Aju Business Daily

SEOUL -- A state electronics technology research institute will open a test bed facility for 5G communication technologies in January next year. The facility will offer small-and-medium-sized companies with testing environments that are at similar levels to those owned by major communication companies.

Currently, if a company wishes to test its newly-developed 5G technology, it has to rent a testing facility or build its own which requires a large space and expensive equipment. Sometimes, companies use overseas facilities for testing to save costs. 

Gumi Electronics and Information Technology Research Institute (GERI) located in Gumi some 195 kilometers (121 miles) south of Seoul said in a statement on December 23 that the institute will open a 5G technology testing facility for public use. The facility scheduled to open in January will be used by some 150 SMEs to reduce development time and save more than eight billion won ($721 million) annually, GERI said.

"By being able to test converged products in South Korea, domestic companies can reduce their development time by five to 10 weeks," a North Gyeongsang Provincial Government official was quoted as saying.

Inside the 5G test bed facility, a 5G infrastructure will be set up. The infrastructure will include base stations and networks so that companies can test and verify their 5G technologies. The test bed can also be used for the development of new 5G-related technologies, services and business models.

In partnership with the North Gyeongsang Province, Gumi plans to establish a dedicated 5G test network by 2023. The dedicated network will become a test bed for 5G platforms and applications that need to be demonstrated before commercialization.