KT launches 28 GHz 5G demonstration service at professional baseball club stadium

By Lim Chang-won Posted : July 13, 2021, 11:52 Updated : July 13, 2021, 11:52

[Courtesy of KT]

SEOUL -- Baseball fans can have real-time hologram fan meetings with favorite club players through a government-sponsored pilot project to demonstrate a 28 gigahertz 5G service launched by KT, a top telecom company in South Korea, at the home stadium of its professional baseball club KT Wiz.

The home stadium of KT Wiz, known as the Suwon KT Wiz Park, is in Suwon, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Seoul. KT has established a 28GHz 5G experience center and an interactive exhibition service at the stadium. The service will be introduced through a dedicated online channel from July 19 due to strengthened social distancing that suspended South Korea's professional baseball league.

South Korea has commercialized a 5G mobile telecom service using the frequency band of 3.5 GHz. Full-scale 28 gigahertz (GHz) 5G networks that make data transmission speed faster especially in areas where traffic is concentrated, such as stadiums and large shopping malls, are still in the experimental stage. KT and other mobile carriers have tested 28 GHz 5G networks this year.

KT will introduce 28GHz demonstration services in a classic concert hall and a gymnasium later. "We've prepared a lot to introduce innovative demonstration services combined with baseball games," KT's network strategy department head Kim Young-in said in a statement on July 13. "We will continue to make efforts to develop 28GHz-based 5G technologies and services."

The experience center at the Suwon KT Wiz Park provides real-time hologram fan meetings with players, a 28GHz terminal-based metaverse service and cloud games, KT said, adding that fans using avatars can experience bullpen and locker rooms through the metaverse, which is a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space.

In the stadium's top-floor indoor stand called Skybox, artificial intelligence robots guide fans from the ground elevator to designated seats. KT said that a live cheering solution sends cheering videos to the stadium's electronic board, while alarms will be raised on real-time events with cameras connected to 28GHz.
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