This article was published in Korea Communication Review magazine (KCR Q1 2015). For the rest of the Q1 2015 issue of Korea Communication Review magazine please click here 1. What is "LTE-Unlicensed"? And what's the big deal about it? 2. Korean Operators' Position (KT, SK Telecom and LG U+) 3. Discussion on Regulatory Requirements 4. LTE Advocates vs. Wi-Fi Advocates 1. W...

For the rest of the Q3 2015 issue of Korea Communication Review magazine please click here In its second demonstration of LTE in Unlicensed spectrum ("LTE-U", LAA in 3GPP term) conducted last month - 7 months after its first demonstration where it showed 300 Mbps through CA of 20 MHz at 2.6 GHz and another 20 MHz at 5.8 GHz, LG U+ successfully achieved 600 Mbps through carrier aggregation (C...

For the rest of the Q2 2015 issue of Korea Communication Review magazine please click here At Barcelona's Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2015, KT demonstrated a variety of new 5G, Hetnet and IoT technologies and services. Of all those presented, below we will focus on our most interested topics, WiFi-related pre-5G technology, LTE-Hetnet (LTE-H) and LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U), and see how t...

With the recent launch of Samsung Galaxy S8, new technologies from the local telcos are flooding the South Korean market. Probably to avoid the criticism that they in a mere contest of speed, all telcos in the nation are now playing up the importance of customer satisfaction and quality assurance. On April 12th, KT announced that it had begun deployment of C-DRX (Connected mode Discontinuo...

For the rest of the Q2 2015 issue of Korea Communication Review magazine please click here As a sequel to the previous post (KT's demonstration of LTE-H and LTE-U), this post will introduce another pre-5G/5G technology, LTE-TDD, showcased by KT at MWC 2015, covering three relevant demonstrations: 9-carrier CA, LTE-UL/DL CA, and triple mode cell. 3. LTE-B (LTE-Beyond) Figure...

Before we begin.. On March 10th, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) of the South Korea announced it would adjust the output power in unlicensed 900MHz band from the current 10mW to 200mW as an effort to stimulate the emerging IoT-related industry. The big 3, fueled by the announcement, are aggressively seeking ways to deploy IoT infrastructure. On March 18, SK Telec...

We are pleased to share with you all an interesting article contributed by Leonardo Zanoni Pedrini. Leonardo Zanoni Pedrini Telecom Consultant at Telefônica Brasil (Telefônica | Vivo) All Articles by Leonardo Zanoni Pedrini...

​We are pleased to share with you all an interesting article contributed by Leonardo Zanoni Pedrini. Leonardo Zanoni Pedrini Telecom Consultant at Telefônica Brasil (Telefônica | Vivo) All Articles by Leonardo Zanoni Pedrini...

On March 18th, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP), a ministry of South Korean government, finally revealed its plan to hold a much overdue auction for mobile spectrum at the end of April, in 2 years and 8 months after the last one in August 2013. At the auction, a total of 140 MHz (2x70 MHz) across 5 blocks will be offered. Each of the Korean big 3 operators will have a cha...

SK Telecom is the #1 mobile operator in Korea, with sales of KRW 16.6 trillion (USD 15.3 billion) in 2013, and with 50.1% of a mobile mobile subscription market share in 2Q 2014. It launched LTE service back in July 2011, and now more than half of its subscribers are LTE service subscribers, with 55.8% of LTE penetration as of 2Q 2014. Due to LTE subscription growth, more advanced device feat...

HFR is probably most known as a vendor of wired/wireless network equipment like Mobile fronthaul, Carrier Ethernet, FTTx, etc. Today, we are going to hear from Dr. J.H. Lee (jongheonlee@hfrnet.com), CTO of HFR about one of its most popular solutions, flexiHaulTM, a mobile optical access solution. 1. Welcome! Thank you for being with us. Can you tell us a little bit about HFR first?...

​We are pleased to share with you all an interesting article contributed by Leonardo Zanoni Pedrini. Leonardo Zanoni Pedrini Telecom Consultant at Telefônica Brasil (Telefônica | Vivo) All Articles by Leonardo Zanoni Pedrini...

Netmanias interview with China Mobile at MWCS 2015: 4G evolution (LTE-Advanced, 4.5G) technologies Part 1. LTE-Advanced ► Part 2. 4.5G (TDD+) 4.5G (TDD Evolution, TDD+) China Mobile also introduced some TDD+ (also known as TDD evolution), which can be called "not quite 5G yet, but 4.5G" technologies, in cooperation with Huawei. The figure below shows the concept of 4.5G, along...

Netmanias interview with China Mobile at MWCS 2015: 4G evolution (LTE-Advanced, 4.5G) technologies ► Part 1. LTE-Advanced Part 2. 4.5G (TDD+) Earlier in July, China hosted MWC Shanghai 2015 (MWCS 2015), and Netmanias was there as a media partner of the event, analyzing LTE evolution and 5G strategies of many global leading operators and vendors. Today, we will look into 4G and 5G...

KT announced that it succeeded in commercialization of the world’s first wireless 1 Giga service, called “GiGA LTE". The service is known to have achieved speeds 15 times faster than the current LTE, through combining two heterogeneous networks: LTE and WiFi. Previously, the company has released “GiGA Internet” in October 2014, and “GiGA WiFi Home” in March 2...

We are pleased to share with you all an interesting article contributed by Mohamed Abdel Monem. Mohamed Abdel Monem Radio Optimization Senior Engineer at Vodafone Egypt All Articles by Mohamed Abdel Monem...

On June 20th, SK Telecom unveiled its strategies for utilizing the frequencies in 2.6GHz that it acquired at the last auction, and for developing more evolved next-generation network. The company has become an operator with most frequency in 2.6GHz band in the nation after acquiring additional frequency at the auction held earlier this year. Once new network utilizing these wider bandwidth...

According to the recently amended Telecommunication Business Act (Article 56-2), telecommunication service providers now are required to release information needed for their subscribers to select wired and wireless Internet service, including which areas are covered, how service is provided, etc. To comply with the regulation, on the 28th of July, the South Korea’s big 3 operators ha...

[Issue analysis-1] IoST era begins with initiatives for a nationwide IoT network deployment IoT, the next generation growth engine in the mobile communication industry, is finally unveiled. South Korea-based SK Telecom and KT, geared up with cutting-edge IoT technologies including LoRa, LTE-M, and NB IoT, etc., are to be in fierce competition to deploy the nation's (and world's) fir...

For the rest of the Q1 2015 issue of Korea Communication Review magazine please click here In Korea, LTE service began back in July 2011. Then in June 2013 when LTE subscription exceeded 40% of the nation's total mobile subscription, LTE-A was commercialized for the first time in the world. Here are some facts about Korea's LTE. As of December 2014, i) Korea recorded an LTE sub...