Although it still feels like 5G has yet to fully roll out everywhere in the US or even in the world, South Korea is already thinking ahead about the next-generation standard to succeed 5G.

The country announced it will "commercialise" sixth-generation services by 2028, according to Lim Hye-sook, South Korea's minister of science and information and communications technology. She spoke about 6G while at MWC 2022. "We are continuing our preparations for the 6G era with the aim of commercialising 6G from 2028 to 2030", said Lim.

"It will offer a network 50 times faster than the current service and an expanded coverage of up to 10 kilometers above the ground," Lim added, Yonhap News Agency and The Korea Herald both reported. Lim also noted South Korea has made a lot of progress in 5G network speed and coverage since it became the first country to commercialise 5G services in 2019.

Add it all up, and if South Korea indeed begins to roll out 6G first within the next six years, then perhaps the rest of the world will start to adopt it by around 2031.

Also, while at the annual mobile technology trade fair that ran from 28 February to 3 March in Barcelona, the minister said she talked with various officials from the US, Finland, and Indonesia about 5G, 6G, and the metaverse. She promised South Korea plans to invest in digital technologies like the metaverse, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and the cloud.