Korea’s major mobile operator SK Telecom Co. announced on Wednesday that together with Samsung Electronics Co. and Nokia it has successfully demonstrated 5G wireless service using the 3.5GHz band for the first time in Korea.

The low-frequency 3.5GHz band shows more limited data transfer capacity compared to high-frequency bands but offers better speed and wider coverage.

SK Telecom joined hands with Samsung Electronics to develop a base station, test device and core equipment for virtualization based on 3GPP 5G standards. The trial test, conducted yesterday at Samsung Electronics’ R&D Center in Suwon, used low-density parity-check (LDPC) channel coding technology to minimize data loss and ultra-low latency communication technology.

The company also co-developed with Nokia a 5G base station equipment and test device for the 3.5GHz spectrum and successfully realized Gbps (gigabits per second) speed while testing near its office in Bundang. The two companies applied carrier aggregation techniques to expand bandwidth and measured the speed and quality of transmission while moving, which will serve as important data when designing 5G commercial networks in the 3.5GHz band.

SK Telecom said that through this demonstration it has secured the technologies for both ultra-high and low frequencies. “We plan to optimize the 5G network taking into account the bandwidth and features available by frequency,” added the company.

Shares of SK Telecom closed Wednesday at 266,000 won ($233.3), up 0.76 percent or 2,000 won from the previous session.

By Kim Gyu-sik

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]