CJ OliveNetworks opens S.Korea's first logistics center with 5G

South Korea's digital service company CJ OliveNetworks on Thursday said it set up the mobile communications network "Ieum 5G" exclusively for businesses at CJ Logistics' distribution center in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, that opens next month.

The company is the nation's first to install a 5G network at a distribution center connected with consumers.

Ieum 5G is a system that directly allocates 5G frequencies to buildings and factories of companies or institutions instead of mobile carriers. Ten blocks of 5G frequencies of 4.72-4.82 GHz were allocated to CJ Logistics' new Icheon 2 Fulfillment Center, which covers 40,000 square meters on three floors.

The system's use of a separate frequency eliminates fears over frequency interference, plus the transmission range of the radio waves is also three times wider than Wi-Fi, which is often used at distribution centers.

"The wireless network speed will be 1,000 times faster than conventional Wi-Fi, boosting operational productivity at the distribution center," a company source said.

Ieum 5G was first applied at the Icheon center to wireless terminals such as tablets and PDAs used by staff, and is expected to accelerate the speed of on-site operations such as box scanning and product warehousing and management. The system's applications are gradually expanding to include robots, facilities and surveillance cameras at the center.

After receiving approval from the Ministry of Science and ICT in August last year, CJ OliveNetworks launched commercial use of Ieum 5G to apply 5G services to its parent CJ Group's logistics, entertainment and media sectors.

The ministry said 19 places used Ieum 5G as of this month like Naver Cloud, LG CNS and Korea Electric Power Corp. and more recently LG Electronics and Korea Aerospace Industries. The military like the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Republic of Korea Navy and public agencies such as the management office of Government Complex-Sejong also use the system.

Write to Hae-Sung Lee at ihs@hankyung.com