South Korean carriers SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus have launched the 5G network that supports 3GPP specifications in limited areas in Seoul and other major cities. 

According to SK Telecom, Myunghwa, an auto part company based in Banwol Industrial Complex, Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, will become the company’s first 5G customer. Myunghwa will use its 5G-AI machine vision service to check the quality of auto part products. 

LG Uplus has been deploying base stations to launch its commercial 5G offering since October. According to the operator said it will have more than 7,000 base stations by the end of December. The operator has set up 4,100 5G base stations in 11 cities including Seoul, Incheon, Daejeon, Bucheon, Goyang, Gwangmyeong, Hanam and other cities in Gyeonggi Province.

KT has deployed 5G infrastructure in Seoul and six other metropolitan cities across the country including Jeju, Ulleungdo, and Dokdo. 

Earlier this year, SK Telecom had successfully completed the 5G call using the 3GPP 5G Non-standalone(NSA) new radio (NR) standard and commercial 5G NR Samsung's equipment k. The call took place at the company’s 5G testbed located in its Bundang office building. 

In June, South Korea made available a total of 280 megahertz 5G spectrum in the 3.5 GHz spectrum band and 2,400 megahertz in the 28 GHz band. The spectrum was divided into 28 blocks and 24 blocks.