KT said it is conducting a technical evaluation of commercial-ready 5G equipment jointly developed with equipment manufacturers based on NSA specifications.

KT early this year sent out a request for proposal (RFP) to select the telecom equipment partners as part of the strategy to prepare for its 5G commercial launch in March 2019.

Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson and Nokia are the top 5G equipment makers. KT is yet to officially announce its 5G equipment partners.

KT and other partners completed the establishment of the standalone (SA) specifications for next-generation 5G networks at the 80th plenary meeting of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)’s Technical Specifications Group, held June 11-14 in La Jolla, California, the United States.

This is a major milestone to bring 5G to commercial reality, complementing the 3GPP’s approval of non-standalone (NSA) 5G New Radio (NR) specifications in December 2017.

NSA 5G NR is built upon existing LTE networks. The SA version allows interdependent deployment of 5G networks.

The Release-15 will support hardware vendors to start begin manufacturing radios for use in phones, tablets, Internet of Things (IoT) hardware, and other mobile devices.

Release-16 will focus on ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC), a key service for 5G deployments in industrial IoT use cases, such as robotics and telepresence systems.

Seo Chang-Seok, head of KT’s Network Strategy Unit, said: “With our 5G technological prowess and leadership, we are confident that KT can successfully launch the best 5G mobile network next year.”

KT — at the 3GPP working group’s meeting last week — presented a technical report on the 28 GHz spectrum, which included both NSA and SA 5G technologies, making it an official frequency band for 5G.

KT also proposed the standardization and commercialization of the dual-connectivity technology linking 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz bands for 5G NR, a new air interface being developed for 5G networks.

The Korean telecom operator demonstrated the world’s first 5G trial network based on its own NSA and SA specifications during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in February this year. KT has also showcased autonomous driving for its 5G connected bus with its latest SA technology.