Telecom Lead Asia:
SK Telecom, mobile operator in South Korea, has inked an agreement with
Ericsson to provide LTE services to its subscribers in the country’s major
cities.
Ericsson said demand for LTE services in South Korea has
increased since the commercial launch of the technology in July 2011.
By the end of April 2012, SK Telecom, which has more than 26
million mobile subscribers, reached 2.4 million LTE subscribers.
SK Telecom will extend its LTE network. The LTE network
extension will be carried out by Ericsson’s operating unit in Korea,
LG-Ericsson and is scheduled to be completed within the first half of this
year.
Commercial launch of LTE services will be in the country’s
major cities including Busan and Daegu. This will make Ericsson one of the
operator’s main partners.
“As a result of this expansion, SK Telecom will be able
to offer its users broader network coverage and an enhanced mobile-broadband
experience, ensuring continued loyalty among its customers and continued market
leadership,” said Martin Wiktorin, president and CEO of LG-Ericsson.
LG-Ericsson will provide the LTE network including LTE RAN
and Evolved Packet Core as well as support services including engineering,
design, deployment and support services. The LTE radio access network will make
use of Ericsson’s Operation Support System for Radio & Core (OSS-RC) and
RBS 6000 base stations.
