Thursday, July 18, 2019

SK Telecom surpasses 1 million 5G subscriptions

SK Telecom has surpassed 1 million 5G subscriptions. The carrier launched its commercial 5G service in April.

SK Telecom also highlighted its "5G Cluster" - an advanced 5G environment for AR, VR, and AI. The company plans to build ‘5G Cluster’ in business districts, parks, factories, and etc. to provide differentiated 5G service and benefits in both of B2C and B2B sectors. Plans include:

  • a "5G League of Legends (LoL) Park" at Jonggak, Seoul, starting from July 25. At ‘5G LoL Park’, customers can view messages from supporting fans nationwide with Augmented Reality (AR) by facing their smartphones toward a certain location. Customers can also enjoy VR live broadcasting and VR playback during the games.
  • a service that allows customers to meet a variety of animals, including giant cats and wyverns, using AR in Olympic Park and Yeouido Park, Seoul. For example, if customers hold their smartphones toward ‘The Lone Tree’ in Olympic Park, a giant cat will appear on smartphone screen in AR.
  • the transformation of Jamsil Students' Gymnasium into a 5G Stadium. SK Telecom will further expand 5G experience spaces with immersive media by the end of this year.
  • integration of the 5G network and ‘Mobile Edge Computing’ (MEC) solution to create a ‘5G Smart Factory’. T
  • SK Telecom plans to build a total of 12 ‘Mobile Edge Computing’ (MEC) in 5G networks located at key regions nationwide. In particular, the company will provide dedicated 5G edge cloud service for enterprises that are in need of security and ultra-low latency communications, including manufacturing, media, finance, and game industry.

“With ‘5G Cluster’ as our key focus, SK Telecom will provide customers with outstanding service and pleasure that are beyond the imagination,” said Yoo Young-sang, Executive Vice President and Head of MNO Business of SK Telecom. “We will strive to create added values to different industries and regions.”

SK Telecom's 5G network is live with 34,000 base stations deployed

SK Telecom has activated a total of 34,000 5G base stations across Korea.

In a press conference at its headquarters in Seoul, SK Telecom marked "the beginning of the age of Hyper-Innovation with 5G".

The company's 5G network initially targets the nation's most data traffic-concentrated areas, including main areas of 85 cities nationwide (Seoul, six metropolitan cities, etc.), university districts, KTX, sports stadiums, expressways, subway lines (Seoul and Seoul Metropolitan Area) and beaches. SK Telecom is also expanding in-building coverage centered around 120 department stores, shopping malls and airports. In the second half of 2019, SK Telecom will expand 5G network coverage to subway systems nationwide, national parks and festival sites.

SK Telecom’s 5G network supports downlinks up to 2.7 Gbps.

New 5GX price plans go into effect on April 5, 2019. Four plans are offered.

  • Slim offers 8GB of data (1Mbps speed after data cap) at KRW 55,000 month 
  • 5GX Standard comes with 150GB of data (5Mbps after data cap) at KRW 75,000 per month.
  • 5GX Prime comes with 200GB of data at KRW 95,000 per month
  • 5GX Platinum comes with 300 GB of data at KRW 125,000 per month

SK Telecom said its 5G pricing structure offers the same amount of data at lower prices compared to its LTE service.

https://www.sktinsight.com/111031