SK Telecom, South Korea’s biggest mobile carrier, said Monday that it will showcase diverse services running on the next-generation 5G network at Incheon SK Happy Dream Park, the home stadium of the SK Wyverns.

SKT has set up a large-scale 5G trial network throughout the baseball stadium and will operate a number of 5G-dependent services for a large crowd of around 20,000 visitors slated to attend the games from Friday to Sunday.

“We’ve prepared the 5G stadium to show how services currently hosted by LTE networks with limits can be easily serviced in much bigger capacity via 5G,” said Park Ji-hyo, head of SKT’s Network Research & Development Center. 

According to Park, SKT is looking to start offering 5G network services here in 2019, after a global 5G network standard is finalized and telecom equipment companies release new chipsets in 2018.

SKT’s 5G trial network runs on the 28 gigahertz band and can transmit data at a speed of 20 gigabytes per second and latency below one millisecond.

The firm will show off 5G’s ability to transmit live-streamed videos to and from its 5G connected car T5 -- which will carry the first pitch thrower -- and the stadium’s video screen in real time during the game.

The 360 VR Zone will feature virtual reality headsets streaming live videos from eight cameras located throughout the stadium using the 5G network, offering visitors a closer view of the game.

Visitors can also download SKT’s augmented reality-based sports mobile app T Real. By pointing a smartphone’s camera at the stadium, one can view information about the baseball players out in the field at that moment.

Outside the stadium, SKT has set up the 5G Adventure Park, where people, via virtual reality, can ride on hang gliders, submarines and hot air balloons to arrive at a treasure island.

SKT has also partnered with the GPS-based mobile game “Pokemon Go” to hold promotional events during the three-day stadium event.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)