National Assembly Science and ICT Committee Members from Both Parties Hold '5G 28GHz Policy Forum'

Hosted by DeMinju's Byeon Jae-il and Gukhim's Kim Young-sik

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] A forum to find ways to utilize the ultra-high frequency band 5G 28 gigahertz (GHz) will be held under the leadership of ruling and opposition members of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee.

Democratic Party lawmaker Byeon Jae-il and People Power Party lawmaker Kim Young-sik announced on the 13th that they will hold the "Desirable 5G 28 GHz Frequency Policy Direction Forum" at 10 a.m. on the 21st in Seminar Room 1 of the National Assembly Members' Office Building. The hosting organization is the National Assembly Future Policy Research Association.

At this forum, Yonghee Kim, a research fellow at Open Route, will present, and Professor In-ki Hong of Kyung Hee University will serve as the panel discussion chair. Panelists include Professor Myungsoo Kim of Kangwon National University, Jihoon Kim, a senior advisor at Sejong Law Firm, Professor Hyochang Bang of Doowon Technical University, representatives from the Consumer Sovereignty Citizens' Association, and the Frequency Policy Division head from the Ministry of Science and ICT.

A National Assembly official explained, "The 5G 28 GHz frequency band is now in its fourth year since allocation, but there are no actual commercialization cases. The three mobile carriers each invested over 200 billion won to secure frequency usage rights (intangible assets), most of which have been accounted for as impairment losses, indicating that there is virtually no ecosystem related to services and devices."

He added, "It is time to consider realistic frequency utilization policy alternatives from a macro perspective that looks at technology, market, and consumers. Therefore, we aim to explore practical utilization methods for the ultra-high frequency band and improved policy directions for 5G network modernization based on this."