SK Telecom rolls out 1.2Gbps LTE with Samsung's Galaxy S10

SK Telecom has rolled out 1.2Gbps LTE with the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S10 in South Korea, the telco announced.

The carrier’s offering will be faster than ITU’s max speed for 4G LTE of 1Gbps.

SK Telecom said the new speed will allow a HD 2GB movie to be downloaded in 13 seconds and is 16 times faster than LTE speeds when it was first rolled out in 2011. It achieved the speed through the application of 4×4 multi-antenna technology into three bands, the company said.

5G networks in South Korea, which are non-standalone this year, will be based on LTE networks which means 4G networks will play an important role for its rollout.

Samsung’s Galaxy S10, which the telco began shipping on Monday for those who pre-ordered the device, will enjoy data transfer rates up to 1.15Gbps in the cities of Seoul, Busan, Ulsan, Gwangju, and Daejun.

A firmware update will be rolled out during the first half of the year to provide the full 1.2Gbps capability, SK Telecom said.

SK Telecom launched 4.8Gbps Wi-Fi services in September last year, and the Galaxy S10 can enjoy speeds of up to 1.2Gbps when using Wi-Fi, the company also said.

South Korean telcos are planning to launch 5G services within the next month. Meanwhile, Samsung also has plans to launch the 5G version of the Galaxy S10, at the earliest, by the end of the month.

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