SK Telecom develops 5G repeater

SK Telecom has developed and trialed a new 5G repeater as part of its preparations towards launching a commercial 5G network.

The repeater has been applied to the operator’s 5G trial network near Gangnam Station in Seoul to provide denser coverage.

It has been built with SK Telecom’s independently developed 5G relay technology to solve the issue of 5G coverage limitations caused by the narrow propagation characteristics of high-frequency radio signals in the above 6-GHz range.

Park Jin-hyo, head of SK Telecom’s network technology R&D center, said the populous Gangnam area is one of the most difficult places to plan and build a network due to the presence of a large number of radio wave obstacles and high-density data traffic.

“SK Telecom is moving closer to launching a commercial 5G network by applying key 5G technologies to our 5G trial network in Gangnam, an area with the highest data traffic,” he said.

Using the 5G repeater, SK Telecom will now be able to more easily build 5G networks in other high-density areas, he added.