The South Korean telco also unveiled its Mobile Edge Computing Open Platform for enterprise customers
SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics have completed a network device interoperability test that applies dual connectivity technology, using both 4G and 5G networks provided by Samsung.
This technology is also known as E-UTRAN New Radio Dual Connectivity (EN-DC) and is based on the 3GPP 5G New Radio standard.
During the test, the two Korean companies have achieved 2.65 Gbps in data speeds on a 5G smartphone, combining both 1.5 Gbps in 5G using 100 megahertz of the 3.5 GHz band, with 1.15 Gbps in LTE using a combined 65 megahertz of 1.8 GHz, 2.1 GHz, and 2.6 GHz frequencies — all of which are available for commercial use by SK Telecom.
The test, carried out at Samsung Electronics facility located in Suwon, Korea, used Samsung’s commercial 4G and 5G NR end-to-end networks solutions. In addition, the companies used Samsung’s virtual core that supports simultaneous 4G and 5G as well as its Galaxy S10 5G smartphone.
In a statement, Samsung said that SK Telecom will be able to boost the overall transmission data speed by 80% by leveraging the 4G and 5G dual connectivity. It will allow users who are in 5G service coverage to download ultra-high-definition videos of 2 GB in just 6 seconds, and large video content such as 4K virtual reality video of 10 GB in less than 30 seconds, according to the company.
South Korea’s three mobile carriers launched initial 5G services in the country in December. SK Telecom, LG Uplus and KT initially launched the 5G service in limited areas in Seoul and other major cities. At the time of the launch, the telcos said that 5G offering will initially focus on enterprise users, because there were not yet 5G smartphones available.
Last week, South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT has decided to postpone the commercial launch of nationwide 5G commercial services by local carriers, which was expected to occur by the end of March.
The Ministry did not refer to a new date for the commercial launch but highlighted that it is coordinating with local operators SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus, along with smartphone makers Samsung and LG Electronics on the matter.
Industry sources said that the launch of 5G devices and trials currently being carried out by operators took more time than what was initially expected.
In related news, SK Telecom unveiled its 5G Mobile Edge Computing Open Platform, to allow its enterprise customers to offer related services.
“Enterprise customers can improve customers Quality of Experience (QoE) by connecting their service server or data center to SK Telecom’s MEC platform. For instance, through the application of MEC, a smart factory can enhance the response time of robots that run on 5G network,” the carrier said in a statement.
“Moreover, SK Telecom will also provide open Application Programming Interfaces to enable companies to easily develop MEC-based 5G services. Through APIs, developers will be provided with diverse data and functions.”
