SK Telecom, Ericsson and Qualcomm have completed another milestone demonstration of a 5G new radio data call on SK Telecom's live 5G network in Busan.
The trial using mid-band spectrum involved a data call transmitted over 100 MHz of bandwidth on 3.5-GHz spectrum, and was the first field test using broader bandwidth on 3.4-GHz.
The commercial 3.5-GHz frequency was made available to South Korean operators for commercial use on December 1.
The demo included a video call streamed over SK Telecom's 5G network, Ericsson's radio system products and a mobile smartphone form factor test device that included a Qualcomm Snapdragon X50 5G modem.
“SK Telecom is proud to make the first 5G video call in our Busan 5G commercial network with Ericsson’s commercial radio equipment and Qualcomm Technologies’ mobile smartphone form-factor test device,” SK Telecom SVP and head of 5GX Labs Jongkwan Park said.
“This call was based on NR, over-the-air connection with 100 MHz of bandwidth in 3.5 GHz spectrum, which is a significant milestone for the mobile industry. SK Telecom will launch 5G commercial services with 5G smartphones, built on the collaborative work with Ericsson and Qualcomm Technologies, in the first half of 2019.”
In October, SK Telecom completed a 5G call in collaboration with Samsung using 3GPP non-standalone new radio standards and commercial 5G new radio equipment.
The same month, the operator announced it has successfully verified interoperability between multi-vendor 5G equipment – including equipment from Ericsson - based on interfaces it has developed in collaboration with the industry.