The Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute has developed the fourth-generation mobile communications technology that allows an increased transmission rate of 3.6 gigabits per second (gbps). The newly developed mobile communications technology can transmit a file big enough to hold the entire Encyclopedia Britannica (4.7GB DVD) in less than 10.5 seconds. The new technology would reduce the time it takes to download a movie to just two seconds. On a 100-mbps network, the fastest Internet service available now, it takes about a minute. Korea is the first in the world to develop 3.6 gbps transmission technology and this will make possible for Korea to occupy a favorable position when the competition to standardize 4G mobile communications starts.

The Research Institute predicted that when the technology is commercialized, around 2012, users will be able to view high-definition video in real time anywhere on a wireless network -- in the office, classroom or at home. Hwang Seung-koo, the head of ETRI's Mobile Telecommunications Research Division, said that the new 4G mobile technology will bring benefits worth billions of dollars in the future.