Korean 5G

Top South Korean phone company Korea Telecom (KT)

announced today that it will offer 5G cellular service in

March 2019, Yonhap reports, while downplaying U.S.

carrier Verizon’s plan to launch 5G in 2018 as “a step

backward.” KT’s prickly comments come after it

collaborated with Verizon on 5G video calling tests during

last month’s Super Bowl, illustrating the fierce international

competition to bring 5G to market first.

Like U.S. carriers T-Mobile and Sprint, KT is justifying

its later 5G launch by promising broader, faster coverage,

which it alternately calls “true 5G” and “perfect 5G” service.

“It is true 5G only when coverage is guaranteed,” said KT

executive Oh Seong-Mok, explaining that “KT will launch

the 5G service for the first time in the world that combines

true mobility, excellent service, and nationwide coverage.”

Beyond committing to mobile 5G coverage — the same

strategy announced by AT&T for its 2018 U.S. rollout of 5G

— KT explicitly ruled out commercializing so-called “fixed 5G”

service like Verizon, which will offer 5G as a replacement for

home and office broadband cable service. Yonhap reports

that Oh dismissed Verizon’s fixed 5G service as “a step

backward, as the technology has already been seen before.”

KT and leading local rival SK Telecom have offered 5G

demo areas at major events, using prototype Samsung and

Intel hardware to show off the faster, more responsive

networking technology. According to reports, KT

demonstrated 5G to visitors at the PyeongChang Winter

Olympics last month to a mixed reception, as some attendees

couldn’t understand why their existing phones weren’t working

faster in “5G zones.” New 5G-capable chips and phones will

be required, and KT now expects them to ship between the

end of 2018 and first half of 2019.