SK Telecom today announced that it, together with Samsung Electronics, had successfully tested its 5G system at 28 GHz in the outdoor environment. 5G Millimeter Wave* technologies applied to the test include transmitter, receiver and antenna technologies designed to effectively transmit radio signals in the 28GHz band, as well as 3D beamforming**, which is the key technology that compensates radio propagation path loss in the higher frequency bands caused by the short wavelengths of millimeter waves and high atmospheric attenuation.

*Millimeter wave occupy the frequency spectrums from 30 to 300GHz. They have short wavelengths that range from 1 millimeter to 10 millimeters. Currently in the field of mobile telecommunications, millimeter waves generally refer to 6GHz or higher frequency bands.

** 3D beamforming is a technique that improves the system performance by steering the antenna beam in both horizontal and vertical domains for a clear propagation path to the targeted user.

SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics built the millimeter wave 5G system in the end of August 2015, and have been conducting field tests using outdoor 5G base stations and a vehicle equipped with a 5G test handset since October 2015 to measure and analyze service quality in the field – i.e. service coverage, transmission speed, latency and radio wave/signal strength.

SK Telecom said that the test results will be an important asset for building an enhanced 5G system, including its 5G pilot networks to be built within the end of this year.

Meanwhile, SK Telecom began developing 5G specifications since last year to build 5G trial services, and has already completed its development in March 2016. Going forward, the company plans to discuss specifications for 5G trial services at the 5G Open Trial Specification Alliance.

The company has also published its 5G White Paper in 2014 and its guidelines for 5G architecture design and implementation in 2015 to contribute to the development 5G requirements and standards.

"This 5G field trial is one of the key milestones for the world's first 5G commercialization," said Cheun Kyung-whoon, Executive Vice President and Head of Communications Research Team, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. "Samsung will prove the feasibility of key technologies with SK Telecom. This strategic collaboration will lead to the early adoption of 5G communications and provision of immersive service experience to end-users."

“Building on its extensive experience and capabilities acquired over the last three decades in the field of mobile telecommunications, SK Telecom is set to maintain its leadership in the 5G era by leading the development of 5G technologies and services,” Park Jin-hyo, Senior Vice President and Head of Network Technology R&D Center of SK Telecom. “And with the successful field test of a 28GHz millimeter wave 5G system, SK Telecom moves one important step closer to achieving the world’s first commercialization of 5G.”