SK Telecom unveils 'smaller but efficient' 5G base station

An SK Telecom engineer tests one of the firm's 5G base stations on the rooftop of a building in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, Wednesday. / Courtesy of SK Telecom

By Baek Byung-yeul

SK Telecom showcased a base station for its fifth-generation (5G) network, Wednesday, claiming it was smaller but more efficient compared to the base stations for LTE networks.

The telecom firm introduced its 5G base station on top of a building in Myeong-dong, central Seoul. SK Telecom is preparing to send its first 5G signal on Dec. 1.

“SK Telecom's base station features multi-user multi-input and multi-output (MU-MIMO) and beam-forming technologies so users can enjoy faster network speed with less latency,” said Jung Chang-kwan, leader of SK Telecom's infrastructure innovation team.

Jung said the 5G base station also has 32 antennas, a huge leap from the LTE base station , which has four. “With more advanced technologies and more antennas, each base station can process more data, up to eight times compared to the LTE base station.”

The base station is 23 centimeters in width and about 100 centimeters in height with a weight of 23 kilograms.

“We have received welcoming responses from building owners. As the base station is small in size, they can use less space on the roof of their buildings compared to LTE networks,” an official of SK Telecom said.

SK Telecom also unveiled its 5G In-Building Total Solution, a device that boosts data traffic capacity and enables more consistent network access when users are indoors.

SK Telecom said it chose Myeong-dong because the location, known as one of the country's most popular shopping districts, has a huge floating population.

“Myeong-dong has a large floating population. As the location experiences dramatic changes in data traffic, it is difficult to deliver quality 5G service. But this could be a chance for us to build up technological experience with 5G network construction. We will utilize the experience to provide quality 5G services nationwide,” the official said.

SK Telecom said it has installed base stations in locations with huge floating populations including Gangnam Station. To provide wider and more accurate 5G network coverage to its customers, SK Telecom used digital map analysis technology called 5G Total Engineering and Optimization System (T-EoS).