Super-Fast Internet to Debut This Year
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
South Korea, the world's most wired nation, continues to push the envelope on the speed of the broadband Internet and looks set to make 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) a commercial possibility.
The state-backed Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) said yesterday that it had developed fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) solutions that efficiently enable 1Gbps of data transmission speed.
``Thus far, only 16 customers can subscribe to 1Gbps services on a single optical fiber line. That is one of the main barriers to the commercial debut of the 1Gbps Internet,'' said Kim Byoung-hwi, an official at the Taejon-based institute, about 200 kilometers south of Seoul.
``However, we have created technology taking advantage of various length frames of optical fiber, increasing the number 32 fold to 512 users per cable,'' Kim said.
Kim projected the cutting-edge technique would substantially raise the commercial viability of the 1Gbps landline connectivity, which he expects to start this year.
The throughput of 1Gbps is fast enough to let people download a high-definition movie file in seconds. This currently takes several minutes using a regular network.
The speed is also roughly 100 times faster than the current norm of the wired Internet _ around 10 megabits per second.
``We developed the technology through an alliance with a domestic network equipment maker, which aims to commercially launch the 1Gbps Internet services late this year,'' Kim said.
In addition to the fixed-line connection, the 1Gbps speed is a crucial milestone in the world of the wireless Internet, a field in which Korea is also a trailblazer.
During last week's Fourth-Generation (4G) Forum on Cheju Island, the host Samsung Electronics demonstrated wireless platform, which promises a downlink speed of 1Gbps.
The 4G mobile system is defined as a network that transfers data at rates of 1Gbps for those at a standstill and 100 Mbps for those on the move.
Samsung projects the ultra-fast portable Internet will come to town by 2010 and the world's third-largest cellular phone maker seeks to unveil handset-sized terminals embracing the 4G system in 2008.
The Seoul-headquartered company already has handover technology, which helps users remain connected while moving between base stations, for the super-fast mobile platform.
The solution, which Samsung showed on a bus traveling at 60 kilometers an hour, is a must to phase in any mobility-specific service.
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