South Korean mobile operators SK Telecom and KT have won 100 MHz each in the 3.5 GHz band for provision of 5G services, The Korea Times reports citing a statement from the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT. In the same auction, LG Uplus won 80 MHz in the 3.5 GHz band. The final price for the frequencies was lower than initially expected, namely KRW 4 trillion (USD 3.6 billion).
The ministry auctioned in total 280 MHz of bandwidth in the 3.5 GHz band and 2,400 MHz in the 28 GHz band. It set the opening price for the auction of 28 blocks in the 3.5 GHz band and 24 blocks in the 28 GHz spectrum at KRW 3.3 trillion. The minimum bid for the 3.5 GHz blocks with a period of use for 10 years reached KRW 2.65 trillion, and for the 28-GHz blocks was KRW 621.6 billion with a period of use for five years.
The Korean operators aim to launch their commercial 5G networks by early 2019. They have been actively testing the technology for some time already, including demonstrating the first services at the PyeongChang Olympics early this year.
