LG Uplus announced it will turn on its 5G network in some areas of Seoul and other cities on 1 February 2019, with the next-generation mobile service to be available to smartphone users the following month.

The operator said in statement it is rolling out 5G equipment in 11 major cities including Seoul, Incheon, Bucheon, Goyang, Kwangmyong and Hanam. A team of more than 400 network personnel are working in the field to optimise the network in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Last week it completed the cell planning for the launch of 5G services and introduced a network quality measurement analysis system developed by Inno Wireless, a specialist manufacturer of mobile communication test equipment in South Korea. The system measures traffic quality and provides real-time results, which LG Uplus said “is essential for securing 5G network competitiveness.”

The system also can be used to maintain and improve the performance of existing 4G networks.

Joint launch
LG Uplus, SK Telecom (SKT) and KT are working towards a joint commercial 5G launch in March. Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT pushed for the operators to collaborate to “avoid excessive competition” and ensure the country is the first to launch the next-generation technology.

The country was one of the first to auction 5G spectrum, raising KRW3.61 trillion ($3.2 billion) in a sale conducted in June. LG Uplus acquired 80MHz of 3.5GHz spectrum, with SKT and KT securing 100MHz (the maximum amount allowed per operator): the operators also bought a total of 2,400MHz in the 28GHz band.

SKT, the country’s largest mobile operator, in September selected Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia as its 5G network equipment suppliers, but LG Uplus and KT have not announced their vendors.