BARCELONA -- SK Telecom announced today that it will create a new global initiative, called 5G Open Trial Specification Alliance with global operators to develop 5G specifications for early 5G trials and commercialization between 2016 and 2018.

SK Telecom, NTT DOCOMO, Verizon and KT have agreed to form a new global initiative, called the 5G Open Trial Specification Alliance. This alliance plans to develop an aligned 5G trial specification that would serve as a common, extendable platform for different 5G trial activity around the world, focused on technical fundamentals and promoting a more inclusive, open, and collaborative approach to the development of 5G trial networks.

The 5G Open Trial Specification Alliance will focus on 5G radio interface trial activities and aims to provide the wireless industry with the ability to test and validate key technical components. Coordination is already underway, with technical trials occurring in the 2016-2018 timeframe. The development of the trial specification will allow a variety of different industry partners (network vendors, chipset/device vendors, operators, test equipment vendors, etc.) to join and contribute.

The trial specification will be neutral and is not intended to limit on-going standardization discussion and decision that will be happening in 3GPP. Rather its objective is to provide a common trial platform where different technology components can be trialed and evaluated in order to provide a better understanding of the value and performance of different 5G technologies. This can provide valuable input in the upcoming 3GPP discussions, by complementing simulation studies with real data from different trial deployments.

The trial specification will cover multiple spectrum bands, including bands above and below 6 GHz.

The interest for 5G is very high, and many players are engaging in activities to support the early commercialization and deployment of this next generation technology. The 5G Open Trial Specification Alliance is positive that this initiative will provide a platform to maximize the value of different trial activities around the world, and will provide valuable input from these trials to 3GPP.

So far SK Telecom, NTT DOCOMO, Verizon and KT as well as some of their key suppliers have committed to this initiative, and other key industry participants are expected to join the alliance in the future. Our open trial specification is intended to be in public to accelerate the ecosystem to bring 5G to market.

Park Jin-hyo, Senior Vice President and Head of Network Technology R&D Center at SK Telecom remarks, “In order to conduct 5G trial service and commercialization as well as to proliferate 5G ecosystem as early as possible, it is important to make 5G specification more quickly. We are delighted to announce that SK Telecom, together with global operators has made remarkable step to achieve this goal.”

SK Telecom (Nasdaq: SKM)