LG Uplus is accelerating the commercialization of 3-band carrier aggregation (CA). As LG Electronics (LGE) unveiled the 'G Flex 2' supporting the 3-band CA at the Consumer Electronics Show in the US on January 5 (local time), LG Uplus is now able to launch commercial service pretty soon. Samsung Electronics (SEC) is also scheduled to officially release the Galaxy Note 4 3-LTE this month. The speed competition among mobile carriers is forecast to intensify.

LGE said it would release the G Flex 2 in the domestic market this month. LG Uplus is discussing when to commercialize the 3-band CA with LGE. Some say that LG Uplus will run a pilot program in a certain region first like KT, and gradually expand the commercialization area once the product is officially released.

LG Uplus uses 800㎒, 10㎒ bandwidth in the 2.1㎓ band and 20㎒ bandwidth in the 2.6㎓ band for the 3-band CA. The company started the interoperability test (IOT) for base stations with equipment suppliers like Huawei last year, and finished preparations for the service rather early. According to industry insiders, LGE is known to have already supplied 3-band CA terminals for commercial tests last November.

If the G Flex 2 and the Galaxy Note 4 S-LTE are officially launched, the speed battle among mobile carriers will become fiercer. At the end of last year, SK Telecom supplied the Galaxy Note 4 S-LTE to a limited number of trial users and declared ‘commercialization,’ but the real competition will begin after the middle of this month when the product will be officially released. The key is the quality level of the new service.

The Galaxy Note 4 S-LTE comes with the Exysnos 7 Octa mobile application processor (AP) developed by SEC, whereas the G Flex 2 is armed with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 AP. According to communication equipment industry insiders, in the test stage, the speed will be as fast as 270~280Mbps close to 300Mbps, the theoretical maximum speed of the 3-band CA.

In the real world, however, the speed is affected by the distance from the base station and the strength of the signal.

In particular, the speed will be in inverse proportion to the number of users connected to the base station. Accordingly, communication quality may vary depending on the terminal, chipset performance and preparations made by each mobile carrier.

“LG Uplus was the first to demonstrate the 3-band CA on a commercial network and led international standardization. We have been making preparations for the 3-band CA service for quite some time,” said an LG Uplus insider. “The faster service will make it possible to provide various video-based multimedia services.” 

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