KT’s 3band LTE a step closer to lightning 5G

Korean mobile carriers, particularly KT, are a step closer to realizing 5G in their mobile telecommunication services with the commercialization of the 3band LTE-A service since last month.

The 3band LTE-A service is a technology that applies carrier aggregation technology, which combines different bandwidths to distribute data traffic. KT combines a 1.8 gigahertz with 900 megahertz and 2.1 gigahertz.

This allows a maximum Internet speed of 300 megabits per second (Mbps), which is four times faster than the existing LTE with 75 Mbps, and 21 times faster than 3G.

Simply put, it takes less than 30 seconds to download a 1 gigabyte movie on your smartphone.

The technology demonstrated during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a year ago has placed Korean companies at the top of the global market.

Since Dec. 28, KT has been running an experiment group that would test out its LTE-A X4 service by creating the 3band LTE-A hall at its Olleh Square in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul.

KT has the largest number of broadband LTE stations among the Korean carriers at 100,000 in 85 cities.

Korean companies are not the world’s first when it comes to commercializing LTE, but they have been some of the fastest in developing the upgraded version of the technology, including the LTE-A with 150 Mbps and the broadband LTE-A with a maximum speed of 225 Mbps.

It took two years to advance from LTE to LTE-A and only a year from broadband LTE-A.

Currently, the commercialization of 5G, which is expected to be 300 times faster than LTE-A with a speed of 100 gigabits per seconds (Gbps), is believed to be arriving sometime around 2020.

KT is planning to demonstrate its 5G service in 2018 when Pyeongchang in Gangwon hosts one of the world’s most celebrated events: the Winter Olympics.

ojlee82@joongang.co.kr [BY LEE HO-JEONG]