South Korean wireless telecommunications operator SK Telecom has worked with Finnish multinational company Nokia to dramatically reduce the latency between the handset and base station from 25 milliseconds (ms) to 2ms over its LTE network – thus moving one step closer to realising 5G.

The newly developed 2ms latency technology is expected to facilitate the development of diverse real-time services such as autonomous driving, artificial reality and virtual reality services. The low latency communication technology also has the capability to support services that require real-time monitoring of remote sites and control of equipment, for example, disaster relief robot. It is also said that the technology will also contribute to the growth of next-generation media services such as 360° VR.

Park Jin-hyo, senior vice president and head of network technology R&D centre of SK Telecom, said: “Low latency technology is essential in realising 5G services such as autonomous driving, artificial intelligence and virtual reality services. We will continue to improve our low latency technologies to achieve 5G evolution, while applying the latest technologies to our LTE networks to further enhance customer experience.”

Additionally, SK Telecom has developed a 5G repeater built using its independently developed 5G relay technology. The company has also applied it to its 5G trial network deployed near Gangnam Station in Seoul, Korea. The company claims to have reached a milestone with this deployment considering the difficulties faced in building the network in a place known for having large number of radio wave obstacles and high-density data traffic.

The repeater is created to amplify 5G radio signals in blanket/shadow areas to improve the signals there. It 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.

Read more: SK Telecom conducts 5G trials using 3.5GHz technology by Samsung and Nokia (June)