"머스크보다 빨랐습니다" 가전 회사인 줄 알았던 LG가 세계 최초로 해낸 일

#LG #SatelliteCommunication #6G LG, a company we knew merely as one that makes refrigerators and TVs, quietly pulled off a major feat on a road in Paris, France. It was the world's first instance where a satellite stepped in to fill the gap where communication would normally be cut off inside a moving car, ensuring a single phone call remained uninterrupted. LG demonstrated a capability that even the famous Elon Musk’s SpaceX has yet to offer as an everyday service. I examined the numbers from my desk to understand why this is not merely a boast about another country's technology, but a national crisis—reflecting our reality where 2,900 base stations once went out during a single wildfire, and where my daily commute and a single disaster alert are at stake. 📌 LG Electronics demonstrated the world's first satellite voice communication for connected cars at the 34th General Assembly of the 5GAA (International Automobile Communications Association) in Paris on May 15, 2025 — Uninterrupted calls through automatic switching between terrestrial and satellite networks (NTN) while driving, observed on an international stage by 110 companies including BMW, Stellantis, and Qualcomm 📌 The core technology is AI voice compression — Transmission speeds are increased more than tenfold by finely compressing voice data to fit narrow satellite communication channels, allowing connection to rescue centers using only voice without text with a single emergency call button 📌 LG Electronics holds the world's No. 1 global market share in telematics at 24.4% (23.3% in 2022 → 24.1% in 2023 → 24.4% in 2024) — LG communication technology is installed in one out of every four connected cars worldwide 📌 The Vehicle Solutions (VS) business, launched in 2013, suffered losses for over 10 years → Achieved its first annual profit in 2022 → Sales surpassed 10 trillion won for the first time in 2023 → 10.6205 trillion won in 2024 📌 March 2025: Approximately 2,900 base stations of the three major telecommunication companies damaged simultaneously by wildfires in North Gyeongsang Province; recovery rate at one point in the 86% range — At that moment, only the two words "No Signal" appeared on phones in that area. 💡 World's first accurate range: Satellite emergency text (SOS) is already commercialized — What LG surpassed was "being the first to introduce conversational two-way satellite voice calls in connected cars." Not that Starlink is incapable, but rather raising the first flag in uncharted territory where no one has yet launched it as an everyday service. 💡 Why it is difficult: If a single text message is a handwritten letter, real-time voice is a pile of pouring packages — the vessel (satellite communication channel) is small, but the load (voice data) is heavy, causing everyone to hit a wall. 💡 A twist on identity: LG is actually a telecommunications and AI company — LG AI Research Institute unveiled Korea's first multimodal AI, 'ExaOne,' in December 2021, technology built over several years. 💡 It wasn't alone: ​​LG Electronics (voice terminal) + LG Innotek May 2025, the world's first 5G broadband satellite communication (NR-NTN) vehicle module (hundreds of Kbps → tens of Mbps, mass production in Q1 2026) + LG Uplus '6G White Paper-NTN' — the group as a set of terminals, modules, networks, and standards. 💡 Why satellite, of all things: The biggest differentiator of 6G is precisely satellite communication (NTN) — terrestrial networks and Combining satellite networks for seamless communication across mountains, tunnels, and the sea, 3GPP is preparing the 6G NTN standard. 💡 In terms of our salaries: It is equivalent to the company holding out for a department that hadn't earned a single penny in salary for 10 years, only racking up credit card bills, without cutting them — and that has now become a national-level asset. 💡 A crossroads for telecommunications sovereignty: Starlink Korea launches domestically on December 4, 2025 (87,000 KRW per month for home use) — Whether to entrust aerial communications to foreign satellites or protect them with our own technology; Starlink becoming the 'digital lifeline' in the war in Ukraine was already a preview. 💡 The stakes: Global satellite communications market: $52.3 billion in 2023 → approximately $216.2 billion (approx. 295 trillion KRW) in 2030, growing by 24% annually — The government is also investing approximately 300 billion KRW in 6G low-orbit satellites and plans to launch two communications satellites by 2030 (overall ETRI) 💡 Don't count your chickens before they hatch: What has been shown so far is merely a 'world's first demonstration' — actual commercialization is not expected until 2027 at the earliest (3GPP Release 17). Nevertheless, what matters is that the country that sets the stage first holds the standard. ✅ Timestamps 00:00 "Faster than Musk" — The most underrated company in Korea 00:37 On the streets of Paris, the world's first demonstration that no one saw ...