SK Telecom announced that it commercialized 225Mbps LTE-Advanced, that is three times as fast as 75Mbps LTE, on the smartphones supporting the technology for the first time in the world. (image credit: SK Telecom)
Seoul, Korea, Jun. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) announced, at a press conference held at its headquarter, that it commercialized 225Mbps LTE-Advanced, that is three times as fast as 75Mbps LTE, on the smartphones supporting the technology for the first time in the world.
SK Telecom upgraded the existing LTE-Advanced which provides up to 150Mbps by applying Carrier Aggregation (CA) technology that binds 20MHz bandwidth in 1.8GHz band and 10MHz bandwidth in 800MHz band.
225Mbps LTE-Advanced literally offers speeds of up to 225Mbps, which is three times as fast as 75Mbps LTE and fifteen times as 3G. At its peak speed, customers are able to download a 1GB movie just in 37 seconds.
Backed by the high-speed network service, subscribers of SK Telecom will be able to enjoy more enriched mobile experiences. Assuming that all 2GB, the average monthly data consumption per user for LTE, is spent on downloading, if using 225Mbps LTE-Advanced, the user can save 2 min+26 sec and 17 min + 18 sec of waiting time each month compared to the previous 75Mbps LTE and 3G respectively.
■ World’s first commercialization of the technology, again solidifying status as an ICT leader
Launch of 225Mbps LTE-Advanced is an achievement made at a rather swift pace, in just a year from the world’s first LTE-Advanced commercialization last June and three years from the nation’s first LTE commercialization in July 2011.
SK Telecom described the world’s first commercialization of 225Mbps LTE-Advanced a remarkable accomplishment that would further raise the status of Korea as an ICT powerhouse. Among 300 network operators with commercialized LTE across 107 countries*, SK Telecom is the first to implement 225Mbps LTE-Advanced technology on network systems and smartphones for commercialization.
* Figures from GSA, the Global mobile Suppliers’ Association, as of June 10, 2014
Celebrated its 30th anniversary this year, SK Telecom had first opened the era of telecommunications in Korea with analogue methodology (1G) in 1984. Since then, the company continuously pioneered telecommunications technology by leading widespread use of telecommunications with commercialization of CDMA (2G) in 1996 and again introducing an era of wireless data communications with commercial launch of HSDPA (3G) on cellular phones in 2006, both for the first time in the world.
In particular, SK Telecom is being recognized as a frontier in the global telecommunications field with its success in commercialization of LTE in 2011 and LTE-Advanced in 2013 in a row. For two consecutive years in 2013 and 2014, the company was awarded “Outstanding LTE Contribution” at the GSMA Global Mobile Awards. Also, it won ‘Most Significant Development of a Commercial LTE Network – Operator’ at LTE World Summit last year and ‘Best Mobile Carrier’ at Telecom Asia Award this year for the third consecutive year.
Furthermore, by successfully commercializing the ‘20MHz+10MHz’ CA, SK Telecom moves one step closer to realizing the next level of LTE-Advanced technology: 3 band LTE-Advanced by aggregating three component carriers. The company added that, by launching the world’s leading telecommunications service, it also expects to acquire global competitiveness of Korea’s overall ICT ecosystem that encompasses handsets, telecommunications equipment and contents.
■ Largest and densest nationwide service coverage
SK Telecom said that 225Mbps LTE-Advanced secured the largest and densest service area across the nation.
From today, 225Mbps LTE-Advanced is available to users of a smartphone compatible with SK Telecom’s 225Mbps LTE-Advanced in Seoul, its metropolitan area and all other metropolitan cities, and from July in all regions across the country where either 20MHz LTE or LTE-Advanced is in service.
The company plans to set itself apart from two other local mobile carriers by providing 225Mbps LTE-Advanced service all across the nation from July 1 and continue to maintain its comparative advantage in service coverage.
■ Diverse services tailored for 225Mbps LTE-Advanced
As commercially launching 225Mbps LTE-Advanced, SK Telecom introduced various services specialized for the network as well.
SK Telecom introduced Angles, a social multimedia service, along with 225Mbps LTE-Advanced. With Angles, high-definition video files filmed from different angles by up to four users can be automatically edited into one single file in the cloud then to be viewed and shared on smartphones. Last year, Angles was awarded top prize in the Service Idea Contest for LTE-Advanced, hosted by SK Telecom.
SK Telecom will unveil Cloud Game, a cloud-based streaming game platform, in June 24. Differently from the current games that have to be installed directly on a PC or a smartphone for activation, Cloud Game will run on a cloud server so that the user can enjoy it on his smartphone in a real-time streaming service format. SK Telecom explained that 225Mbps LTE-Advanced network enabled seamless streaming of ultra-high definition, ultra-high volume and multiplayer games.
The company also beefed up video contents as well. At the end of last May, SK Telecom and SK Broadband started the world’s first UHD service on ‘B tv mobile’. ‘B tv mobile’ has ‘Special Edition for UHD’ that provides UHD contents on VoD. UHD content is four times the resolution of full HD.
■ 225Mbps LTE-Advanced at the current LTE prices
SK Telecom’s customers will not be charged extra for 225Mbps LTE-Advanced service. By providing the service at the current prices, SK Telecom expects to expand the market for diverse convergence services based on faster data communications.
Furthermore, SK Telecom will add optional data plans to enable its subscribers to use diverse contents at faster speeds without being burdened by heavier bill.
For example, at the end of June, SK Telecom will introduce ‘Subway Free’ plan, an optional data plan to allow unlimited data use in subways and subway stations in Seoul and the metropolitan area at 9,000 KRW a month- once exceeding 2GB on the same day, however, the connection will be kept under 400Kbps.
Also, the company plans to launch a price plan customized for cloud-based games soon.
■ Introduced a new Galaxy S5 for 225Mbps LTE-Advanced, the first smartphone compatible with 225Mbps LTE-Advanced
SK Telecom introduced a new Galaxy S5 for 225Mbps LTE-Advanced of Samsung Electronics which is a smartphone model optimized for 225Mbps LTE-Advanced with ultra-high resolution QHD display installed. The handset first comes in black and white, and other colors such as blue, gold, pink and red (exclusively for SK Telecom) will be added soon.
The company also plans to strengthen a lineup of 225Mbps LTE-Advanced smartphones to enable customers to enjoy high-volume, high-quality contents and services at faster speeds and with more pleasure.
SK Telecom secured a sufficient supply of Galaxy S5 for 225Mbps LTE-Advanced and starts to sell it from today in around 3,000 SK Telecom stores across the country and T World Direct(http://www.tworlddirect.com), its online sales shop.
Meanwhile, SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics jointly run a ‘Best & Best’ promotion to provide a quality smartphone case to the first 50,000 customers who purchase Galaxy S5 for 225Mbps LTE-Advanced and a 50% discount coupon for Samsung Gear Fit to all buyers of the phone.
■ Announced commercialization of 225Mbps LTE-Advanced and demonstrated the speed increased threefold
Lee Jong-bong, Executive Vice President and Head of Network Division, and Kim Yuna, a new model for SK Telecom’s commercial, attended the press conference. Kim Yuna, a SK Telecom user herself, said that she also would like to see more new and interesting services come out using 225Mbps LTE-Advanced.
At the press conference, Lee demonstrated high speed of 225Mbps LTE-Advanced, commercialized first in Seoul, its metropolitan area and other metropolitan cities, by making a video call to Busan and Gwangju from the site.
Lee added “The world’s first commercialization of 225Mbps LTE-Advanced by SK Telecom will pave the way for Korea to open up an era of 5G in the future. With ceaseless innovation of services, SK Telecom surely will elevate Korea’s status as an ICT powerhouse.”
About SK Telecom
SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM, KSE: 017670), established in 1984, is Korea’s largest telecommunications company with more than 27 million mobile subscribers, accounting for over 50% of the market. The company reached KRW 16.602 trillion in revenue in 2013. As the world’s first company to commercialize CDMA, CDMA 2000 1x, CDMA EV-DO and HSDPA networks, SK Telecom launched the nation’s first LTE service in July 2011. SK Telecom also became the world’s first mobile carrier to launch LTE-Advanced on June 26, 2013 by applying core LTE-Advanced technologies including Carrier Aggregation. Backed by rapid nationwide deployment, a rich device lineup and diverse mobile value added services, the company secured over 14.77 million LTE and LTE-Advanced subscribers as of March 2014. Also, based on its strength in network operations business, SK Telecom is seeking new growth engines by building ICT convergence business models in areas of healthcare, enterprise solutions, media and education. For more information, please visit www.sktelecom.com or email to press@sktelecom.com
Source: SK Telecom
