The Korea Herald

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SKT-Ericsson-BMW develop fastest 5G for connected car

By Korea Herald

Published : Feb. 7, 2017 - 16:33

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SK Telecom announced Tuesday that the company successfully implemented the fastest communications speed in a traveling vehicle so far, moving one step closer to an era of connected cars with its 5G network. 

The No.1 South Korean telecom business said it provided a peak rate of 3.6Gbps data transmission speed for a connected car driving at 170 kilometers per hour at the BMW Driving Center in Yeonjong Island.

The driving center has the world’s largest 28GHz 5G test network, established by SKT, Ericsson and BMW.

The three industry leaders built the 2.6-kilometer-long test track for the 5G network last November in order to demonstrate what a connected car is. This time, they focused on speeding up the communications speed in fast driving vehicles. 


The 3.6Gbps 5G network enables a running automobile to receive video and other massive data and information about surrounding traffic and obstacles, helping improve driver’s safety.

The 5G network also improves the quality of media inside the vehicle, with the ability to play 4K UHD video, virtual reality live shows and 3D video clips.

“The latest 5G technology will have a huge impact on the connected car industry and other 5G related industries,” said Park Jin-hyo, head of network technology institute of SK Telecom.

SKT has improved its beamforming and beam tracking technologies in order to use the 28GHz high frequency band that often causes signals to be blocked by objects standing in their path due to high directivity. The improvement of the technologies is expected to influence vast areas of augmented reality, virtual reality, drone and robot services, the company said.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)