SK Telecom

In October 2000 the company became the second in the world to launch a 3G W-CDMACDMA: Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a digital cellular technology that utilises spread spectrum techniques. Unlike competing systems, such as GSM, that use time-division multiplexing, CDMA does not assign a specific frequency to each user. Instead, every channel utilises the full available… network, using B1 (2100 MHz). The network was upgraded to HSPA+ in July 2010.

4G LTE4G LTE: 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) or the E-UTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Access Network), introduced in 3GPP Rel. 8, is the radio access component of the Evolved Packet System (EPS) - a purely IP based mobile network standard. As an evolution to 3G UMTS, 4G LTE shares many similarities, such as… was launched July 2011 over B5 (850 MHz), using a 10 MHz channel width. National coverage was achieved by April 2012, and by May had begun carrier aggregation trials to combine B5 and a new B3 carrier. The dual carrier network was implemented July 2012 - the first in the world to use two LTE bands. Following the 3GPP Rel. 10 launch, the company commercially activated LTE-Advanced using 2C aggregation of B3+B5. Following an August 2013 auction, SK Telecom secured an additional 20 MHz of 1800 MHz spectrum and increased B3 width to 20 MHz. LTE-A peak data rates were subsequently extended to 225 Mbps.

Mid 2014 saw the company begin B1 (2100 MHz) LTE, and by December SK Telecom announced 3C aggregation of B1+B3+B5.

In June 2014 the company conducted the world's fastest LTE CA, achieving 3.8 Gbps using 9 TDDTDD: A wireless communication technique that uses a single frequency band for both transmitting and receiving operations but separates these operations in time. In a TDD system, upstream (transmission from user equipment to base station) and downstream (transmission from base station to user equipment)… carriers and 1 FDDFDD: A communication technology that uses separate frequency bands for transmitting and receiving operations. This technique enables simultaneous bi-directional communication by allocating one frequency band for upstream (transmission from the user equipment to the base station) and another distinct… carrier. Further CA trials conducted in December 2015 saw 428 Mbps DL achieved using 3C TDD B41 (2500 MHz) with 256QAM modulation. 

SK Telecom launched LTE-Advanced Pro in June 2016, supporting peak data rates of 500 Mbps using 3C aggregation and 256QAM modulation. By end of 2016 B7 (2600 MHz) was implemented, taking data rates to 525 Mbps. 4X4 MIMO and 4C aggregation was later implemented in 2017, taking data rates over the 900 Mbps mark by adding a further non-contiguous B7 channel. In June 2017 the company announced the launch of 5C aggregation, with the network for the first time exceeding 1 Gbps peak DL rates.

SK deployed both LTE-MLTE-M: LTE-M is a type of LTE network published by 3GPP in Releases 13 to 15 specifications. LTE-M is a low power wide area technology which supports IoT through lower device complexity and provides extended coverage, leveraging a mobile operator's existing LTE base stations. LTE-M finds its… and LoRaLoRa: LoRa® is a proprietary physical layer wireless protocol developed by US semiconductor corporation Semtech, designed to facilitate low power, low data rate communications in the unlicensed ISM bands between 137 and 1020 MHz.Unlike other IoT standards such as NB-IoT and LTE-M which are constructed as… networks, announcing their commercial activation in March and July 2016 respectively. LTE-M is implemented on the network's existing B3 and B5 carriers.

SK Telecom has conducted a number of 5G trials, beginning December 2016 in partnership with EricssonEricsson: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (Ericsson) provides infrastructure, services and software to the telecommunication industry and other sectors. The Company's segments include Networks, IT & Cloud and Media. The Networks segment consists of two business units: Network Products and Network… and QualcommQualcomm: Qualcomm came into existence in 1985, co-founded by Irwin M. Jacobs, Andrew Viterbi, Harvey White, Adelia Coffman, Andrew Cohen, Klein Gilhousen, and Franklin Antonio. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California, but its influence spans across the globe. The question arises, what is…. The network trials have been conducted over n78 (3500 MHz) and n257 (28 GHz). Further trials were conducted in June and September 2017 with NokiaNokia: Nokia Corporation is a Finnish company engaged in the network and Internet protocol (IP) infrastructure, software, and related services market. The Company's businesses include Nokia Networks and Nokia Technologies. The Company's segments include Ultra Broadband Networks, IP Networks and… and SamsungSamsung: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is Korea-based company principally engaged in the manufacture and distribution of electronic products. From innovative mobile devices and wearable tech to intelligent home appliances, Samsung’s breakthrough products and services have helped shape the digital revolution…. Infrastructure deployment began in December 2017, supporting data rates up to 20 Gbps. Working in partnership with Samsung, the company announced the completion of its first NR test bed call in October 2018.

SK Telecom officially launched its 5G network in April 2019, operating an initial 34,000 5G base stations across 85 cities nationwide. The company is understood to be using the 100 MHz of n78 (3500 MHz) spectrum it secured during June 2018 auctions.