Korea has become the first country in the world to demonstrate a high-capacity, super speed mobile telecommunications system outside of laboratory conditions. As reported by Yonhap, the state-run Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) tested a Long-Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-Advanced) system. The accompanying photo of the test was published in The Korea Herald. (click to see a larger version)The technology acquired meets 95 percent of the requirements needed for a functional 4G mobile communications system, he said, adding technologies not yet developed must wait for the creation of a worldwide standard on 4G telecommunications that is expected to be set by the International Telecommunication Union in April. The research took over five years and cost ETRI an estimated 64 billion won (53 million dollars) to complete. According to Yonhap, ETRI reported acquiring 24 patents related to LTE-Advanced and has applied for intellectual property protection on 500 processes learned during the research and development stage.South Korean companies may hold least 23 percent of all patent rights on 4G communications technology, up from 19 percent for 3.9G and 10 percent for 3G wideband code division multiple access, it added.