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SK Telecom and Ericsson to build pilot 5G network

South Korea's largest mobile carrier has said that once its 5G networks are running, it will be able to transfer holograms.
Written by Cho Mu-Hyun, Contributing Writer

SK Telecom and Ericsson will begin building an end pilot trial system for fifth-generation networks, the companies have announced.

The move follows SK's successful demo of 5G network slicing technology last October in SK Telecom's research lab in Seoul.

The companies signed a memorandum of understanding for the trial system at Ericsson's headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden.

SK Telecom and Ericsson will build a network that connects the handset to wireless networks and wired infrastructure to trial the technology they have been testing in lab settings.

"5G will be a hundred times more fast than LTE networks with data transfer rate projected to be over 20Gbps," said the Korean firm in a statement. "When 5G is commercialised, we will be able to transfer ultra-high data such as holograms and virtual reality that we cannot transfer in the current (4G) speed."

SK Telecom is also collaborating with Finnish network giant Nokia on developing core technologies for the next generation network.

South Korean telcos SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus are aiming for a 2020 rollout of 5G but have said that they will do it earlier if possible.

They are also planning to demonstrate the technology at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

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