April 24, 2024

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South Korea’s top state-run research institute ETRI has signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Oulu in Finland to develop the sixth-generation network technology, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT on June 12.

The agreement between the two sides came amid South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s state visit to the Nordic nation.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

On June 9 (local time), Moon and Finnish President Sauli Niinisto agreed that the two nations will cooperate to develop next-generation telecom technologies.

“The two nations have decided to strengthen partnerships in the 5G and artificial intelligence sectors,” said Moon at a startup event in Helsinki.

“Korea, which was the first country to commercialize 5G mobile services, and Finland which is spearheading 6G research are perfect partners,” he added.

According to the MOU, ETRI and the Finnish university will jointly run research and development projects for 6G, as well as 5G network and its upgraded variants, and promote the technologies.

The ministry expressed high expectations for the partnership with the University of Oulu which has launched the world’s first R&D project for 6G.

The university plans to invest 30 billion won ($25.4 million) for the 6G project over eight years from March 2018.

A 6G conference organized by the university in March this year was joined by global telecom firms, research institutes and universities including Huawei Technologies, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Nokia Bell Labs and Columbia University.

Aiming to begin executing its investment plan for 6G in 2021, the Korean ICT Ministry plans to file for a feasibility study in the third quarter this year.

The 6G network is forecast to go live in 2030 after global telecom organizations, companies and governments set relevant standards from 2025.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)