SKT launches five-band CA, 4X4 MIMO

SK Telecom has announced the launch of five-band carrier aggregation (CA) and 4X4 multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technologies as part of its ongoing evolution to 5G.

The operator has made five-band CA LTE-A Pro available in the main areas of 53 cities across South Korea, supporting data rates of up to 700Mbps.

The five-band CA service utilizes SK Telecom’s 10MHz of 800-MHz spectrum, 20MHz in the 1.8-GHz band, 10MHz in 2.1-GHZ as well as a 10MHz and 20MHz carrier in the 2.6-GHz bands.

SK Telecom has meanwhile launched 900Mbps LTE-A Pro in the CBDs of six cities by combining existing three or four band carrier aggregation with 4×4 MIMO. The six cities are  Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon and Ulsan.

Among SK Telecom’s handset line-up, currently only the Samsung Galaxy S8 supports these new services, and will require an over-the-air firmware upgrade to do so. But the operator said it anticipates that more upcoming premium smartphones will support the services.

SK Telecom has set a target of having the two services combined cover more than 50% of the Korean population by the end of the year.

The operator also plans to launch 1Gbps LTE-A Pro services in the first half of next year by combining five- or four-band CA with other technologies such as 4X4 MIMO.

“SK Telecom’s LTE-A Pro services represent an early application of 5G technologies that support Gbps-level data speeds and massive network capacity,” SK Telecom SVP and head of infrastructure strategy Choi Seung-won said.

““SK Telecom will continue to offer differentiated mobile communications quality through LTE-A Pro service, while utilizing the network to gain a valuable edge in the 5G era.”