Three-band LTE-A
SK Telecom and LG U+ announced on January 20 that they have succeeded in demonstrating the world’s first 300 Mbps LTE-A technology using three frequency bands. The speed is four times faster than that of current available services.
SK Telecom makes use of one broadband frequency band (20 MHz) and two 10 MHz bands, while LG U+ uses a 2.6 GHz band of 20 MHz bandwidth, 800 MHz band of 10 MHz bandwidth, and 2.1 GHz band of 10 MHz bandwidth.
With development completed, the technology can be put to commercial use once the chipset and terminals are made available. Industry insiders expect that the three-band LTE-A will be commercialized late this year or later. Both of the companies are planning to accelerate the development of four-band and five-band LTE-A technologies down the road, too.
In the meantime, standardization efforts are currently underway worldwide for the three-band LTE-A technology. Korea is likely to spearhead such efforts, as SK Telecom and LG U+ have become the world’s first mobile carriers in possession of the technology.