ASIA : Korea Telecom announced that it has recently launched pilot services after establishing Korea’s first wireless LAN network supporting both the IPv4 and IPv6 addresses with the Institute of New Media & Communications, Seoul National University.

The new services are a result of the “Development of IPv6 Network Services and Mobility Support Technology”, which is KT Convergence Laboratory’s project to develop an advanced IT infrastructure technology. The infrastructure is designed to provide IEEE802.11a/b/g compliant IPv6, 2.4GHz, and 5GHz bands with a wireless connection speed of up to 54Mbps.

IPv6 is the next generation protocol designed to prepare for the imminent exhaustion of the Internet address space. Compared to the IPv4 protocol, the IPv6 protocol can provide virtually unlimited pool of available IP addresses. That’s the reason why the Ministry of Information and Communication has been promoting the development of IPv6 as one of the three main infrastructures of its IT839 project.

KT has been seeking ways to implement IPv6 in order to provide more advanced connection services with higher security and mobility, while also solving the problem of limited IP addresses, which is imminent due to the increasing number of new IP-based wireless connection services in the market as well as due to the fact that Internet access services are now provided on an individual basis rather than per household. KT plans to apply IPv6 in the construction of a new mobile Internet network to be launched in the second half of this year.

Lee Sang-hong, Head of KT Convergence Laboratory, said, “KT is already the leading player in the domestic wireless LAN market, and is currently implementing new IPv6 wireless network services with core technologies for the age of wireless convergence. The pilot network is a model evolved from the current wireless LAN network, and it will help us develop the technology necessary for the construction of new mobile Internet networks.

The pilot network will be developed into a backbone network for developing the technology for creating a stable BcN and all-IP network as well as for providing high-speed wired/wireless Internet services with improved mobility and convenience.