South Korea’s first auction of 5G-targeted spectrum in the 3.5 GHz and 28 GHz bands, will start on June 15. The government plans to distribute the spectrum equally between the three mobile operators – SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ – rather than auctioning more airwaves to the highest bidders. The rules also state that there will be a limit placed on bid amounts to prevent the auction becoming too competitive and burdening the winners with high spectrum costs. Of the three MNOs, only KT has announced firm plans for commercial 5G, but SK Telecom is expected to be an early mover, leveraging its advanced new architectures, including virtualized RAN. Both KT and LG U+ trialed 5G during the recent…