MIC set to guide Korea's u-city mania

Last month Korea's Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC), together with the Ministry of Construction and Transportation, announced that they will jointly coordinate and regulate the burgeoning growth of u-city (ubiquitous city) projects in the country.

"At present there are no guidelines," said an MIC source. "We are at the beginning stage. We want to set requirements and standardize the technologies. We plan to have a standardized u-city model and to set up the legal base" The MIC's u-city initiative is being implemented under the auspices of its broadband convergence network (BcN) division.

The u-city concept will feature widespread use of RFID and ubiquitous sensor networks. MIC minister Chin Daeje suggested last year that the RFID business alone might in the future become as large as the mobile phone business.

A rush of announcements relating to u-city projects have been made recently. Last month KT Corp and the Korea National Housing Corp contracted to jointly construct a "u-city" in Unjeon, near the border with North Korea, by 2009. KT will install the latest wireless and FTTH infrastructure.