On the 25th, SK Telecom released its plan to commercialize 2-band uplink carrier aggregation in the network to offer enhanced data upload speeds.

In addition, the company plans to introduce other useful solutions, such as UL 64QAM* that can drastically improve upload performance and MC-PUSCH** that can make the most of existing carriers, all to achieve maximum upload speeds possible.   

* UL 64QAM: Can enhance data-to-LTE signal conversion rates by 50%
** MC-PUSCH: Can make fragmented carriers in the same band work as one carrier

The new uplink CA is scheduled to be offered first in Seoul metropolitan areas and other metropolitan cities starting in late January through mid-February, and then will gradually expand nationwide over time. Other new solutions like UL 64QAM and MC-PUSCH will be finalized in March and commercialized in the second half of the year when compatible devices become available in the market (※ solutions not supported in existing device models).

Uplink speeds, currently up to 25Mbps per 10MHz offered by LTE, is expected to increase twofold to 50Mbps if two narrow bandwidths (10MHz) are combined by means of uplink CA.

Plus, if commercialized MC-PUSCH does its part, making the most of fragmented 15MHz bandwidth, additional speed boost of 12.5Mbps can be achieved. Furthermore, if UL 64QAM joins, maximum speeds can be improved by up to 50%, theoretically a fourfold improvement from what is offered by current narrow bandwidth.    

Jongbong Lee, Head of Infra at SK Telecom, said, "The newly-offered uplink CA and other speed enhancers to be offered will make user experience even better than what the numbers make you expect now." "With our powerful technology, we will continue to lead the coming 5G era."