EU team ups with South Korea to research mobile broadband technology

The European Union is teaming up with South Korea jointly to research the next generation of mobile broadband technology, hoping the Asian country’s expertise will help it catch up in a field crucial for economic growth and jobs.

South Korea has one of the fastest mobile broadband networks and is home to Samsung, the world’s biggest smartphone maker. Europe had led the competition in GSM technology (the original standard for mobile networks) in the 1990s, but fell behind the US and Asia in the rollout of faster 4G connections.

The putative 5G mobile network promises better connections to cope with the ever-increasing number of mobile internet users. The EU estimates a high-definition movie could be downloaded in six seconds with the new technology, up from six minutes with 4G.