Government Eases UWB Regulations... Samsung Electronics "Expecting Ecosystem Expansion"

Ultra-Wideband Regulation Relaxation to Boost Indoor Positioning and Remote Payment
Many Applications in Medical, Robotics, and Metaverse
Kim Kyung-jun, Head of Development at Samsung Electronics MX Division
Welcomes Regulatory Improvements in Newsroom Op-Ed

Kim Kyung-jun, Head of Development, MX Division, Samsung Electronics

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The IT industry has welcomed the ultra-wideband wireless technology (UWB) regulation improvement plan announced by the government at the 2nd Regulatory Innovation Strategy Meeting chaired by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on the 9th. It is expected that the related ecosystem will expand in various fields such as medical, robotics, and metaverse (extended virtual world).

Kim Kyung-joon, Vice President and Head of Development at Samsung Electronics MX Division, stated in a newsroom article on the 23rd that regarding the recent UWB regulation improvement announced by the government, "Through deregulation, we can expect to secure precise positioning technology, discover new business scenarios through it, and further expand the related ecosystem."

UWB is a high-frequency band short-range wireless communication protocol technology. It has precise spatial recognition and directionality, enabling remote payments and location finding through mobile devices. The number of UWB devices surged from 317 million last year to 1.8 billion by 2030. The proportion linked to smartphones is also approaching 65%. However, in Korea, the use of devices with bandwidth exceeding 500 MHz has been restricted due to concerns about frequency interference and overlap with aircraft and ships.

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to ease UWB-related regulations so that smartphones can be used for smart door locks, lost item searches, and more. If the device is equipped with a function that automatically disables features when entering places with frequency interference concerns, it will be allowed to incorporate this function.

Vice President Kim pointed out medical fields, robotics, and metaverse as future application areas of UWB, where even minor errors are not tolerated technically. He said, "If glucose level measurement through UWB radar signals becomes possible, diabetic patients will be able to easily check their sugar levels with smartphones," adding, "Precise positioning will also be utilized in the metaverse, accelerating the expansion of that ecosystem."

He added, "Technological advancement is deeply related to government policy directions. This policy, which timely responds to industry demands, is expected to become a model case for future policy and industry relations."

He also said, "The expanded bandwidth this time corresponds to a total of five consecutive bands based on 500 MHz, allowing adjacent channels to be combined to secure a wider bandwidth, which can be expected to provide higher accuracy compared to before," and "By increasing the available channels from one to five, interference that may occur when the number of UWB devices and services increases can be avoided."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.