Using three separate frequency bands—two 10 MHz channels and one 20 MHz channel—SK Telecom and LG U+ will deliver LTE-Advanced service capable of 300 Mbps peak speeds.
To showcase even greater performance, SK Telecom plans to demonstrate 450 Mbps throughput at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. According to The Korea Herald, LG U+, South Korea’s third-largest carrier, also intends to roll out 300 Mbps LTE-Advanced service during 2014.
These peak rates are more than four times higher than the top speeds commonly available in many international markets, where real-world mobile broadband often peaks around 75 Mbps in ideal conditions and averages roughly 18.6 Mbps.
In some Western markets such as the UK, mobile speeds lag significantly behind fixed-line broadband. Last year the average fixed-line speed reached about 14.7 Mbps, while commercial consumer tiers can top out at a theoretical 120 Mbps on Virgin Media’s “Superfast” network.
Late last year EE, the UK operator formed by Orange and T-Mobile, launched LTE-Advanced in London’s “Tech City,” marketing it as the “fastest 4G mobile network in the world.” At present, the only widely available device compatible with that LTE-A deployment is the CAT6 Huawei router, which can tether up to twenty phones and tablets and deliver speeds approaching 200 Mbps to connected devices.
Smartphones and tablets with native support for the latest LTE-Advanced categories were expected by the end of 2014, driven by new chipsets such as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 805.
The Snapdragon 805 was anticipated to appear in flagship handsets announced that year, including devices rumored at the time like Samsung’s Galaxy S5, a Nokia Lumia model reportedly referred to as the 1820, and the next HTC One iteration (codenamed M8).
Initially only devices on local networks could access EE’s LTE-A service, but the operator planned to expand coverage across London throughout 2014. While EE moved early to deploy LTE-Advanced, broader adoption and device availability remain key to translating that head start into sustained market advantage.
What do you think about SK Telecom’s rollout of LTE-Advanced?