SK Telecom recently announced that successfully tested LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) five-band carrier aggregation (CA) on its commercial network
For the trial, SK Telecom leveraged 10MHz bandwidth in the 800MHz band, 20MHz bandwidth in the 1.8GHz band, 10MHz bandwidth in the 2.1GHz band, 10MHz + 20 MHz bandwidths in the 2.6Ghz band
Since June 1, 2016, SK Telecom has been providing 500Mbps LTE-A Pro service by applying 256 QAM technology to its tri-band LTE-A CA network. Also, the company has acquired additional spectrum in the 2.6GHz band in May 2017, securing the basis for LTE-A five-band CA. In addition, SK Telecom has successfully demonstrated the application of MIMO to its tri-band CA network, thereby securing the capability to provide 900Mbps data speeds.
With the application of 4X4 MIMO - a technology that doubles the transmission speed - to a 20MHz bandwidth of a frequency band, users will be able to download data at maximum rate of 400Mbps per frequency band, said the Operator.
Meanwhile, SK Telecom also announced that it, together with Ericsson, successfully demonstrated Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), the technology that uses unlicensed spectrum together with licensed spectrum for 4G LTE radio communication. By aggregating 80MHz in licensed and unlicensed spectrum and applying 4X4 MIMO technology, peak data rates of 1Gbps is achievable.
Park Dong-soo, EVP, Network Business, Samsung Electronics
Through the demonstration of LTE-A Pro with SK Telecom, we have proven that it is not long before we realize the commercialization of 1Gbps mobile communication, a dream speed in LTE. We will lead the advancement of mobile technologies toward the very last stage of LTE evolution and secure a bridgehead into the 5G era.
Park Jin-hyo, SVP and Head of Network Technology R&D Center, SK Telecom
With continued advancement of UHD video and virtual reality technology, there is growing a need for faster mobile telecommunications services. SK Telecom will pursue ceaseless innovations in not only 5G, but also in LTE-A Pro so as to provide our customers with the world's best mobile experience.
