KT Corp. today said it deployed the first 5G standalone (SA) core in Korea with a big assist from Samsung, making it one of very few operators with a 5G core. 

The nation’s second-largest wireless operator is making a habit of 5G firsts, having previously laid claim to the “world’s first nationwide commercial 5G wireless network” in April 2019. 

Samsung and KT embarked on this 5G core effort 20 months ago when KT deployed a core that can operate in SA and non-standalone (NSA) modes, but the commercial deployment of the SA core didn’t occur until now.

The development is significant in Korea because KT beat its larger rival SK Telecom to a 5G SA core, but it also carries importance beyond Korea’s borders. 

5G SA cores remain incredibly scarce. Most of the 141 live 5G networks at the end of April 2021 were operating in non-standalone (NSA) mode, Stéphane Téral, chief analyst at LightCounting, noted during a panel discussion at MWC Barcelona 2021. 

“Don’t believe it means no-strings attached. Actually it’s the contrary, those networks are 4G on steroids. They are anchored into LTE advanced,” he said.

“We only have eight standalone networks in the world,” Téral said at the event. “Those eight 5G networks are working purely with a 5G core, not attached anymore to a 4G core, so this is the 5G which we have to shoot for.”

KT’s 5G SA core deployment brings the total global footprint of 5G SA cores to nine. T-Mobile US activated the world’s first 5G SA network operating on a 5G core in August 2020. 

There's been a lot of chatter about tests, trials, and advancements on 5G standalone cores during the past month, and going back to late 2018, but very few operators are running a pure 5G network. A 5G SA core introduces many of the features considered most unique to 5G, including higher data throughput and performance, lower latency, network slicing, and many advancements that are considered crucial for mobile edge computing and industrial applications.

It’s also a critical piece of infrastructure that allows network operators to run 5G in a fully virtualized, cloud-based, and unencumbered environment running on new equipment.

SK Telecom has shared details about multiple 5G SA core trials during the last two years, but has yet to deploy anything commercially. It successfully completed a 5G SA core test with Samsung in June 2019, another test with Ericsson and Qualcomm in September 2019, and followed up in November 2020 to trial an updated 5G core with Samsung. SK Telecom also laid claim to the world's first commercially available standards-based mobile 5G network in December 2018. 

KT is using Samsung’s radio access network (RAN) equipment and its 5G core, presumably limiting complexity and challenges in getting equipment and software from multiple vendors to interoperate properly.