South Korea’s mobile carrier LG Uplus said Monday it has sent out technical details needed for development of mobile devices running on the upcoming fifth-generation network to the country’s major handset makers Samsung and LG Electronics.

The telecom firm highlighted that it was the first among the three local mobile operators to send the technology specifications and standards that will help produce optimal devices for the 5G network, a significant move towards early commercialization of the next generation network.

The technical content included desirable structures for smartphones and antenna capacities for data transmission, the company said. 

“We are in practical talks with device manufacturers to launch 5G smartphones next year together with the commercialization of the network,” said Choi Joo-sik, vice president and head of 5G business at LG Uplus.

LG Uplus had participated in 35 cases of standard proposals for 5G and its technologies were approved in 23 cases by the 3GPP for non-standalone 5G standards last December.

The non-standalone standards allow mobile carriers to operate the initial version of 5G network together with the existing 4G Long Term Evolution network for a seamless transition.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)