SK Telecom has deployed the world’s first LTE-R, a standard for the railway communication system, on Busan Subway Line 1.
SK Telecom has an agreement with Busan Transportation Corporation (BTC) for the deployment of LTE-R. SK Telecom said the network for Busan Subway Line 1 is 40.48 kilometers long with 40 stations and used 10MHz bandwidth in the 700MHz frequency band.
SK Telecom and BTC launched pilot operation of LTE-R today and will commercialize the network in April 2017.
Traditional analogue communications networks (VHF and TRS) only support voice calls or radio contact.
SK Telecom said LTE-R enables control room staff, subway drivers, station employees and rescue workers to share information instantly in diverse ways, including real-time image / video file sharing and group calling / text messaging to enhance safety and customer experience.
“With the technological expertise gained through the rollout of LTE-R in Busan, SK Telecom will promote the replacement of outdated analogue communications network with LTE-R in an early manner to improve the safety and convenience of railway,” said Shim Sang-soo, senior vice president and head of Infra Business Promotion Office of SK Telecom.