In a decisive push to broaden its South Korean footprint, Nokia, the Finnish multinational telecommunications company, has unveiled its intent to expand across multiple markets including wired and cloud technology, intellectual property, and 5G mobile communication, while also strategising for the next generation of mobile communication, 6G.
In a press conference held at the Chosun Palace Seoul Gangnam Hotel, Nokia Korea delineated its Korean business strategy, setting the course for what seems to be an ambitious period of growth.
Ahn Tae-ho, CEO of Nokia Korea, clarified that Nokia’s mission transcends mobile phone production, emphasising their identity as a business-to-business technology entity.
Nokia marked its initial entry into the South Korean market in 2007 and has since been a consistent supplier of long-term evolution (LTE) equipment to three telecom companies starting from 2010. A key moment came in 2018 when it collaborated with KT to demonstrate 5G capabilities at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, before commencing the supply of 5G equipment in 2019. The tech giant stepped into the 5G-specialised network ‘Ieum 5G’ market from 2022 onwards.
Han Hyo-chan, Chief Technology Officer of Nokia Korea, pledged the company’s commitment to buttressing the Korean government’s ‘K-Network 2030 strategy’, showing unwavering resolve to ensure that Nokia is instrumental in the advancement of this plan.
In the conference, Nokia showcased its own system semiconductors including Reefshark, a system-on-chip (SoC) for second-generation communication equipment, Quillion chipset, FP5 network processing chip, and new 5G base stations built on these frameworks.
Dr. Cho Bong-ryeol of Nokia asserted that the development of these semiconductors had begun 2 to 3 years earlier, stressing the need for such foresight for the release of a single device. Dr. Cho further noted the resultant advantage of this approach, elucidating that power consumption could be reduced by over 30%.
Nokia additionally outlined its vision for 6G, presenting plans to launch 6G equipment around 2027, ahead of the anticipated commercialisation of 6G in 2029. Discussions are underway regarding equipment that can repurpose the 3.5GHz service range used for 5G to reduce investment costs of the likely 7GHz frequency for 6G.
Dr. Cho emphasised the necessity for faster speeds and higher accessibility for 6G devices with lower power consumption, adding that Nokia’s equipment is being developed with these parameters in mind.
