6G era kicks off in Incheon with personal aerial vehicle tests over western islands

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Business

Wed, December 6, 2023 | 13:57

Tech

6G era kicks off in Incheon with personal aerial vehicle tests over western islands

Posted : 2023-05-10 08:24

Updated : 2023-05-10 17:01

Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, second from right, looks at a personal aerial vehicle (PAV) in front of the city hall, Monday, when the city government agreed to jointly develop 6G technologies for PAVs with state-run companies. Courtesy of Incheon Metropolitan City

By Ko Dong-hwan

Korea's westernmost islands of Ongjin County in Incheon have become a test bed for the country's first 6G-based personal aerial vehicles (PAV), making the city a front-runner in the future technology.

Incheon slated the initiative on Monday after seven parties joined a signing ceremony in front of the city hall. The parties included the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), the Incheon Free Economic Zone, the Incheon Housing and City Development Corp., Incheon Techno Park, the county office of Ongjin, and Soomvi, an Incheon-based drone developer.

It is the first time in the country that official testing of 6G technologies has been carried out with the support of a metropolitan government.

6G telecommunication technologies are expected to deliver data at or under the speed of 1 terabyte per second, 50 times faster than the currently ubiquitous 5G found in the country. 6G is also believed to work without limitations regarding spatial boundaries, allowing it to support the operation of PAVs in any location, including zones with zero coverage.

However, it is not just PAVs, which will benefit from the ushering in of ultra-fast internet, it is believed that it will also support complete autonomous driving, real-time medical operations from remote locations and various daily life practices in hyper-connected smart cities.

Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok speaks during a signing ceremony on Monday in front of the city hall, under which state-run companies, private firms and local governments agreed to jointly develop 6G technologies for personal aerial vehicles. Courtesy of Incheon Metropolitan City

The country's western islands of Jawol, Deokjeok and Ijak in Ongjin were previously designated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport as test sites for PAVs. With the latest agreements with the county office's partnership, Incheon took another step forward in becoming the first Korean city that supports 6G and urban aerial mobility.

"Improving telecommunication technologies is an essential step for any city government to overcome social gaps among citizens in varying regions and classes as well as to enable the city's sustainable development," Incheon's Administrative Vice-Mayor Park Deok-soo said. "The latest agreement on testing 6G technologies will allow Incheon to lead the country in one of the most critical future industries."

The Incheon city government plans to roll out 6G technologies by 2030. To meet the goal, the authority has been working with ETRI since 2021 to improve the city's digital infrastructure to realize the technologies. Planning a budget scheme to support the technologies and set up standardized foundations has been another goal of the city government, according to the Economic Policy Division, which is under the auspices of the city government's Economy and Industry division.

Owing to Monday's agreement, a more immediate test regarding 5G+ technologies for aerial mobility in cases of disasters and emergencies, will happen on Jawol Island.

aoshima11@koreatimes.co.kr