SK Telecom has revealed plans to launch the world's first pilot LTE-Maritime wireless network as part of an R&D project led by South Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
The company plans to build the LTE-Maritime test network by May next year in the east sea of Korea.
The trial network will enable high-speed data communications for ships as far as 100km offshore. Radio signs transmitted from a high-gain antenna at high altitude will be received by an LTE-Maritime router on a ship that will be converted into Wi-Fi
In order to support the trial SK Telecom will develop the antenna as well as an LTE-Maritime router capable of withstanding high humidity, strong wind and salt-laden air.
SK Telecom enivisions the technology as helping to enhance navigation safety for small ships, which typically do not have the same quality of in-built communications and safety systems as larger vessels.
The operator is calling the proposed new technology LTE-M, with the M standing for maritime wireless communications. But the 3GPP is already using LTE-M as the name for the in-development industry standard for LTE-Machine to Machine (M2M) communications.
“SK Telecom will successfully deploy LTE-M, high-speed maritime wireless communications network, by leveraging its extensive expertise in communications technologies, and thereby contribute to enhanced safety of ships,” SK Telecom head of network strategy Choi Seung-won commented.