U.S.-China Race for 6G Supremacy Heats Up, While Korea's Telecom Diplomacy Stays Quiet
IT DAILY ·
✦ AI Summary
The competition for 6G is expanding beyond technology development into a contest over international coalitions and leadership.
The U.S. has launched a 6G alliance with 25 countries, including South Korea, while China has launched an AI alliance with Central Asian and African countries.
South Korea is participating in the 6G alliance and pursuing domestic R&D, but its position in international cooperation and the government's visible moves are seen as unclear.
The competition for 6G is expanding beyond technology development into a contest over international coalitions and leadership. Countries are focusing on R&D to gain an edge in next-generation communications, while also seeking to form international partnerships to expand their influence in standard-setting discussions. In the 6G era, telecom networks are expected to become infrastructure that supports AI services and a core asset tied to national strategies in industry, security and space.
Against this backdrop, the telecom industry is focusing on ISAC, which integrates communications and sensing, and NTN technology. ISAC refers to network technology that goes beyond data transmission and also detects the surrounding environment, while NTN uses satellites and other assets and is emerging as a way to replace terrestrial base stations during war or disasters. In contrast to its image as a telecom powerhouse, South Korea has recently been losing visibility on the international stage.
Starlink's use in the Russia-Ukraine war has shown that telecom infrastructure can influence national security and geopolitics, not just serve as a technological foundation. Against this backdrop, the race for 6G is taking shape as something that goes beyond the technological realm.
In the midst of this trend, a 6G conference was recently held in Berlin, Germany, with attendance by a U.S. Commerce Department deputy secretary, Japanese government officials and Singapore government officials. An industry source said it was unusual for a Commerce Department official at the deputy secretary level to attend an overseas event in person, and interpreted it as a signal that the U.S. places great importance on the race for 6G leadership.
The U.S. has launched a 6G alliance with 25 countries, including South Korea, and has continued to expand participation by new countries through recently. In response, China has launched an AI alliance with Central Asian and African countries.
Separately, an event co-hosted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the UN was held in Geneva, Switzerland, and more than 20 member countries, including China, took part. China used the event to project its influence.
Next year's World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) will be held in China. The WRC is a meeting attended by more than 190 ITU member states around the world. At the conference, participants determine frequency bands for new technologies such as 6G, NTN and aircraft, and also revise technical standards.
Spectrum is a limited resource. Accordingly, the competitive landscape among countries and companies could change depending on which bands are designated as global standard bands. Telecom industry insiders say seismic shifts will emerge depending on the decisions made at the WRC.
Against this backdrop, some say Japan's moves warrant attention. According to a Japanese telecom company official, the Japanese government is spearheading efforts to build an AI and 6G ecosystem. Japan has also devoted considerable effort to international cooperation and is said to have formed cooperative relationships with major advanced economies.
South Korea is participating in the 6G alliance, and domestic R&D is also under way on next-generation network technologies such as AI-RAN, ISAC and NTN. The problem, however, is that South Korea's position in international cooperative relationships remains unclear.
There may be international cooperation happening behind the scenes, but the government's visible moves are seen as timid. As a result, concerns have also been raised about the government's response. The article examines the current moves by the government and the telecom industry and concludes that South Korea's response to next-generation communications is not sufficiently visible.
South Korea's rollout of standalone 5G (5G SA) has lagged behind advanced economies. In this situation, the three telecom carriers are defining themselves as AI companies, and their focus has shifted to AI data centers and model development. Compared with that, the three carriers are drawing criticism for appearing passive in the 6G discussion.
6G commercial launch is expected around 2030, but the race to secure the next telecom market has already begun on the international stage. In this situation, it is pointed out that technology development alone is not enough. South Korea needs a telecom diplomacy strategy that reads global geopolitics, and analysts say now is the time for a rapid telecom diplomacy strategy.
Source: IT DAILY · Seong Won-young
Original: https://www.itdaily.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=241628
References
This article was produced with the help of an automated content generation algorithm.
Source: IT DAILY
View originalThis article was summarized and organized by BizCrush based on the original article from IT DAILY. For exact quotations and full details, please refer to the original article.