Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- With many global tech companies tied up with the development and commercialization of 5G technologies, South Korea's LG Electronics took a pre-emptive step through cooperation with a prestigious state science school to secure core technologies for 6G mobile communication.

LG said Monday that it opened a 6G research lab at the state-run Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) in the central city of Daejeon.

"With the establishment of the 6G research center, we will strengthen the research of next-generation mobile communication technology so that we can lead global standardization and secure an opportunity to create new businesses," LG's chief technology officer Park Il-pyung said in a statement.

"It is meaningful to start the development of 6G mobile communication technology ahead of others," said Cho Dong-ho, a KAIST electrical engineering professor who will head LG's research lab.

South Korean mobile carriers started servicing limited 5G mobile communication in December last year to connect smart factories and other businesses which require fast network speed. Commercial service for ordinary smartphone users is to begin in March.

5G networks are at least ten times faster than 4G. Although 6G is still seen as an illusion, researchers at the University of Oulu estimate the future-generation mobile network can transfer terabits per second, creating near-instant microsecond connectivity between societies.