4G operator SK Telecom has expanded the coverage of its LTE-A Pro services – providing up to 700Mbps to 900Mbps speeds – to 75 cities and 31 counties in Korea.
SK Telecom first introduced the world’s first five-band CA LTE-A Pro service in June 2017.
SK Telecom said it has expanded the service in main areas of Seoul, Chungcheong and Yeongnam regions by August 2017 and to major cities in the Jeolla Provinces such as Yeosu, Naju, and Gwangyang, and populated cities of Gangwon Province, including Wonju, Gangneung and Sokcho in September 2017.
SK Telecom said its five-band CA LTE-A Pro technology enhances data transmission speed and performance by aggregating five component carriers. SK Telecom’s five-band CA LTE-A Pro service supports up to 700Mbps data rates.
SK Telecom has also expanded coverage of its 800Mbps-900Mbps LTE-A Pro services by combining three/four-band CA and 4X4 Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output (MIMO) technologies. SK Telecom’s subscribers can experience up to 900Mbps data throughput in major commercial districts throughout Korea.
Users of smartphones embedded with Exynos 9 mobile chipset, including Galaxy S8 and Galaxy Note 8 can access SK Telecom’s LTE-A Pro services.
SK Telecom aims to increase the coverage of its LTE-A Pro services and achieve 1Gbps or faster data rates with the evolution of smartphones.
“Though the increased coverage of the LTE-A Pro services, SK Telecom is providing a differentiated network experience to more customers,” said Choi Seung-won, head of Infra Strategy Office at SK Telecom.
According to Strategy Analytics, three telecom markets have seen positive trends in mobile operator profitability even as the markets moved to favor unlimited data plans: Finland, South Korea, and the US. It is important to note that the revenue growth unlocked by operators in these markets has also been achieved with stable or improving EBITDA margins.
