SK Telecom makes first 5G call

Technicians of SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics check fifth-generation (5G) network equipment before making the first 5G call at SK Telecom's 5G test facility in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. / Courtesy of SK Telecom

By Baek Byung-yeul

SK Telecom has successfully transmitted and received data using fifth-generation (5G) equipment, the company said Monday, claiming it is the first mobile carrier in the world to do so.

Korea's largest mobile carrier said it used Samsung Electronics equipment to test its 5G commercialization capacity and succeeded in making its first 5G call at its test facility in Bundang-gu, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

The first call is the final process to check that data is being transmitted successfully. To complete a successful first call, the test must pass every procedure needed in data communications without any problem, the company said.

The test was conducted in the 3.5-gigahertz band with a 100-megahertz bandwidth and all technologies and equipment complied with the latest standards specification issued by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

To take leadership in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Korean telecom firms including SK Telecom are pushing hard to commercialize the super-fast mobile network service.

SK Telecom is aiming to commercialize the 5G service by December of this year. It previously named Samsung, Ericsson and Nokia as its 5G equipment suppliers.

The company claimed its first call is distinguished from other telecom firms in the world as the firm used 5G equipment ready for commercial use.

After the completion of the call, SK and Samsung are set to enter the next phase as they will test their 5G equipment in actual environments. The telecom firm said it will optimize its 5G technology to provide quality services at different sites such as indoors, outdoors and mobile environments. It will also conduct resilience tests so that the service will work during bad weather, natural disasters and other unexpected situations.

With the completion of the first call, SK Telecom claimed it is now several months ahead of other telecom firms in completing development of 5G network services.

"Using our superb technology, we will try to maximize the service quality before commercializing it," said Park Jin-hyo, chief technology officer and head of the ICT R&D Center of SK Telecom.

Cheun Kyung-whoon, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics, said "the completion of a successful first call, which was conducted based on international standards, is an example of the two firm's high technology."

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