SK Telecom has announced it has entered an agreement with Ericsson to collaborate on 5G research and development.
The two companies today signed a memorandum of understanding covering joint research on core technologies with a high potential to become 5G standards.
The partners have set a target of being able to demonstrate 5G at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
Research areas will include next-generation small cells, ultra-wideband low latency (below 1ms) technology, gigabyte-level transmission technology and FDD/TDD convergence.
Ericsson head of product area radio Thomas Norén said SK Telecom was an ideal partner for the R&D project. “Korea is clearly leading in the uptake of LTE, in terms of technology and subscriber uptake, and SK Telecom is the largest mobile carrier in their market, “ he said.
“They are early drivers of technology and we see them as an important partner in defining new opportunities, innovations and requirements for the continued evolution of LTE and towards 5G.”
The agreement comes the week after Ericsson announced it had achieved transmission speeds of 5Gbps over pre-standard 5G network technology. Executives from SK Telecom as well as NTT DoCoMo attended the demonstration.
Last month, SK Telecom became the world's first operator to commercially launch 225Mbps LTE-Advanced in Seoul and other metropolitan cities.
This month, the company plans to roll the service out to all regions where it has already launched LTE-Adanced or has 20 MHz of LTE spectrum in service.