SK Telecom subsidiary SK Broadband has become the first operator in Asia to deploy the new Gfast 212MHz gigabit internet standard.
The new Ggfast gigabit broadband service has been deployed in Seoul and Seongnam.
SK Broadband engaged South Korean network infrastructure equipment maker and US-based Gfast modem vendor Sckipio to support the deployment, which supports up to 96 subscribers over the same copper binder.
According to the Korean Statistical Information Service, over half of the residents of Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province live in high-rise buildings with a high density of apartments. But only around 34% of South Korean apartments have fiber all the way to the building.
SK Broadband plans to use Gfast vectoring to provide subscribers without last-mile fiber connectivity with gigabit speeds at a fraction of the time and cost of a full fiber deployment.
“SK Broadband is determined to provide gigabit internet to all, but not all South Korean apartments can be easily wired with fiber all the way to the apartment,” SK Broadband's manager in charge of access networks Choong-Bok Lee said.
“That’s why we chose Sckipio’s Gfast. It’s the best way to extend gigabit fiber performance to these apartments over existing twisted pair telephone wires.”