SK Telecom, South Korea's largest telecommunications provider, announced that it has successfully developed a 5G repeater, a means of boosting 5G signals, and applied it to its 5G trial network deployed near Gangnam Station in Seoul.
The 5G repeater is designed to improve signals in blanket/shadow areas by amplifying 5G radio signals. With the deployment of the 5G repeater, 5G networks will be able to provide a dense coverage by eliminating shadow areas.
The 5G repeater - built with SK Telecom's independently developed 5G relay technology - is expected to resolve the issue of 5G coverage limitations caused by the propagation characteristics of radio signals at super-high/above-6GHz frequency bands.
Moreover, the Gangnam area in Seoul is one of the most difficult places to plan/build a network due to the presence of a large number of radio wave obstacles and high-density data traffic. SK Telecom's successful deployment of the 5G repeater carries a significant meaning as it will now be able to build 5G networks in other traffic-concentrated downtown areas with greater ease.
"SK Telecom is moving closer to launching a commercial 5G network by applying key 5G technologies to our 5G trial network in Gangnam, an area with the highest data traffic," said Park Jin-hyo, Senior Vice President and Head of Network Technology R&D Center of SK Telecom.