Samsung Electronics and KT Corporation (KT) today announced that the companies have been selected to deploy a Private 5G network for the ‘Smart Naval Port’ project by the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy. This marks the first deployment of its kind at a Korean Naval base. The Navy is carrying forward with this project to improve the battleship and base operation support capabilities and achieve comprehensive base defense.

Samsung and KT have been collaborating on this project since the summer of 2024, with a goal to complete the deployment by December 2025. The companies will build a more intelligent and fully independent network infrastructure to provide seamless coverage and enhanced connectivity for the Republic of Korea Navy 2nd Fleet.

Private 5G solutions are essential to support national defense sectors, which require ultra-fast speeds and hyper-connected communications for the foolproof and effective operation management. These solutions will build a highly reliable network dedicated to the Navy, increasing security and reducing vulnerabilities.

To ensure military workplace safety and efficiency, Samsung and KT will support the Navy’s Private 5G buildout by applying smart, AI-enabled connectivity solutions and powering a variety of next-generation applications. The project will establish a comprehensive Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure that encompasses 13 different systems, ranging from uncrewed vehicle operation to armory management and ammunition depot management. Specific use cases include:

• A digital twin of the smart Naval base will provide a three dimensional and high-definition digital replica of the base. This will enable an integrated management system that can also be used as a foundation for establishing strategy development. Insights gathered from the digital twin can inform decisions that will increase the resilience, efficiency, adaptability and autonomy of the Naval base.
• Intelligent security monitoring will enhance the Naval base defense by introducing real-time video control of operational forces and vehicles, surveillance cameras for ammunition depots and armories, and surveillance drones, incorporated with the existing Video Management System (VMS). This monitoring will deliver a holistic view of the base and all for optimal operational response in case of an emergency event through a real-time auto screen switch.
• A one-stop battleship operation management system will enable intelligent battleship operation support through all-in-one system by integrating multiple critical systems — such as navigation support, logistics management, safety management and monitoring. This comprehensive system will streamline and operationalize administrative work for the Navy personnel.

“KT will contribute to establishing a standardized system for the Republic of Korea Navy through the Smart Naval Port project,” said Jun-Ho Kim, Senior Vice President and Head of Public Customer Business Unit at KT Enterprise. “We look forward to laying the foundation for the ‘Smart Naval Port’ which will improve its capability to support battleship and naval base operations.”

Samsung will provide its proven end-to-end private 5G network solution for defense, including its private network 5G SA Compact Core, indoor and outdoor radio solutions and network management software. These solutions support the mid-band (n79, 4.7GHz) spectrum, which is widely adopted for military usage.

With Samsung’s compact solution for the full stack of Private 5G that can run on a single server hardware, the Navy will benefit from quick deployments and less complex operations. Its private 5G radios will deliver improved uplink performance with optimized uplink features, designed to help government agencies upload vast amounts of data across numerous devices simultaneously.

“Samsung’s Private 5G solutions are trusted due to their dependable security, reliability and proven commercial expertise, already serving diverse private and public sectors in countries like South Korea, the U.S. and Japan,” said Simon Lee, Vice President and Head of B2B·B2G Business Development Group, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “In collaboration with KT, we are excited to deploy Korea’s first Private 5G at a Naval base. This project exemplifies our ongoing commitment to enhance and unlock the potential of 5G to meet every customer’s needs.”

Samsung has been actively delivering private 5G networks in collaboration with a range of sectors from hospitals, universities, construction sites to military and local government agencies.

About KT CORPORATION (KRX: 030200; NYSE: KT)
KT Corporation, Korea’s largest telecommunications service provider, reestablished in 1981 under the Telecommunications Business Act, is leading the era of innovations in the world’s most connected country. The company is leading the 4th industrial revolution with high speed wire/wireless network and new ICT technology. KT launched the world’s first nationwide commercial 5G network on April 3, 2019, after successfully showcasing the world’s first trial 5G services at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in February 2018. This is another milestone in KT’s continuous efforts to deliver essential products and services as it aspires to be the number one ICT Company and People’s Company.

“Private 5G networks will enable progressive changes across all industry verticals. Applications like digital twins, autonomous vehicles, AI and AR are only a glimpse of the plethora of use cases Samsung’s 5G can bring to life,” said Yong Chang, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung understands the unique needs of enterprises and is capable of delivering optimized network experiences. We are excited to help drive the private 5G ecosystem in Korea.”

Samsung will provide its advanced private 5G network solutions to an array of entities in the public and private sectors — including energy, safety, water resource management, medical services and medical education.

In the public sector, Samsung will collaborate with three major government agencies to help them ensure workplace safety and efficiency by applying smart, AI-enabled connectivity solutions:

• Korea Electric Power Corporation, the largest electric utility in Korea, plans to deploy smart grid technologies and build digital twins to enhance safety and efficiency in the workplace. A digital twin technology is a virtual replica of an electrical substation, and will help with remote monitoring and inspection around the entire premises. This not only saves time and resources spent on actual site inspections but also enables real-time monitoring on the safe working environment of the employees. 5G-powered wearable cameras and autonomous robots will also boost control and monitoring capabilities at various sites.

• Korea Industrial Complex Corporation, a government agency that manages and supports industrial complexes, will deploy a 5G-driven digital safety platform at various work sites. Samsung will help them build a robust, AI-based smart monitoring system for detection of fire hazards and any other security risks or emergencies in real-time.

• Korea Water Resources Corporation, a government agency for comprehensive water resource management, will build digital twins — virtual models of real-world river basins — to precisely visualize water flow and predict water-related hazards such as flood damages. Also, the digital twins of water purification plants will provide accurate AI-based simulations of the water purification process, improving accuracy in water management and predictive capabilities.

In the private sector, Samsung will also work with two of the largest and most technologically advanced hospitals in Korea, to implement enhanced medical services and immersive use cases, transforming the healthcare industry:

• Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital will introduce smart medical services, such as a 3D rendering of computed tomography (CT), rapid reconstruction of medical images and real-time, long-distance surgical collaboration using virtual interaction.

• Samsung Medical Center will leverage 5G to enhance its medical education program. Some examples will include remote training using AR glasses, virtual simulation of live surgical conditions and live-streaming of 360-degree recordings of surgical operation.

For private 5G network expansion in Korea, Samsung will deliver its advanced private 5G network solutions, including Compact Macro, Compact Core and radios supporting 4.7GHz and 28GHz bands. This new project follows Samsung’s recent deployment of Korea’s first private 5G network at Naver’s new headquarters.

Samsung’s private 5G radios are capable of delivering improved uplink performance with optimized uplink feature, which can increase the ratio of network uploads to up to 40 percent. This latest feature is designed to help enterprises upload vast amounts of data across numerous devices simultaneously, which is required in many private networks.

Samsung has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

NAVER Cloud operates the global IT infrastructure and enterprise solution services for NAVER and its subsidiaries while providing its public cloud services, NAVER Cloud Platform, to a myriad of companies and organizations in diverse industries.

Samsung Electronics and NAVER Cloud signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in March 2022 for a private 5G network collaboration. The companies will continue working together to develop new business models and use cases to expand private 5G networks globally, helping support the buildout of secure and dedicated networks for enterprises using Samsung’s private 5G network solutions and NAVER’s cloud technology.

“NAVER’s new headquarters serves as a test bed to explore technologies of the future, where 5G network and cloud play a central role,” said Sangyoung Han, Executive Director at NAVER Cloud Strategy and Planning at NAVER Cloud. “Together with Samsung, we will continue to develop new private 5G networks business models and cooperate to help more companies achieve digital transformation with cloud technology.”

Private 5G Network Enables Cloud-Based Autonomous Mobile Robots

NAVER’s autonomous mobile robot services leverage both NAVER and Samsung’s technologies to introduce a private 5G use case, bringing immediate benefits within the building. Serving as assistants for employees, the robots provide convenience services such as delivering packages, coffee and lunch boxes to employees throughout the building. There are 40 robots moving around three floors within the 1784 headquarters, with plans to expand to hundreds of robots traveling around the entire 36-floor building this year.

The cloud acts as a shared brain for the robot, named “Rookie,” instead of a built-in chipset. Samsung’s private 5G network plays the role of a neural network that connects the robots and the cloud, enabling the cloud to control and support tens of thousands of robots in real-time and allowing them to be smarter together. In addition, advanced technologies such as digital twin, 3D/HD mapping and AI are applied to help robots learn to find their way inside the building by creating a virtual space that replicates the real world.

The Private 5G Network Solutions

Private 5G solutions are necessary to support enterprises like NAVER that require secure and reliable communications for data-intensive mobile applications. The commercial private 5G solutions powering NAVER’s application includes Samsung’s Compact Core and 5G radios supporting 4.7GHz and 28GHz spectrums, which are dedicated for private 5G network in Korea. The private 5G radios from Samsung include an optimized uplink allocation feature, with an allocation ratio of up to 40 percent. This latest feature, which nearly doubles the upload capabilities of today’s commercial 5G radios, is designed to help enterprises upload vast amounts of data across many people and machines simultaneously, which is required in many private networks. Additionally, the new radios help enterprises with optimal frequency use by leveraging New Radio-Dual Connectivity (NR-DC) technology, allowing devices or end users to connect to mid-band and mmWave frequencies simultaneously.

“Our collaboration with NAVER highlights how we creatively drive business innovation by future technology convergence. We are thrilled to work with NAVER to successfully realize our vision with private 5G network solutions,” said Yong Chang, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to work with public institutions and enterprises to deliver diverse use cases for transportation systems, hospitals, schools, SOC facilities and more.”

Samsung Networks Business has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions including chipsets, radios and core. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung drives the industry to advance 5G networks with its market-leading product portfolio from fully virtualized RAN and Core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools. The company is currently providing network solutions to mobile operators that deliver connectivity to hundreds of millions of users around the world.

¹ With a total floor area of 165,000 square meters, the 1784 headquarters based in Korea can accommodate over 5,000 people.