Will the 4th Telecom Operator Emerge... Ministry of Science and ICT Receives 28GHz Frequency Allocation Application

Three Major Telecoms Withdraw... Recruitment Until December 19
Minimum Competitive Price 74.2 Billion

The government has started accepting applications for the allocation of the 5G 28 GHz frequency band, which the three major mobile carriers had previously given up on.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that from November 20, it will begin accepting applications for the allocation of the 5G 28 GHz frequency band to new operators.

The application period for frequency allocation will run for about one month, from that day until December 19.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On July 20, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced the allocation of an 800 MHz bandwidth in the 28 GHz band (26.5?27.3 GHz) and a 20 MHz bandwidth in the anchor frequency 700 MHz band (738?748 MHz and 793?803 MHz). This followed the three mobile carriers returning the frequency after failing to meet their 28 GHz base station deployment targets.

To provide new operators with various options and lower the market entry barrier, the government allowed applications for both nationwide and regional allocations simultaneously. Additionally, the price and deployment obligations were lowered compared to before.

The minimum competitive price for nationwide allocation is 74.2 billion KRW. The minimum competitive prices for regional allocations are ▲Capital Region 33.7 billion KRW ▲Gangwon Region 4.3 billion KRW ▲Chungcheong Region 7.9 billion KRW ▲Daegyeong Region 8.1 billion KRW ▲Honam Region 7.9 billion KRW ▲Southeast Region 10.5 billion KRW ▲Jeju Region 1.8 billion KRW.

The network deployment obligation requires operators allocated the frequency to build a total of 6,000 28 GHz base station units nationwide within three years from the allocation date. For regional allocations, the deployment obligations are ▲Capital Region 2,726 units ▲Gangwon Region 346 units ▲Chungcheong Region 641 units ▲Daegyeong Region 651 units ▲Honam Region 636 units ▲Southeast Region 852 units ▲Jeju Region 148 units, respectively.

The Ministry of Science and ICT will prioritize the nationwide allocation process after completing simultaneous applications for both nationwide and regional allocations. If no nationwide operator is selected, the regional allocation process will proceed.

Meanwhile, the 28 GHz frequency band offers faster speeds than the currently used 3.5 GHz band in 5G commercial networks but has a shorter range and weaker diffraction. It cannot bypass obstacles like buildings by going around them. Consequently, more densely packed base stations are required, leading to enormous investment costs, making nationwide network deployment difficult. The three major carriers were allocated the 28 GHz frequency in 2018, but SK Telecom returned the frequency in May, and KT and LG Uplus returned theirs last December after failing to meet the 28 GHz base station deployment obligations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.