Free Wi-Fi in South Korea will be in high-band 5G allowing data speed up to 2.1 gigabytes per second from next year.

The government on Thursday opened up a plot of spectrum in the 6GHz band for unlicensed use – from 5,925 to 7,125MHz range – to allow more open airwaves that routers can use to broadcast Wi-Fi signals.

With the regulatory go-ahead from the Ministry of Science and ICT, routers could use the new spectrum to broadcast Wi-Fi signals from next year, should related devices be developed within the year.

The ICT ministry now is planning a project for the higher-frequency 5G technology next year to support the use at small- and mid-sized companies. If new smartphones like Samsung Galaxy S21 next year will be equipped with appropriate chipsets, individual customers also will be able to access these high-spectrum 5G with more channels and nearly five-times improved data transfer speed possibly the year after next.

Earlier, the United States gave a go-ahead to make the 6GHz band available for unlicensed use for the first time in the world. The new spectrum quadruples the amount of space available for routers and other devices, which means more bandwidth and less interference.

By Lee Seung-yoon and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]