Seoul Plans to have a Public IoT Network by 2023

Seoul is all set to have a public IoT network across the city by 2023. According to the reports of Korea Biz Wire, the Seoul Metropolitan Government made an announcement last week that the city-wide IoT network will be over by 2023. By the end of 2021, the operating platform is likely to be set up at City Hall.

The public IoT network in Seoul will provide support and deliver public services like smart street lights, shared parking, and disappearance prevention with the help of IoT sensors. The government will leverage the IoT sensors to collect data relating to the environment, traffic, and safety. The collected data will be relayed to and from the city’s 25 district offices.

The public IoT network will be LoRa based. The LoRa-based network will be 421 kilometers long. Its deployment in Seoul is likely to be completed by 2021 end. LoRa provides IoT solutions to low-powered devices. Moreover, it finds application in pollution control, energy management, disaster prevention, reduction of natural resources, and infrastructure efficiency.

Seoul plans to install 1,000 LoRa base IoT stations in different public buildings like community centers. 195 of these base stations will be installed in Guro, Eunpyeong, and Seocho. Currently, pilot tests are being conducted in these cities.

The establishment of the public IoT network is a part of its smart city plan. It is a part of the 102.7 billion won investment plan of the Seoul Government to establish “Smart Seoul Network.” The plan was made public in 2019 and was originally expected to be completed within three years. The government plans to address the pain points of the city by offering free public Wi-Fi over 4,237 kilometers and prioritizes its installation in regions with dense populations. By 2022, the Seoul government plans to increase the access points to public Wi-Fi by more than 200%. Immense cost savings are expected with more than 6 million residents.

On the completion of the IoT network projects, the government projects cost savings of about 630,000 won on annual communications. The total savings can be nearly 3.88 trillion won.

The 5G technology of South Korea is likely to support the IoT efforts. Seoul is an APAC leader when it comes to 5G deployment. The 5G technology’s capability of ultra-reliable transmission, high data rates, and low latencies will help IoT to reach its full potential.

In 2020, Seoul made an announcement to launch the first-ever blockchain-based digital drive ID. It successfully attracted more than a million drivers to sign for the service. Apart from Seoul, South Korea is a leader in taking up smart city initiatives. The launch of the blockchain-based decentralized identity system is a recent initiative.

The government of Korea is focusing on the establishment of special zones that will be strongly deregulated for technological testing. The blockchain zone of Busan is a recent regulation-free zone for experimentation of innovations and technologies. Six more zones have been set up in different parts of the country. They include Sejong City, Chungcheongbuk-do, Daegu City, Gangwon-do, Gyeongsangnam-do, and Jeollanam-do.

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