK.

Organized by the global ICT research institute Informa Telecoms & Media, the ‘5G World Awards’ has been recognizing companies and services that have achieved performance and innovation in 11 fields including telecommunication technology and services, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud technology since 2010.

The Telecommunication Service Innovation Award, which KT won this time, is given to companies that provide new services and solutions through innovative technology. KT, which commercialized 5G for the first time in the world in April 2019, has made efforts to innovate 5G services, such as commercializing 5G standalone mode (SA) nationwide for the first time in Korea in July this year.

SA consumes less battery than non-standalone (NSA), allowing 5G devices to be used longer. It also provides faster response times, which is expected to contribute to accelerating the development of 5G enterprise services (B2B) such as autonomous driving and smart factories that require ultra-low latency.

The Best 5G Core Network Technology Award is given to companies that have achieved outstanding results with advanced technology and innovative services in the core network field, which is the core of 5G. KT, in collaboration with Samsung Electronics, developed the integrated core technology capable of simultaneously processing 5G NSA and SA services in a single system for the first time in Korea in November last year.

The 5G integrated core technology laid the foundation for KT to commercialize 5G SA for the first time in Korea in July this year. KT expects that the 5G integrated core technology will help improve competitiveness by allowing companies in 5G B2B to selectively adopt NSA and SA or easily expand services.

Youngsoo Seo, Executive Director of KT’s Network Research and Technology Headquarters, said, “We are pleased that KT’s efforts to provide fast and stable telecommunication services to customers have been recognized with the 5G World Awards for seven consecutive years,” adding, “As a digital platform company, KT will do its best to build a stronger network infrastructure so that it can present diverse digital innovation services and solutions.”