SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile carrier, showcased its new multi-carrier network, which will allow consumers a quicker long-term evolution (LTE) experience at its office at Gangnam, Seoul, Wednesday.
SK’s multi-carrier network, which uses both the 800 megahertz and 1.8 gigahertz bandwidth, will allow consumers to avoid data traffic and enjoy LTE services at double the speed, the firm said.
“Using two bandwidths is like adding another highway to an existing one,” said Kwon Hyuk-sang, head of SK Telecom’s network division. “Our multi-carrier is the first in Korea, in the World and the first LTE service to have a download speed of 40 megahertz.”
The two frequency bands allow dividing data traffic and thereby maintaining high download speeds, each having a speed of 20 megahertz, and therefore having the same effect as 40 megahertz.
The two bandwidths are open together in the same area, and multi-carrier technology allows what Kwon called “load balancing:” if 800 megahertz bandwidths suffer from a data explosion, it is automatically transferred to the stand-by 1.8 megahertz bandwidths.
As some services work better on one bandwidth or the other, the new technology also allows an “inter-frequency handover,” in which the system will automatically transfer the user to the optimal bandwidth. SK Telecom is also planning to apply for a patent for the new technology.
“We have been developing multi carrier system since we won the bid for the 1.8 gigahertz bandwidth last year. We are expecting to secure 3 million LTE subscribers very soon, and expect to have 6.5 million by the end of this year. We wanted to prepare for that beforehand so that no SK customer suffers from slow access to our network,” said Kwon.
The new system is currently going through initial trials in the Gangnam area, but expects commercialization to start in July. The network coverage will steadily expand as the service begins, starting with Seoul and Busan where data traffic is most frequent. SK is planning to cover the entire nation with the new service sometime in the first half of next year.
Another reason for the step by step expansion is due to the new service requiring handsets that carry chips that can meet the frequency standards of 1.8 gigahertz. Only Pantech’s Vega Racer 2, which came out this month, carries chip that allows it to connect to multi-carrier frequencies. SK Telecom is in talks with manufacturers so that future releases will automatically carry chips capable of connecting to multi-carrier frequency ranges.
SK is also supporting a roaming service for its multi-carrier, which can be used in Hong Kong, Singapore, and other nations using a 1.8 gigahertz bandwidth.
Also present was Kang Jong-ryeol, who heads SK Telecom’s network technology development, who said the firm is also developing a more advanced carrier aggregation technology. Carrier aggregation is what Kang called a “true LTE” service, because it totally combines the bandwidths, unlike a multi-carrier which just lines them up together. Carrier aggregation is expected to launch in the second half of next year.