Korea Communication Review October

Netmanias Consulting www.netmanias.
com
Korea Communication Review

October 2014
IN THIS ISSUE
Korean big 3 telcos offer hassle-free and instant upgrade to Giga-class Internet without
re-cabling
Korean ICT News page 1-2
In the past two years, some new technologies have been introduced in Korea, apparently increasing
broadband Internet speed 3~5 times faster, from 100 Mbps to 300~500 Mbps, instantly. It certainly
is fascinating in that such speed improvement can be achieved even without re-cabling in
apartment buildings. Because 100 Mbps has seemed unbeatable for almost a decade, this sure was
a long-awaited good news. So, we will take a moment to see what these technologies are and in
what cabling systems they can be employed. First, we may want to think about what has brought
these technologies into the market. Korean big 3 operators are currently offering Giga Wi-Fi Service
(802.11ac) at hotspots like Starbucks, actually supporting 250~400 Mbps. To achieve this high
speed, the operators expanded their wired access networks for hotspots, where Wi-Fi APs are
connected, up to 1 Gbps. But for home users, because the maximum broadband speeds are 100
Mbps no matter what service they use (i.e. VDSL2, LAN or FTTH. Read the full article (page 6-8) n
KT aims to build a
nationwide GiGA Internet
access network (1 Gbps to
the home) by the end of the
year page 5
Korean big 3 telcos offer
hassle-free and instant
upgrade to Giga-class
Internet without re-cabling
page 6-8
FEATURED ARTICLE:
SK Telecom's Network
Evolution Strategies:
Carrier aggregation, inter-cell
coordination and C-RAN
architecture page 9-18
BBU Pool
BBU virtualization
LTE Femto CA
Femto
Macro RRH
3-band CA
9
TM
N ce
te C
r-si
Inte
PCI,
HO
No
LTE-WiFi CA
HO
No
Co
nt
ro
l&
Macro RRH
nth
aul
M
WD
ive
(Act
Da
ta
rol
Cont
A
hairman Chang-gyu Hwang
P
te C of KT (withoMsales
r-si
C
Inte in 2013), at a press
of KRW 23.8 trillion
c onference held at KT Olleh Square i n
gggggggggg
P
ell
CoM tic C
s
Ela
ell
Fro
Wi-Fi AP
lls 1
C
ne
al O
irtu
Source: KT
Data
Unified C-RAN
In August, LTE traffic represented 92.7% of Koreas total mobile traffic, 12.6 times more
than 3Gs 7.3% mostly driven by the introduction of LTE unlimited plans
According to the Ministry of Science, ICT and
Future Planning (MSIP), the total mobile traffic of
the country as of late August reached 108.8 PB,
and LTE traffic (100.8 PB) accounts for 92.7% of
the total. Since May, a drastic growth has been
witnessed especially in 4G smartphone traffic,
increasing fast by over 20 PB, from 69.4 PB in
April to 93.7 PB in July. This growth seems mostly
caused by LTE unlimited plans that were
competitively introduced by the big 3 - first by LG
U+ on April 2, and then later in the month by SK
Telecom and KT - offering unlimited voice, text
AND LTE data services. n
August 2014
108.8 PB
100.8 PB
(92.7%)
3G
(Feature phone +
Smartphone)
4G LTE
8.0 PB
(7.3%)
9 11 1
2012
9 11 1
2013
2014
Small RRH
Dual Connectivity
C
hy
rarc
Hie
ell
LTE Statistics in Korea

UPDATE page 20-22
Broadband subscribers in
Korea UPDATE page 23-24
IPTV subscribers in Korea
UPDATE page 25
Research and Consulting
Scope of Netmanias page 26
Korea Communication Review
Smartphone subscriptions to exceed 40 million in late September

Koreas smartphone subscriptions are already
reaching 40 million, in less than five years after the
first smartphones debut in the country in 2009.
According to the mobile subscription statistics
data (as of late July) revealed by MSIP on August
25, Korea has 39.6 million smartphone
subscribers, representing 70.4% of the nations
total mobile subscribers (56.3 million). The
subscriptions increased by about 300,000
compared to the late Julys. With this growth rate,
the number will very likely exceed 40 million by
late September, or by October at the latest. n
August 2014
56.3M
52.5M
Smarthpone
21.3M
(40.8%)
4G Smartphone ~ 33 M
3G Smartphone ~ 7 M
30.5M
(58.3%)
0.48M
(0.9%)
2011
39.6M
(70.4%)
Feature Phone (2G/3G)

Smart Pad
1
2012
16.0M
(28.5%)
3G Feature phone ~ 9M
1
2013
78
2014
Publisher: Dr. Harrison J. Son | son@netmanias.com

Associate Editor: Dr. Michelle M. Do | misun.do@netmanias.com
Advertising Sales: Ho-Young Lee | hylee@netmanias.com | +82-2-3444-5747
Business Development: Steve Shin | cm.s.shin@netmanias.com | +82-10-2884-8870
0.61M
(1.1%)
Korea Communication Review October 2014
Netmanias Consulting www.netmanias.com

2
Korea ICT News
KT aims to build a nationwide GiGA

Internet access network (1 Gbps to
the home) by the end of the year
To go nationwide with its Giga Internet
(GiGA FTTH) service, KT has been
introducing high-capacity OLT that offers
1 Gbps to each subscriber, which is 10
times faster than the current 100 Mbps.
The high-capacity OLT system was first
introduced in pilot projects that had been
conducted in selected Seoul metropolitan
areas until May 2014. Then it was further
deployed across the entire Seoul
metropolitan areas in June, and then
across 35% of the country by July. On
August 17, KT announced that it would
complete the nationwide deployment of
the system by the end of the year.
Read the full article (page 5) n
KT and SKB launched the worlds first

4K UHD IPTV service on September 1
On September 1, KT and SK Broadband
presented UHD STB, offering the worlds
first commercialized UHD IPTV ( 2 1 6 0 p )
service. The UHD service requires about
15 Mbps for 30 fps service, and 30Mbps
for 60 fps service. The two operators are
offering an UHD STB by Humax to their
subscribers. Currently, live broadcasting
service (1 UHD channel) and VoD service
(29 UHD VoD contents) are being offered
by KT, while only VoD service (24 UHD
VoD contents) is offered by SKB. LG U+
plans to join them in September. n
HFRs Fronthaul solution to hit the

East Asian market
On August 26, HFR, a Fronthaul
equipment (flexiHaulTM) supplier for SK
Telecom, signed an agreement for
supplying the relevant solution to an East
Asian telecommunication operator after
being
selected
through
a
fierce
competition with other vendors from
Taiwan and Europe. The company said its
experiences of supplying Fronthaul
equipment to SK Telecom and SK
Telecoms cooperation were the key
contributing factors to the selection. n
LG U+ and Nokia developed

Intelligent Network Platform
On September 17, LG U+ presented
Intelligent Network Platform (INP) that
it developed jointly with Nokia, and this
platform is expected to provide faster and
uninterrupted video streaming. The
company has been putting effort into
achieving high video quality to
differentiate its LTE services from others.
The key features of the INP are:
Mobile content caching (transparent
caching)
DNS caching
Video optimization (Video pacing)
CDN Interworking
Local breakout
These features are implemented by
RACS (Radio Application Cloud Server)
that is installed in eNB as a card.
RACS performs caching of video
content files like those on YouTube,
thereby reducing the time required for
downloading the files. RACS also
accelerates loading of web pages by
having DNS addresses converted by it,
instead of by a remote server.
The video pacing functionality helps a
user save data usage by allowing the user
to download only the amount of contents
being viewed. This functionality was
designed to overcome the drawbacks of
the early HTTP progressive downloading.
LG U+ and Nokia are planning to
complete a field test by the end of
October, and begin commercializing
RACSs for example by installing them in
LTE base stations nationwide. n
eNB (DU)
RACS
RACS: Radio Acceleration Cloud Server
DASAN Networks Successfully lands

a FTTH contract with Viettel in
Vietnam
O n July 24 , DASAN successfully
entered Vietnams high-speed Internet
market. Viettel, the largest telecom
operator in Vietnam, has selected DASAN
Networks as their network equipment
supplier to establish the infrastructure in
providing high-speed Internet throughout
Vietnam.
DASAN Networks made a contract
agreement to supply about US$18 Million
worth of FTTH GPON systems to Viettel
for the next 4 months until November as
its first order, and plans to negotiate to
supply more FTTH equipment soon.
Starting this year, Viettel plans to offer
FTTH based high-speed Internet services
all over Vietnam. Biddings in supplying
GPON equipment for the project started
last year, DASAN Networks was selected
as the first supplier among other global
telecommunication companies. n
Samsung and ubiQuoss chosen as

official network equipment supplier
for ITU PP-14
On September 24, Samsung and
ubiQuoss were chosen as official
equipment suppliers for a wired and
wireless network to be built in the venue
of the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference
that Korea is hosting in October.
ubiQuoss is supplying high-capacity EPON OLT (Model: U9500H). U9500H
accommodat e s 5,000 subscribers (OLT)
and support 1Gbps per subscriber.
Samsung is supplying 365 wireless
Internet access points (APs) and all other
control, operation and security systems
needed for the event. This will be the
companys debut in the worlds wireless
Internet market, in only two years after its
entry to the wireless Internet industry in
2012.
The conference host, ITU, chose the
two suppliers after acknowledging the
proven excellence of their products
through four technical tests. n
Table of contents
October 2014
FEATURED ARTICLE
SK Telecom's Network Evolution Strategies
Carrier aggregation, inter-cell coordination and C-RAN architecture

Dr. Michelle M. Do
9-18
Band 5 (850 MHz, 10MHz)
vRAN
(Virtualized BBU)
Band 3 (1.8GHz, 20MHz)

Band 1 (2.1 GHz, 10MHz)
New Band
EPC Core
Coordination server
LTE Femto CA
BBU Pool
Femto
(150Mbps)
GE
App. Server(e.g. cache)
Service-Aware RAN
Macro RRH
3-band CA
(300/450Mbps)
Nc
Macro cell site
C
Site
erInt
9
TM
CI,
1P
HO
No
LTE-WiFi CA
Wi-Fi AP
ells
HO
No
Co
nt
ro
l&
Macro RRH
(upto Gbps)
A
sales
P
e C of KT (with
CoM
r-Sit
Inte in 2013), at a press
gggggggggg
P
ell
CoM tic C
s
Ela
Cell
ne
al O
irtu
h
ont
I Fr
CPR
M)
WD
tive
(Ac
au l
Da
ta
trol
Con
1. CA Evolution Strategies
1.1 Combining More Bands: 3-band CA
1.2 Femto Cell with CA
1.3 Combining Heterogeneous Networks: LTE-Wi-Fi CA
1.4 Combining Heterogeneous LTE Technologies: FDD-TDD CA
2. Inter-Cell Coordination Evolution Strategies
2.1 Inter-Site CA in Macro Cell Networks
2.2 SUPER Cell 1.0: Virtual One Cell
2.3 SUPER Cell 2.0: Elastic Cell and Inter-site CA
2.4 SUPER Cell 3.0: Hierarchy Cell
3. RAN Architecture Evolution Strategies
3.1 Unified RAN
3.2 vRAN
Source: KT
Data
Dual Connectivity
Small RRH Unified RAN

(Macro RRH & Small RRH)
C
chy
rar
Hie
ell
ARTICLES
KT aims to build a nationwide GiGA Internet access network (1 Gbps to the home) by the end of the year
Chris Yoo
Korean big 3 telcos offer hassle-free and instant upgrade to Giga-class Internet without re-cabling
Dr. Harrison J. Son
6-8
KOREA ICT NEWS

In August, LTE traffic represented 92.7% of Koreas total mobile traffic, 12.6 times more than 3Gs 7.3% mostly driven
by the introduction of LTE unlimited plans
Smartphone subscriptions to exceed 40 million in late September
KT and SKB launched the worlds first 4K UHD IPTV service on September 1
HFRs Fronthaul solution to hit the East Asian market
LG U+ and Nokia developed Intelligent Network Platform
DASAN Networks Successfully lands a FTTH contract with Viettel in Vietnam
Samsung and ubiQuoss chosen as official network equipment supplier for ITU PP-14
Million
KOREA ICT STATISTICS
Cable
Operators
LTE Statistics in Korea UPDATE
20-22
Broadband subscribers in Korea UPDATE
23-24
IPTV subscribers in Korea UPDATE

Research and Consulting Scope of Netmanias
25
26
8.1M
8
XDSL
1.33
3.2M
(16.6%)
LG U+
3.0M
(15.8%)
19.0M
Broadband
subscribers
in Korea
(August 2014)
XDSL
HFC (Cable)
LAN (UTP)
FTTH
LAN
6
2.85
8.1
(42.4%)
KT
4.7M
HFC
1.22
FTTH
0.35
3.0M
3.2M
0.92
4.7M
(24.8%)
1.86
3.90
2.44
1.78
1.30
SK (SK Broadband)
0.31
KT
SK
LG U+
0.03
0.65
0.04
MSO
KT aims to build a nationwide GiGA Internet access network (1 Gbps to the home) by the end of the year | By Chris Yoo
O n May 20, Chairman Chang-gyu Hwang of KT (with
sales of KRW 23.8 trillion in 2013) announced that "KT will
open up a new age of GiGAtopia by investing KRW 4.5
trillion (USD 4.4 billion) in GiGA FTTH, GiGA Path
(heterogeneous networks convergence technology that
combines LTE and Wi-Fi networks), and GiGA Wire
(copper wire-based transmission technology) for the next
three years." Later on June 19, Mr. Seong-mok Oh, head of
the Network Business Division at KT, announced the
company would accelerate the process and Commercialize
GiGA FTTH and GiGA Wire in the second half of this year.
l
To go nationwide with its Giga Internet (GiGA FTTH)

service, KT has been introducing high-capacity OLT that
offers 1 Gbps to each subscriber, which is 10 times faster
than the current 100 Mbps. The high-capacity OLT system
was first introduced in pilot projects that had been
conducted in selected Seoul metropolitan areas until May
2014. Then it was further deployed across the entire Seoul
metropolitan areas in June, and then across 35% of the
country by July. On August 17, KT announced that it would
complete the nationwide deployment of the system by the
end of the year.
KT's high-capacity OLT system is an enhanced version of
its previous FTTH OLT (100 Mbps per subscriber). It can
cover upto 5,120 users (80x10GE-PON ports, Split ratio
64), and has an excellent switching capacity of 2 Tbps, 40
times higher compared to the previous OLT.
With the introduction of the high-capacity OLT system,
KT is fully fledged to respond to soaring traffic to be caused
by UHD TV, Interne
High-capacity OLT deployed for GiGA Internet service by KT

ubiQuoss U9500H
Height
10 U
Switching capacity 1.92 Tbps
Throughput
1.4 Bpps
10GE ports
80
Split ratio
64
ONTs per system
5,120
Uplink ports
16 x 10GE
ubiQuoss U9500H
by UHD TV, Internet of Things (IoT), etc. Chang-Seok Seo,

vice president of the Network Technology Unit at KT, noted
that "With deployment of high-capacity OLT systems, KT
will be able to provide differentiated Giga services that no
other can do, and drastically improve service quality as
well. KT will devote itself in developing new technologies
and conducting researches to ensure high quality service for
customers."
Upgrade of broadband access speed from 100 Mbps to
1Gbps will result in increased traffic in backbone networks.
To effectively respond to this traffic, KT i) replaced the
routers in premium core networks that deliver ITPV/VoD
traffic with high-capacity 4 Tbps routers last August, and ii)
has continued to expand KORNET, which is in charge of
delivering Internet traffic, through router replacement,
additional line card installation, etc. n
l
2. Upgrade Premium Core Capacity
IPTV Headend
(Premium Core: QoS, IP/MPLS)

Edge
PE
Edge
Node (31)
1. FTTH Access: E-PON10GE-PON
IPTV VoD
servers (Hot)
ONT
ONT
Core Node (14)
PE
MDU
splitter
OLTs
ONT
...
splitter
IP
VDSL
ONU
splitter
MDU
UTP
ONU
splitter
10GE-PON
OLT
Int
ern
et
PE
c
IPTV Traffi
t)
as
ic
lt
(Mu
Edge
P
PE
Data Center
10G
L3 SW
MDU
oD
/V
TV
ffic
Tr a
EPC Core
Media SW
CO
Live encoder
VoD(Cold),
eMBMS,..
Center
Node (2)
Akamai CDN edge,

OTT CDN (Pooq),
Cloud, ...
Edge
Tr a
ffi
c
BRAS
Edge
KIX
nx10G
BRAS
Edge
Node (56)
mx10G
BRAS
Global Hub
TIC
Edge
Global
Internet
Center
Node (2)
Core
Node (19)
3. Upgrade KORNET Capacity

(KORNET: Best-effort, IP routing)
Domestic
ISPs(SKB, LG
U+)
Data Center

6
Korean big 3 telcos offer hassle-free and instant upgrade to Giga-class Internet without re-cabling | By Dr. Harrison J. Son
Existing MDU wiring systems

Telephone lines to the home
Current Services
VDSL2 (100 Mbps)
KT, SKB
UTP Cat5 to the home
Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps)
Upgrade to Giga-Class
KT
G.hn (300 Mbps)
SKB, LG U+
2-Pair Ethernet (500 Mbps)
KT, SKB, LG U+
UTP Cat5e to the home
802.3z 1000Base-T (1Gbps)
KT, SKB, LG U+
Fiber to the home
802.3as 1000Base-X (1 Gbps)
KT, SKB, LG U+
No additional re-cabling construction in apartment buildings
Re-cabling construction in apartment buildings (Huge Capex)
Migration Strategies to Giga-Class Broadband Access in Korea

In the past two years, some new technologies have been
to use the service, their home broadband access should be
introduced in Korea, apparently increasing broadband
as fast as hundreds of Mbps.
Internet speeds 3~5 times faster, from 100 Mbps to
There has been concern about the quality of 4K UHD
300~500 Mbps, instantly. It certainly is fascinating in that
IPTV service, which was just launched by KT and SK
such speed improvement was achieved without the hassle
Broadband (SKB) in September. According to Benchbee
of re-cabling construction in apartment buildings. Because
(www.benchbee.co.kr), the most popular Internet speed
100 Mbps had seemed unbeatable for almost a decade, this
test site in Korea, the operators' claimed maximum speeds
sure was a long-awaited good news. So, we will take a
were different from the actual speeds measured. For
moment to see what these technologies are and in what
example, in case of VDSL2 with a claimed maximum speed
cabling systems they can be employed.
of 100 Mbps, the actual average speed was 40~70 Mbps
First, we may want to think about what has brought these
(KT). In case of LAN (UTP to the home) and FTTH also
technologies into the market. Korean big 3 operators are
with a claimed 100 Mbps, the actual averages were 40~80
currently offering Giga Wi-Fi Service (802.11ac) at hotspots
Mbps (KT, SKB and LG U+). Because 4K UHD IPTV service
like Starbucks, actually supporting 250~400 Mbps. To
requires a broadband of 15~30 Mbps, home users with
achieve this high speed, the operators expanded their wired
more than one TV are likely to suffer from unstable quality
access networks for hotspots, where Wi-Fi APs are
of service.
connected, up to 1 Gbps. But for home users, because the
To address this concern, the big 3 have been working to
maximum broadband speeds are 100 Mbps no matter what
improve speeds of the existing phone line-based (VDSL2)
service they use (i.e. VDSL2, LAN or FTTH. See Broadband
and UTP-based (Cat5) Internet services, from 100 Mbps to
Access Network Architecture in Korea), Giga Wi-Fi service
300~500 Mbps for home users living in apartment
is not yet available for them. In order for these home users
complexes.
to use the service,
Table 1. Giga-Class Broadband Access Strategy in Korea: Summary
KT
SK (SK Broadband)
LG U+
Brand
GiGA Wire (G.hn)
2-Pair Ethernet
Super-Fast Network
Copper line
1-pair (Telephone line)

1-pair (UTP)
2-pair (UTP Cat 5/5e)
2-pair (UTP Cat 5/5e)
DL/UL Speed
300Mbps/100Mbps
200Mbps/200Mbps
500Mbps/500Mbps
500Mbps/500Mbps
Commercialization
H2 2014 (planned)
Q2 2013
Not announced
Vendors
ubiQuoss
(U4124B, C301G)
HFR
(H5224G/5216G, H514G/524G)
Dasan Networks
ubiQuoss

7
What is common in all the strategies by the big 3 is pretty

obvious. They want to do this without re-cabling, that is
without replacing the existing cables installed in apartment
buildings. (A person at KT familiar with this matter noted,
"Technically, cables installed in buildings are owned by the
building owners. So, installing new cables certainly means a
lot of steps to go through. Discussions should be arranged,
consents should be obtained from all the residents, and
costs should be shared by them, etc. Given that, GiGA Wire
technology gives the operators a lot of benefits in that it
allows for fast speed upgrade without having to go through
all the steps".)
Let's talk about KT's GiGA Wire first.
KT's plan is to support a download speed of 300 Mbps or
higher through existing phone lines (1 pair). That is, KT
aims to provide ultra-high speed Internet service to users
living in 20~30 year-old apartment buildings where only
phone lines are installed, as well.
GiGA Wire, based on ITU-T G.hn standards (Line
modulation: OFDM/DMT, Duplexing: TDD) and enhanced
with
KT's
patented
technology,
features
chips
manufactured by Marvell and systems developed by a
Korean developer, ubiQuoss (GNT and GAM that function
as a modem and DSLAM in VDSL, respectively).
As seen in the performance graph below, Marvell's G.hn
demonstrated good performance, 500 Mbps at a distance of
100 m.
It looks like KT deliberately set its target speed a bit low,
around 300 Mbps,
around 300 Mbps, considering probable speed degradation

in actual deteriorated conditions caused by Crosstalk,
outdated on-premise cables, etc.
Again, what's noteworthy about KT's GiGA Wire is that
the architecture can be applied not only to apartment units
with only 1 pair of traditional telephone lines, but also to
those with UTP cabling. In case of units with UTP cabling, 1
out of 4 pairs of lines is used for GiGA Wire.
Then, what about SKB and LG U+?
SKB and LG U+ have different strategies. Unlike KT,
these two are not targeting old apartment buildings with
only phone lines, but ones built more recently or ones with
additional UTP cabling installed at cost, that is those with
Cat5 cabling. More than 5 million households in Korea are
known to live in these types of apartment units.
To offer Internet and telephone services to households
living in apartment units where UTP Cat5 cables (4-pair)
are installed, Korean operators use 2 pairs of the lines
inside a cable for Internet service (Fast Ethernet with 100
Mbps), and 1 pair for POTS phone service. And the last 1
pair is left unused.
According to the standards (for Gigabit Ethernet and Fast
Ethernet), 1 Gbps requires all 4 pairs of lines (Cat5e) while
100 Mbps requires only 2 out of 4 pairs (Cat5). To achieve 1
Gbps speeds, all 4 pairs should be used, and cables have to
be Cat5e. So, additional cabling is inevitable.
To avoid this issue, that is, to support Internet speeds
higher than 100 Mbps without additional installation of
cables, SKB
KT GiGA Wire - Instant upgrading to Giga-Class Internet
No additional re-cabling
construction
Home
IPTV
STB
GNT
RJ45
POTS
RJ11
1-pair
(Phone line)
300+ Mbps
Home
GNT
G.hn Performance (source: ubiQuoss)
FTTP (Fiber To The Phone line)
MDU (Condominiums,
Apartment Complexes)
1-pair
(Phone line)
deploys GNTs (G.hn Network Terminal)

at home and GAM (G.hn Access
Multiplexer) at MDF/IDF
provides point to point connection via
existing telephone line (1-pair)
200~300 Mbps throughput per
subscriber
VDSL2 replacement for higher speed
broadband service
300+ Mbps
...
Home
Distance (m)
GNT
1-pair
(Phone line)
Bundled
Central Office
300+ Mbps telephone

lines
PSTN
MDF
E-PON
G.hn Access Multiplexer (GAM)
Source: KT
OLT
L3 SW
Internet
Splitter
ubiQuoss's G.hn products

8
c ables, SKB and LG U+ developed a new technology that

can support up to 500 Mbps by using only 2 pairs of lines in
existent Cat5 cables (bidirectional 500 Mbps at a distance
of 100 m). Of course, it is not a standard technology. SKB
adopted HFR's new device specially designed for this
purpose and launched a new service in June 2013. LG U+
had necessary devices developed by Dasan and ubiQuoss in
last June, but no service commercialization plan has been
announced so far.
As seen above, KT's Giga service is different from those of
SKB and LG U+ in that KT is targeting apartment units
with only traditional phone lines as well as those with UTP
cabling, whereas the other two are targeting only those with
UTP cabling.
UTP cabling. No doubt that KT is No. 1 in broadband

Internet service.
After almost a decade of stagnation in speed
improvement, Korea is finally taking a long-overdue step
forward toward Giga-class Internet service. For apartment
buildings that were built recently and thus have optical
fiber cables already installed, upgrading to 1 Gbps is easy.
On the other hand, for older buildings, it requires
installation of new cables, which would apparently result in
huge CAPEX. Given that, it is quite impressive that the big
3 managed to find ways to offer Giga-class service of 300 ~
500 Mbps to users without re-cabling construction. n
SK Broadband's MDU broadband innovation - 500 Mbps with just 2 pairs

MDU (Condominiums,
2-Pair Ethernet
Apartment Complexes)
deploys CPE at home and 2-Pair

Ethernet Switch at MDF/IDF
provides point to point connection
via existing CAT5/5e cable (2-pair
used)
bidirectional 500 Mbps throughput
per subscriber
100 Mbps LAN service replacement
for higher speed broadband service
No additional re-cabling
construction
Home
POTS
IPTV STB
1-pair
4-pair
RJ45
CPE 2-pair
500Mbps
...
Home
CPE 2-pair
4-pair
500Mbps
UTP 4P (CAT5)
1-pair
n Gigabit Ethernet / CAT5e 100m / Full Duplex
UTP 4P
(Cat5)
n 2-pair Ethernet / CAT5 100m / Full Duplex
250 Mbps x 2 Pairs = 500 Mbps

n Fast Ethernet / CAT5 100m / Full Duplex
100 Mbps
100 Mbps
Central Office
PSTN
MDF
OLT
L3 SW
G-PON
2-Pair Ethernet Switch
250 Mbps x 4 Pairs = 1Gbps
SK Broadband IP
Network
Splitter
The 2-Pair Ethernet is a vendor-proprietary technology developed by modifying the current 1000Base-T standard(IEEE 802.3ab). This technology
enables an Ethernet switch (i.e., FTTB ONU for apartment buildings) to utilize 2-pair lines out of 4-pairs inside a single Category 5/5e UTP cable,
providing provide 500Mbps data transmission(=250Mbps per pair X 2 pairs) via 2-pair line. And, the 2-pair Ethernet system is actually
implemented by adding a specific functional block of 2-pair Ethernet operation to the MAC/PHY Layer of existing 1000Base-T Ethernet system. The
following functionalities are to be appended for the 2-pair Ethernet system.
Rate adaption function between 1000Base-T (1Gbps) and 2pair Ethernet (500Mbps) interface
Flow control function to manage a data traffic prevent a loss of Ethernet frame traffic caused by exceeding 500Mbps
Signal conversion function of 4-pair based 1000Base-T to match with 2-pair Ethernet (2D-PAM5)
Deployed products: HFRs 2-pair Ethernet Products

L2 Ethernet Switch
l H5224G (24 ports), H5216G (16 ports)
Auto-Negotiation (100/500/1000Mbps)
100 Mbps per port (UTP Cat5, 2-pair)
500 Mbps per port (UTP Cat5, 2-pair)
1000 Mbps per port (UTP Cat5e, 4-pair)
Uplink: GPON, GE
CPE (RG)
l H514G
Uplink: Auto-negotiation (100/500/1000Mbps)

LAN ports: 4 10/100/1000Mbps
l H524G
Uplink: Auto-negotiation (100/500/1000Mbps)

LAN ports
- 4 10/100/1000Mbps ports
- Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11n, 2.4G & 5G Dualband 2Tx 2R)

9
SK Telecom's Network Evolution Strategies

Carrier aggregation, inter-cell coordination and C-RAN architecture
Dr. Michelle M. Do (misun.do@netmanias.com)
K Telecom is the #1 mobile operator in Korea,

with sales of KRW 16.6 trillion (USD 15.3
billion) in 2013, and with 50.1% of a mobile
mobile subscription
subscription market
market share
share in
in 2Q
2Q 2014.
2014. It
launched
LTE service
in July
and 2011,
now more
launched
LTE back
service
back2011,
in July
and
than half
of its
subscribers
service subscribers,
now
more
than halfare
of LTE
its subscribers
are LTE
with 55.8%
of LTEsubscribers,
penetration aswith
of 2Q 56%
2014. of LTE
service
Due to
LTE subscription
growth, more advanced
penetration
as of 2Q 2014.
device features, and high-capacity contents, LTE
networks are experiencing an unprecedented surge in
traffic. To accommodate the flooded traffic, SK Telecom
adopted LTE-A (Carrier Aggregation, CA) in 2013, and
Wideband LTE-A (Wideband CA) in 2014 for improved
network capacity.
As another effort to increase network capacity, the
company made LTE/LTE-A macro cells a lot smaller, as
small as hundreds of meters long, resulting in an
increased number of cell sites. To save costs of building
and operating the increased number of cell sites, it has
built C-RAN (Advanced-Smart Cloud Access Network,
Carrier Aggregation
A-SCAN, as called by SKT) through BBU concentration
speed increased n times
since January 2012.
2014.6 (demonstrated)
LTE-Wi-Fi CA | upto Gbps
2014.7 (demonstrated)
Inter-Cell Coordination
higher speeds at cell edges
Hierarchy Cell (Dual Connectivity) | 2016 (planned)
el
l(
He
tn
et
)
FDD-TDD CA | upto Gbps
increased number of cell sites. To save costs of building

and operating the increased number of cell sites, it has
built C-RAN (Advanced-Smart Cloud Access Network,
A-SCAN, as called by SK Telecom) through BBU
concentration since January 2012.
In 2014, SK Telecom began to introduce small cells
(low-power small RRHs) in selected areas. As with
macro cells, small RRHs have the same C-RAN
architecture where they are connected to concentrated
BBU pools through CPRI interfaces. SK Telecom calls it
"Unified RAN (Cloud and Heterogeneous)".
To prevent performance degradation at cell edges
caused by introduction of small cells, SK Telecom
developed HetNet architecture (known as SUPER Cell)
where macro cells cooperate with small cells. The
company, aiming to commercialize 5G networks in
2020, plans to commercialize SUPER Cell first in 2016,
as a transitional phase to 5G networks.
2014 (demonstrated at MWC)
Femto CA | 150 Mbps
2015 (planned)
3-Band CA | 300 Mbps
2014 H2 (planned)
2014.6
2013.6
LTE | 75 Mbps
2011.7
Elastic Cell (CoMP, Inter-Site CA) | 2016 (planned)
Virtual One Cell (TM-9) | H2 2014 (planned)
Sm
al
lC
eICIC | 2014 (planned)
Inter-Site CA | 2014 (demonstrated at MWC)
Ce
ll
UL CoMP | 2014.04
ac
r
DL CoMP (proprietary) | early 2012

ICIC
RAN Architecture
C-RAN |
Unified RAN | Service-Aware RAN|
Macro Cell |
Macro & Small Cell |
RAN Cache |
2012.1 2014 (First introduced)
(demonstrated at
MWC 2013)
Commercialized
vRAN |
Virtualization |
2014
(demonstrated)
RAN TCO reduced/
LTE-A performance
enhanced
to be Commercialized
Figure 1. SK Telecoms Network Evolution Strategies

SK Telecom's Network Evolution Strategies | Dr. Michelle M. Do (misun.do@netmanias.com)

10
Band 5 (850 MHz, 10MHz)
vRAN
(Virtualized BBU)
Band 3 (1.8GHz, 20MHz)

Band 1 (2.1 GHz, 10MHz)
New Band
EPC Core
Coordination server
LTE Femto CA
BBU Pool
Femto
(150Mbps)
GE
App. Server(e.g. cache)
Service-Aware RAN
Macro RRH
3-band CA
1
ells
Nc
(300/450Mbps)
Macro cell site
te C
r-Si
e
t
In
Macro RRH
CAof KT (withMsales
P
ite
S
Co
r
e
t
in
2013),
at
a
press
In
gggggggggg
P
ell
CoM tic C
s
Ela
tha
ron
F
I
CPR
M)
WD
e
iv
Act
ul (
Da
ta
trol
Con
(upto Gbps)
Carrier Aggregation Evolution

3-Band CA
LTE-Wi-Fi CA
LTE Femto CA
FDD-TDD CA
HO
No
Co
nt
ro
l&
Macro cell site
ne
al O
u
t
r
Vi
HO
No
LTE-WiFi CA
Wi-Fi AP
, TM
PC I
l
Ce l
Source: KT
Data
Dual Connectivity
Small RRH Unified RAN

(Macro RRH & Small RRH)
yC
rch
a
r
Hie
Inter-Site Coordination Evolution

Inter-Site CA in Macro Cell Networks
SUPER Cell 1.0: Virtual One Cell
SUPER Cell 2.0: Elastic Cell, Inter-Site CA
SUPER Cell 3.0: Hierarchy Cell
ell
RAN Architecture Evolution

Unified RAN
Service-Aware RAN
vRAN
Figure 2. SK Telecoms LTE-A Evolution Network

as a transitional phase to 5G networks.
We analyzed SK Telecom's network evolution
strategies using the following three axes: 1) Carrier
Aggregation (CA), 2) Inter-Cell Coordination, and 3)
RAN Architecture in the Figure 1. Here, the CA axis
shows how speeds have been and can be increased (n
times) by expanding total frequency bandwidth
aggregated. The Inter-Cell Coordination axis displays
the company's strategy to achieve higher speeds at cell
edges by improving frequency efficiency. Finally, the
RAN Architecture axis shows SK Telecom's plan to
switch to an architecture that would yield better LTE-A
performance at reduced costs of building and operating
RAN. Figure 2 is SK Telecom's evolved LTE-A network,
as illustrated according to the evolution strategies
shown in Figure1.
1. CA Evolution Strategies
CA is a technology that combines up to five frequencies
in different bands to be used as one wideband
frequency. It allows for expanded radio transmission
bandwidth, which would naturally boost transmission
speeds as much as the bandwidth is expanded. So, for
example, if bandwidth is increased n times, then so is
the transmission speed. Table 1 shows the LTE
frequencies that SK Telecom has as of September 2014,
totaling 40 MHz (DL only) across three frequency
bands, which operate as Frequency Division Duplexing
(FDD).
SK Telecom commercialized CA in June 2013 for the
first time in the world, and then Wideband CA a year
later in June 2014.
Table 1. SK Telecoms Commercial LTE Frequency (as of

September 2014)
Bandwidth
LTE Band
Max. Data
Rate
DL
UL
850 MHz Band 5
10 MHz
10 MHz
75 Mbps
1.8 GHz Band 3
20 MHz
15 MHz
150 Mbps
2.1 GHz Band 1
10 MHz
10 MHz
75 Mbps
It is now offering a maximum speed of 225 Mbps

through the total 30 MHz bandwidth. As of May 2014,
out of the total 15 million LTE subscribers, 3.5 million
(23%) subscribers are using CA-enabled devices. Let's
see where SK Telecom's CA is heading.
1.1 Combining More Bands: 3-band CA

3-band CA combines three frequency bands, instead of
the current two, for wider-band transmission.
Currently, SK Telecom has three LTE frequency bands,
and is offering 2-band CA of 20 MHz or 30 MHz by
combining two of the bands at once. This is because,
although LTE-A standards technically support
combining of up to five frequency bands, RF chips in
CA-enabled mobile devices available now can support
combining of two bands only.
3-band LTE devices are on the way and will be
arriving in the market soon - sometime in early 2015 or
by late 2014 at the latest. So, SK Telecom is planning to
commercialize 3-band CA that combines all of its three
frequency bands, just in time. The commercialization of
3-band CA is expected to increase transmission
bandwidth to 40 MHz and data transmission rate to
300 Mbps. SK Telecom is also planning to combine
three 20 MHz bands to further expand transmission
bandwidth up to 60 MHz, and boost data transmission
rate to 450 Mbps.
1.2 Femto Cell with CA
SK Telecom commercialized LTE Femto cell for the first
time in the world in June 2012, to provide indoor users
with more stable communication quality, and now is
attempting to apply CA technology to

11
attempting to apply CA technology to Femto cell as well.

The company completed a technical demonstration of
LTE-A Femto cell in MWC 2014, proving it is capable to
support 2-band CA. It will be conducting trial tests in a
commercial network in late 2014 for final
commercialization of the technology in 2015.
1.3 Combining Heterogeneous Networks: LTE-Wi-Fi CA

In July 2014, SK Telecom performed a technical
demonstration of heterogeneous CA that combines LTE
and Wi-Fi bands by using multipath TCP (MPTCP), an
IETF standard. MPTCP is designed to combine more
than one TCP flow (or MPTCP subflow) to make a single
MPTCP connection, and send data through it. This
technology is applied to a device and application server.
In the demonstration, an MPTCP proxy server was used
instead of an application server (Figure 3).
This technology will allow SK Telecom to combine i)
its LTE bands that are currently featuring 2-band CA
and ii) 802.11ac-based Giga Wi-Fi bands, together
offering up to 1 Gbps or so.
The detailed commercialization timeline is to be
determined in accordance with the company's plan for
future development of MPTCP device and server.
1.4 Combining Heterogeneous LTE Technologies: FDDTDD CA
This method enables operators to expand transmission
bandwidth by combining two different types of LTE
technologies: FDD-LTE and TDD-LTE. In a
demonstration performed in Mobile Asia Expo in June
2014, SK Telecom successfully demonstrated FDD-TDD
CA using ten 20 MHz bandwidths and 8x8 MIMO
antenna showing 3.8 Gbps throughout.
2. Inter-Cell Coordination Evolution Strategies

CA improves network capacity by broadening frequency
bandwidth,
whereas
inter-cell
coordination
technologies do the same task by enhancing frequency
efficiency. Inter-cell coordination is designed to manage
radio resources more efficiently by having cells in
different sites share user and/or cell information with
each other.
Table 2. SK Telecoms Multi-band CA (FDD-FDD)

# of Bands Max. Data Rate Total BW
BW Aggregation (MHz)
Status
2-band
150 Mbps
20 MHz
10+10 (B3+B5)
Commercialized (June 2013)
2-band
225 Mbps
30 MHz
20+10 (B3+B5)
Commercialized (June 2014)
3-band
300 Mbps
40 MHz
10+20+10 (B1+B3+B5)
to be Commercialized (H2 2014 or 2015)
3-band
450 Mbps
60 MHz
20+20+20
Planned

12
macro cell network include ICIC and

DL CoMP (proprietary) commerCSP, OTT
Public Internet
cialized in 2012. In MWC 2014,
(e.g., File Box)
inter-site CA was demonstrated
showing how cell sites can cooperate
TCP
with each other for optimized CA.
CoMP operates in a centralized way
based on C-RAN (A-SCAN) introSKT IP Backbone
duced in 2012 along with some of SK
Telecom's proprietary technologies
MPTCP Proxy
TCP
like improved scheduling, energy
Proxy
MPTCP
Server
P-GW
efficiency, etc. Since CoMP commerSubflowLTE SubflowWi-Fi
(TCP)
(TCP)
cialization, ICIC has been replaced
IPLTE
IPWi-Fi
LTE-A Network
IP Backhaul
by CoMP.
SubflowLTE
SubflowWi-Fi
SK Telecom began to use small
cells in its networks in 2014. The
eNB
Giga Wi-Fi AP
more small cells are used, the higher
IPLTE
IPWi-Fi
frequency reuse ratio is achieved.
SubflowLTE SubflowWi-Fi
866 Mbps
225 Mbps
(TCP)
(TCP)
However, there have been some
MPTCP
drawbacks, like higher handover
MPTCP Client
Application
rates, stronger interference, in1 Gbps
creased control overhead, etc. as
more cells mean more cell edges. So,
Figure 3. LTE - Wi-Fi CA using Multipath TCP (MPTCP)
to overcome these issues, and to
maximize the effect of network
increased
cells, an
each other. Inter-cell coordination can also be used both
capacity increasedcapacity
by small
cells, byansmall
appropriate
appropriate
method
in small cell-introduced HetNet and a legacy homomethod of inter-cell
coordination
shouldof beinter-cell
chosen
should
be chosen
geneous network. But, more complicated and refined
depending on how coordination
densely small cells
are deployed.
depending
how densely
small
coordination is required because in HetNet, where both
To enhance network
capacity on
efficiently
depending
on
deployed.in a macro cell, SK
high power and lower power cells are deployed
the degree of smallcells
cell are
deployment
together, UEs at cell edges are likely to experience
Telecom presented SUPER Cell concept, and a 3-phase
different interference situations.
evolution plan in MWC 2013. In line with the plan, the
Inter-cell coordination technologies applicable to a
company is gradually moving forward to its strategic
macro cell network include ICIC and DL
destination, successful commercialization of SUPER
Cell in 2016. In October 2013, it conducted a
Table 3. SUPER Cell Evolution Strategies
demonstration of Virtual One Cell (SUPER Cell 1.0).
Evolution Phase
1.0
2.0
3.0
Movie file Application Server
Application
TCP
Concept
Virtual One Cell
Elastic Cell, Inter-Site CA
Hierarchy Cell
Small cell density
Low
Moderate
High
To be commercialized in H2 2014
2016
2016
Purpose
Call drop prevention, better

performance at cell edges
better performance at cell edges
Better performance of small cell
Key technologies
TM9
CoMP (in the same frequency)

Inter-Site CA (in different
frequencies)
Dual Connectivity
Small cell frequency
Same as macro cell's

(Macro: F1, Small: F1)
Same or different from macro cell's Designated frequency

(Macro: F1, Small: F1, F2)
(Macro: F1, Small: F2)
Small cell ID (PCI)
Same as macro cell's
Different from macro cell's
Different from macro cell's
No. of cell(s)
communicating with UE
Virtually one (but, can be

multiple)
Multiple
Dual (one for control and the

other for data)

F1
F2
1.8 GHz (Band 3)
850 MHz (Band 5)

13
PCI: Physical Cell ID PCell: Primary Cell SCell: Secondary Cell
Multi-site cell Multi-carrier Scheduling

BBU
Pool
Coordination
server
BBU
Pool
Coordination
server
CPRI
t2
PC
RRH
t1
Cell site 0
Cell site 1
t2
PCell
SCell
-
Cell site 0
30 Mbps
5 Mbps
F1
F21
t1
Cell Site 1
- Cell F11 (PCI = 11)
- Cell F21 (PCI = 12)
t3
PCell
SCell
Intra-Site CA: 35 Mbps

F1
F2
e
SC
ll
F2
F11
t2
t3
Handover
t1
PCell
SCell
-
ell
30 50 Mbps ps
Mb
b
M
ps
20
Cell Site 0
F2 cell
- Cell F10 (PCI = 1) boundary
- Cell F20 (PCI = 2)
F1
F2
F1
F2
t2
PC
ell
F1 cell
SC 35 Mbps boundary
ell
30
Mb
ps
5M
bp
F10
s
F20
CPRI
Cell Site 1
5 Mbps
20 Mbps
(a) Intra-Site CA
t2
t3
Seamless CA
Cell Site 0
Cell site 0
Cell site 1
F1
F2
F1
F2
t1
PCell
Scell
-
t2
PCell
SCell
Cell Site 1
- Cell F11 (PCI = 11)
- Cell F21 (PCI = 12)
t3
PCell
SCell
Inter-Site CA: 50 Mbps

F1
F2
Cell site 0
30 Mbps
5 Mbps
Cell Site 1
5 Mbps
20 Mbps
(b) Inter-Site CA
Figure 4. Inter-Site CA in Macro Cell Networks

destination, successful commercialization of SUPER
Cell in 2016. In October 2013, it conducted a
demonstration of Virtual One Cell (SUPER Cell 1.0).
Table 3 provides a brief overview of SK Telecom's 3phase plan for evolving SUPER Cell.
Below, we will discuss some inter-cell coordination
technologies: inter-site CA for a macro cell-based
homogeneous network, and SUPER Cell for HetNet.
Inter-site CA can also be used in HetNet, and will be
discussed under SUPER Cell 2.0 section.
2.1 Inter-Site CA in Macro Cell Networks

CA, designed to increase speeds (by n times) by
combining different frequency bandwidths, may slow
down UE's speeds or interrupt CA communication if
coverages of the aggregated frequency bands do not
match. Coverage mismatches are usually caused near
cell site edges.
Inter-site CA lets BBUs cooperate with each other to
ensure frequency bandwidth aggregation is performed
not only between the bands in the same cell site, but
also between ones in different sites. If UE moves out of
the coverage of one band while still within the coverage
of the other band,
of the other band, the UE's aggregated speed naturally

drops. In such case, inter-site CA allows the UE to
replace the "out-of-coverage" band with the same band,
although operated by the neighbor cell site, that has
better channel condition, so that the UE can continue to
benefit from the band aggregation.
Figure 4 provides an example of the effect of inter-site
CA that can be gained in a macro cell network that
supports 2-band CA. In the example, there are two cell
sites (Cell site 0 and 1), and they each have two cells
that are operated by two bands (F10 and F20 from Cell
site 0, and F11 and F21 from Cell site 1 ). A CA-enabled
device, by connecting to a serving cell in each band
(PCell in one band and SCell in the other), receives data
from both serving cells. Figure 4 (a) shows a case where
inter-site CA is not supported. Before or after handover,
if the quality of one frequency band becomes degraded
at cell site 0 or 1, CA performance becomes downgraded
too. On the other hand, Figure 4 (b) illustrates a case
where inter-site CA is supported. Both cell sites,
through mutual cooperation, ensure optimal CA at cell
edges any time, even in case coverages between the
bands are mismatched, by dynamically combining
frequency bands to increase the aggregated
transmission rate.
14
F1
BBU Pool
F1
PCI = 21
(macro
cell)
F1
Handover
Performance
degradation
F1
Macro RRH
PCI = 11
(macro
cell)
TM 9
F1
ell)
(small c
PCI = 22
Handover-free
Small RRH
ell)
(small c
PCI = 11
ell
Legacy C
Ce
tual One
ir
(V
.0
1
ell
SUPER C
ll)
Virtual One Cell

Same Cell ID (e.g., PCI =1): No handover
TM9: increase capacity
Figure 5. Virtual One Cell based on TM9
frequency bands to increase the aggregated transmission rate.
2.2 SUPER Cell 1.0: Virtual One Cell

SUPER Cell 1.0 architecture is used during initial stages
where small cells are introduced, and works effectively
when there are not many small cells in a macro cell yet.
Small cells use the same frequency and Physical Cell ID
(PCI) as the macro cell's, and both small and macro
cells work as Virtual One Cell.
Because this architecture causes no handover when
devices switch from one cell to another, it prevents call
drops, and improves transmission quality during
communication near cell edges. Unfortunately,
however, the effect of network capacity enhancement is
minimal because the effect of frequency reuse, a benefit
of introducing small cells, is not expected.
Transmission Mode (TM) 9
Transmission Mode (TM) refers to a way of transmission
between a base station and UE in a multi-antenna
environment. TM9 is defined in 3GPP Release 10, and
supports up to 8-layer transmission using UE-specific
beamforming. There are two UE-specific reference signals:
Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS) and Channel State
Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS). DM-RS is used for
channel estimation and data demodulation and CSI-RS is
used for CSI measurement with much lower overhead
compared to the Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS).
To accommodate this issue, transmission mode 9

(TM9) newly defined in 3GPP Release 10 is employed in
this architecture. TM9 allows a device to receive the
same signal from more than one cell while staying near
cell edges, and to communicate at maximum speeds
while staying at cell centers, thereby effectively
enhancing network capacity. In October 2013, in a
demonstration showing how Virtual One Cell works, SK
Telecom proved the transmission speeds of devices at
cell edges increased by 1.5 ~ 2 times, and network
capacity by 5~10%. The company is now preparing for
its commercialization in late 2014.
2.3 SUPER Cell 2.0: Elastic Cell and Inter-site CA

SUPER Cell 2.0 can be best used when there are a
moderate number of small cells in a macro cell after
initial stages of introducing small cells. In this phase,
unlike phase 1 Virtual One Cell, small cells have cell IDs
(PCIs) different from the macro cell's, and work as
independent cells. Compared to phase 1, more signal
interference is caused. So, this architecture controls
interference through inter-cell coordination, rather
than having the cells work as one cell, and additionally
assigns different frequencies to some small cells. Macro
and small cells improve cell edge performance by
supporting CoMP and inter-site CA through mutual
cooperation. Cells that use the same frequency
cooperate with each other using CoMP while those that
use different frequencies cooperate using inter-site CA.
15
SUPER C
F1
eC
Inter-Sit
t
e
n
t
e
H
ell 2.0 (
(macro)
PCI = 31
F2
BBU Pool
Macro RRH
F2
F1
t4
F1
F1
A)
PCI = 32
2. Inter-Site CA
F1 (Different Channels)
(macro)
PCI = 21
F1
F1
PCI = 22
PCI = 11
(macro)
PCI = 13
F1
CoMP
t3
F1
t1
PCI = 23
ell (f
Legacy C
t2
)
ixed Cell
1. Elastic Cell
F1
(Co-Channel)
F1
CoMP
PCI = 12
ell 2.0
SUPER C
(Elastic C
ell)
t1
t2
t3
t4
# of transmission cells
...
Transmission cells (PCI)
11
11,12
11, 12,13
31, 32
...
Figure 6. CoMP-based Elastic Cell and Inter-site CA

use different frequencies cooperate using inter-site CA.
with UE are dynamically selected as a transmission cell
Both CoMP and inter-site CA are performed by the
group.
central scheduler located at a BBU pooling site, but they
Figure 6 is an illustration of UE communication in
use different ways to improve cell edge performance: In
SUPER Cell 2.0, and shows how the number of
CoMP, the central scheduler dynamically selects a
transmission cells change as UE moves from one place
group of cells that experience good channel condition
to another: 1 2 3 2 (CoMP used in t2 and t3, and
with UE, lets the cells send the same data to the UE, and
inter-site CA in t4). As such, SUPER Cell 2.0 guarantees
turns off the cells that cause interference. On the other
UE is always served by the best cells, using CoMP and
hand, in inter-site CA, it dynamically combines
inter-site CA.
frequency bandwidths in different sites.
HetNet that works based on CoMP is called Elastic
2.4 SUPER Cell 3.0: Hierarchy Cell
Cell by SK Telecom. In July 2014, SK Telecom, in a
SUPER Cell 3.0 can be effective once small cells become
demonstration showing how Elastic Cell technology
densely deployed in a macro cell. At this stage, UE is
works, confirmed the data rates at cell edges actually
usually within the coverage of some small cells no
were improved by 50%. The company aims to
matter where it is, and thus would inevitably experience
commercially launch the technology by 2016.
frequent handovers every time it moves. Moreover,
Elastic Cell is the core technology of SUPER Cell, and
transmission efficiency of the small cells would drop
helps the paradigm of data transfer between base
because of drastic increase in control overhead (e.g.
stations and users to shift from cell-centric to userhandover control info., neighbor cell measurement
centric. Previously, UE could communicate with only
reports, broadcasted system info., etc.), and mobile
one cell at a time, and had to search for a cell that has
batteries would not last long because of frequent
the strongest signal strength, itself. But, now Elastic
handovers.
Cell allows UE to communicate with more than one cell
In the legacy architecture, cells are designed to deliver
at once, and enables the network to select a
both control signalings and user data together, and the
transmission cell group to communicate with the UE.
size of available transmission bandwidth is limited
Cells that are experiencing excellent channel conditions
because conventional frequency bands are at lower
with UE are dynamically selected as
frequencies below 3.5 GHz. So, the legacy architecture
SK Telecom's Network Evolution
has Strategies | Dr. Michelle M. Do (misun.do@netmanias.com)
16
F1
l&
tro
n
Co
Handover
ll
&
Da
ta
l
ro
nt
l
Co
ro
nt
Co
l
tro
Con
Handover
Co
ntr
ol
Control
Handover
e
Legacy C
ta
Da
Control & Data
Control
& Data
BBU Pool
Macro
F1
F2
Da
ta
ll 3.0
SUPER Ce
Control & Data
Legacy Cell
Data
Macro RRH
Small RRH
Hierarchy Cell
Split of Data and Control path
Macro cell: handover signaling
Figure 7. Hierarchy Cell based on dual connectivity

f requencies below GHz. So, the legacy architecture has
improving network capacity effectively. This architec not been very effective in improving network capacity
ture is scheduled to be commercialized in 2016.
when small cells are densely deployed in a macro cell.
3. RAN Architecture Evolution Strategies
On the other hand, in Hierarchy Cell, control signalings
SK Telecom introduced C-RAN right from the very early
(control plane) and user data (user plane) are separated
stages of the LTE service commercialization (January
and delivered through different radio paths according to
2012) as an effort to achieve higher mobile network
their QoE parameters. Small cells become high-capacity
operation efficiency and more cost savings. As a result,
cells as they get to use much broader bandwidths in
most of the company's RAN is now in C-RAN
higher frequency bands (e.g. 3.5 GHz or 30 GHz) than
architecture, where macro BBUs are separated from
macro cells. Control signalings and VoLTE data that
RRHs, and moved to centralized locations, such as CO
require broader coverage are delivered by a macro cell,
or master base station while RRHs are left at cell sites.
while user data which requires fast transmission is
RRHs are connected, through a fronthaul network
delivered by a higher-capacity small cell.
(ring-type active WDM network that delivers CPRI
The key idea of this architecture is dual connectivity.
traffic, AKA Cloud Belt in SK Telecom term), to BBUs
This means that UE can be connected to both macro
and small cells at the same time. The macro cell, with
centralized at CO where coordination servers are
broader coverage, always serves as a primary cell,
running, thereby providing inter-cell coordination
delivering control signalings and working as mobility
functions, such as CoMP and inter-site CA.
anchor. So, even when UE keeps moving from one small
SK Telecom's C-RAN has moved forward to Unified
cell to another, no handover is caused, and mobile
RAN with introduction of small cells in 2014, and will
batteries last long. High-capacity small cells always
move further forward towards Service-Aware RAN,
serve as secondary cells, taking care of data delivery.
base stations for intelligent RAN, and Virtualized Radio
Thanks to the dual connectivity, little control overhead
Access Network (vRAN), the virtualization-based next
is caused to small cells. Moreover, small cells, now that
generation base stations. These two are expected to
broader bandwidths are secured, can focus on fast
provide operators with new revenue opportunities and
transmission, achieving higher transmission efficiency
users with enhanced QoE, by introducing/offering
even in a highly-dense cell environment, and thereby
services in RAN, primarily based on Unified RAN. In
improving
network
capacity
effectively.
This
the near future, Service-Aware RAN where cache
architecture is scheduled to be commercialized in 2016.

17
Past
Current
l Centralized & Cloud RAN (C-RAN) 2012
RRHs (Macro)
BBUs
l Legacy Distributed RAN

Macro Cell
Ethernet
Backhaul
CO (RAN)
Macro RRH
RAN (eNB)
RRHs (Macro & Small)
CPRI
Fronthaul
(Cloud Belt)
DU
RU
RAN (eNB)
Standalone Base Station
(DU (BBU) and RU in one box)
BBUs
Small RRH
DU
CO
l Unified RAN- 2014 (introduced Small RRH at small cell)
BBU
...
Macro RRH
Ethernet
Backhaul
CPRI
Fronthaul
(Cloud Belt)
BBU
Centralized BBU
+ Macro RRH
+ Coordination server
(CoMP Scheduler, etc.)
CPRI
Small RRH
Near Future
CO (RAN)
BBU
...
Ethernet
Backhaul
BBU
Centralized BBU
+ Macro RRH + Small RRH
+ Coordination server
(CoMP Scheduler, etc.)
Long Term
l Service-aware RAN (e.g. Video caching at RAN)
l Virtualized RAN (vRAN)
Sche- SON
Apps
duler Agent
Video
3G LTE LTE-A
streaming
RRM
Move to RAN
Service at RAN
BBU
Service at Core
RAN Cache
BBU
BBU
Connectivity SW
Hypervisor
GPP
Small RRH
CO (RAN)
Intelligent service
vRAN (BBU Virtualization)
Macro RRH
Fronthaul
(Cloud Belt)
SAEGW
...
SAEGW
GPP server
Small RRH
CPRI
CO (vRAN)
Coordination
server
Figure 8. Evolution of RAN Architecture

the near future, Service-Aware RAN where cache at a
centralized BBU pool offers services like video caching
in RAN will be commercialized. In the long time, SK
Telecom's RAN will evolve into vRAN where BBUs are
operated by SW installed on industry standard servers,
realizing BBU virtualization.
3.1 Unified RAN

Since 2012, SK Telecom has built its C-RAN with LTE
macro cells only, and then also with small cells (smallsized and low-power RRHs mounted on pole) since
2014. As with macro cells, small cells have C-RAN
architecture and thus small RRHs are connected
through CPRI interface to concentrated BBUs. In other
words, both macro and small RRHs are connected to a
BBU pool through the fronthaul network. SK Telecom
calls this Unified RAN.
The evolved Unified C-RAN can increase network
capacity flexibly, and help HetNet (SUPER Cell) to
connect cells in different sites/BBUs through a highcapacity bandwidth and with a lower latency. This
assures close coordination between HetNet cells, and
thus can efficiently support SUPER Cell technologies
(TM9, CoMP, inter-site CA, dual connectivity, etc.) for
enhanced network capacity.
enhanced network capacity.
3.2 Service-Aware RAN

Previously, SK Telecom has provided services through
its core networks, and hence RAN, incapable of
identifying what service is being used by users, has
merely served as a dumb pipe for data delivery.
However, Service-Aware RAN can i) run service
applications in RAN as well, and ii) identify services
used by each user and provide them with region-specific
or user-specific services by analyzing network/service
usage information of each user. This enables operators
to create new revenue streams other than network
access fees and users to enjoy faster responses and
personalized services, thereby improving user QoE and
satisfaction.
SK Telecom's Service-Aware RAN is based on Unified
C-RAN, and so it allows RAN cache servers (or cards) at
a BBU pool to cache video files and DNS, and offer
features like video optimization, CDN interworking,
local breakout, etc. in RAN as well. In MWC 2013, the
company, jointly with NSN, demonstrated these
Service-Aware RAN features, and vendors like Samsung
and Nokia are finishing up development of technologies
for installing application servers in RAN

18
POC
Analyze trends, technologies and market

Report
Technical documents
Blog
One-Shot gallery
Training
Networks
Analysis
Concept Design
DRM
eMBMS
LTE
IMS
Infrastructure Services
Consulting
CDN
Transparent
Caching
Wi-Fi
protocols
IP/MPLS
3.3 vRAN
RAN building/operating costs are one of the biggest
investments that operators should make. To cut down
the cost of RAN, and make employment of new
network/service functions easier, SK Telecom
developed so called vRAN that virtualizes BBUs. In
January 2014, SK Telecom demonstrated LTE FDD
radio communication (at 300 Mbps using 20 MHz
bandwidth and 4x4 MIMO) by installing Hypervisor
and Virtual Machine (VM) on an Intel Xeon processorbased server and virtualizing the modem functionalities
(PHY & MAC).
The main feature of vRAN is to apply IT virtualization
technology to BBUs so that vendor-specific BBUs that
have been provided by the existing base station vendors
can be replaced by industry-standard servers. An
industry-standard server, equipped with generalpurpose processors (GPPs) and HW acceleration
technologies, can process RAN functions and services
real fast by using SW. Moreover, new features for LTEA/B or 5G, or newly released RAN functions/services
can be easily installed/removed through simple SW
upgrade using open API. Because this architecture
allows for sharing of HW/computing resources between
BBUs through open interfaces, flooded traffic in one
BBU can be easily diverted on to other BBUs.
vRAN, by taking advantage of smarter technologies
(more SW-oriented) and a more Cloud-friendly
environment (open RAN architecture), can certainly be
a great money saver for SK Telecom in that it can
significantly save RAN costs for installing and operating
base stations. However, apparently switching to vRAN
is not an easy task. The company's investments in
current RAN equipment should be protected, and
vRAN-ready industry standard servers are not available
in the market yet.
That means, some BBU functions will continue to be
used in forms of vendor-specific HWs provided by
existing base station vendors, and the BBUs will become
more intelligent, for example, with cloud capabilities for
inter-BBU resource sharing, while other RAN functions
(CoMP coordination, etc.) and application services
provided at mobile edges are handled by SW on
virtualized industry standard servers. SK Telecom will
probably have to stick to this architecture for a long
while. n
Carrier Ethernet
for installing application servers in RAN (for example,

taking care of charging and handovers in relation to
traffic served directly by RAN cache, without going
through P-GW). Given that, Service-Aware RAN is very
likely to be commercialized soon.
Future
NETMANIASTM
We design the Future
NMC Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

2F, Namyeong Building
730-13, Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu,
Seoul 135-921, Korea
3832 NE 88th Street
Seattle, WA 98115
USA
e-mail: tech@netmanias.com

20
Mobile Statistics in Korea (August 2014)

n Mobile subscribers - per access technology
Feb. 2011
August 2014
51.2M
56.3M
n Mobile data usage - per access technology

August 2014
60
108.8 PB
100.8 PB
(92.7%)
50
40
30
33.8M
(60.1%)
2G & 3G
3G
(Feature phone +
Smartphone)
20
22.5M
(39.9%)
4G LTE
10
4G LTE
8.0 PB
(7.3%)
0
7
9 11 1 3 5 7 9 11 1 3 5 7 9 11 1 3 5 7
2011
2012
2013
2014
9 11 1
2012
9 11 1
2013
2014
As of August, 2015, the total number of mobile

subscribers in Korea hit 56.3 million.
This indicates that Korea has a penetration rate of
1112%, considering its population, 50.3 million.
Korea has 33.9 million LTE subscribers, which account
for 60.1% of the total mobile subscribers.
As of the end of August 2014, the LTE traffic reached

100.8 PB, which is 12.6 times higher than 3G traffic.
LTE traffic represented 92.7% of Koreas total mobile
traffic mostly driven by the introduction of LTE
unlimited plans
n Mobile subscribers - per device type
n Monthly Traffic - per device type
August 2014
56.3M
52.5M
Smarthpone
21.3M
(40.8%)
4G Smartphone ~ 33 M
3G Smartphone ~ 7 M
30.5M
(58.3%)
0.48M
(0.9%)
2011
3.123 GB
39.6M
(70.4%)
4G Smartphone
3G Smartphone
1.140 GB
2G & 3G Feature phone
0.005 GB
Feature Phone (2G/3G)

Smart Pad
1
2012
16.0M
(28.5%)
1
2013
78
0.61M
(1.1%)
2014
As of the end of August 2014, 39.6M subscribers,

which is 70.4% of the total 56.3M mobile subscribers,
are smartphone users.
0
1
2012
9 11 1
2013
9 11 1
2014
As of the end of August 2014, 4G smartphone, 3G

smartphone and 2G/3G feature phone users generate
3.123 GB, 1.140 GB and 5 MB of traffic on average per
month.
* Source: Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning

21
LTE Statistics in Korea
n Subscriber Traffic Distribution (Heavy User Behavior)

4G (June 2014)
3G (June 2014)
Traffic Percentile
100%
Traffic Percentile
100%
84.6%
69.7%
46.3%
35.1%
32.4%
13.5%
1% 5% 10%
1% 5%10%
100%
Subscriber Percentile
In Korea, the top 10% of subscribers who make the
heaviest use of the 4G networks resources account for
46.3% of total traffic.
100%
Subscriber Percentile
In Korea, the top 10% of subscribers who make the
heaviest use of the 3G networks resources account for
84.6% of total traffic.
n Mobile Traffic Composition in Korea (4G Traffic only)

100%
90%
80%
70%
4.8%
5.2%
4.1%
7.9%
6.9%
7.6%
9.8%
11.2%
10.4%
13.1%
13.5%
14.6%
18.9%
18.1%
Etc.
60%
19.3%
50%
Market Download
SNS
40%
Web
30%
20%
Multimedia (Music, etc)
Video
45.1%
44.3%
45.2%
Q4 2013
Q1 2014
Q2 2014
10%
0%
The chart above presents the results of analysis of data traffic using DPI equipment introduced by the Korea's
big 3 operators. In the analysis, only 4G LTE traffic was included and 3G traffic was excluded. However, given
the fact that as of August 2014 the volume of LTE traffic is 12.6 times larger than that of 3G, the results can
sufficiently serve as references for the entire mobile traffic. The chart shows the distribution of data traffic by
application. We can see, the volume share of video and music streaming traffic reached 59.8%, proving the
surge in mobile traffic has been driven by video traffic.
* Source: Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning

22
LTE Deployment Status by Operator in Korea (November 2007 August 2014)

n LTE subscribers growth by operator
[Million]
n LTE subscription rate

LG U+ (Korea)
KT (Korea)
SK Telecom (Korea)
Verizon (US)
Docomo (Japan)
SK Telecom 15.9M
(47.0%)
18
16
14
KT 9.9M
(29.3%)
12
71.7%
57.3%
55.8%
54.5%
10
37.8%
LG U+ 8.0M
(23.7%)
6
4
2
0
8 10 12 2
2011
8 10 12 2
2012
8 10 12 2
2013
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
2014
2011
As of the end of August 2014, SK Telecom has 15.9M

LTE subscribers, which account for 47.0% of the total
LTE subscribers in Korea.
2012
1. SK Telecom
28.2M
3.7M
(13.1%)
2G (CDMA)
7.1M
(26.7%)
2014
South Koreas top 3 operators have LTE subscription

rates that are higher than any of its global
competitors who launched the same service before
them, especially LG U+ with the seemingly
unbeatable 71.7% as of the end of June 2014.
LG U+
26.5M
2013
KT
11.1M
(19.7%)
SK Telecom
56.3M
28.2M
Mobile
subscribers (50.1%)
in Korea
16.9M
(30.2%)
2. KT
8.6M
(30.6%)
August 2014
16.9M
16.5M
3G (WCDMA)
19.0M
(71.8%)
3G (WCDMA)
3.1M
(27.7%)
9.9M
(58.6%)
4G (LTE)
1
2011
2012
2013
78
2014
2011
2012
2013
9.0M
(96.6%)
2G (CDMA)
9.0M
(72.3%)
0.3M
(3.4%)
4G (LTE)
1
11.1M
9.3M
15.9M
(56.4%)
0.4M
(1.4%)
3. LG U+
7.1M
(42.0%)
16.4M
(99.1%)
78
2014
4G (LTE)
1
2011
Mobile subscribers trace Split per network (November 2011 August 2014)
2012
2013
78
2014
23
Broadband Subscribers in Korea

n Broadband subscription rate (Q1 2005 Q1 2014)
Million
20
18,852,555
18,269,153
18
# of Households
16
Q4 2010: 100%
14
Broadband subscribers
12
10
8
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
The broadband subscription rate in Korea has been steadily increasing, reaching 76.6% in Q1 2005, 100% in Q4
2010, and 103% in April 2014.
n Broadband subscribers by operator (Q1 2005 Q2 2014)

Million
9
Cable
Operators
KT
8
7
3.2M
(16.6%)
SK (SK Broadband)
LG U+
Cable operators
8.1
(42.4%)
KT
(August 2014)
LG U+
4.7M
(24.8%)
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
1
0
3.0M
(15.8%)
19.0M
Broadband
subscribers
in Korea
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
SK (SK Broadband)
2014
As of the end of August 2014, Korea has 19.0M broadband subscribers, and 42.4% of them (i.e. 8.1M) are KT
users, which makes the company the unrivaled No. 1 in the countrys broadband market.
Click the link below to see statistics information on wired/wireless services and subscribers in Korea.
http://www.netmanias.com/en/?m=view&id=statistics_ict&no=6041
* Source 1: Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning

* Source 2: KT, SK Broadband and LG U+
24
Broadband Subscribers in Korea Access Technologies

n Broadband subscribers trace by access technology (Q1 2005 Q2 2014)
Million
8
XDSL
LAN (UTP)
FTTH
HFC
5
5.5M
(29.3%)
FTTH
3
2
19.0M
Broadband
subscribers
7.2M
in Korea
(38.1%)
(August 2014)
LAN (UTP)
4.6M
(24.4%)
XDSL
1.7M
(9.0%)
HFC
Q2
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Since its launch in 2006, FTTH service subscribers have continued to increase. As of the end of August 2014, 5.5M
(29.3% of the total broadband subscribers) are subscribing to this service. Different FTTH technologies have been
adopted by the big 3 operators E-PON by KT, G-PON by SK, and E-PON by LG U+ but they all support 100 Mbps
in UL and DL.
n Broadband subscribers by operator per access technology August 2014)

Million
9
8.1M
8
XDSL
1.33
XDSL
HFC (Cable)
LAN (UTP)
FTTH
Home
CO
ONT
PON
FTTH
LAN
OLT
6
2.85
5
ONU
4.7M
PON
UTP
HFC
1.22
FTTH
0.35
L3 SW
UTP
3.0M
3.2M
LAN
UTP
OLT
Edge &
Backbone
L2 SW
0.92
2
1.86
3.90
2.44
UTP
L3 SW
1.78
1.30
0.31
KT
SK
LG U+
0.03
0.65
0.04
MSO
Last mile line

FTTH: Optical fiber (ONT at home)
LAN: UTP cable (from L2 switch or ONU)
Korea has 5.5M FTTH subscribers, and 70.5% of them (i.e. 3.87M) are KT users, making the company the No. 1
FTTH service provider in the country.

25
Pay TV Subscribers in Korea

n Pay TV subscribers trace
Million
Satellite
18
4.2M
(14.9%)
Cable
16
14
12
10
IPTV
9.2M
(32.7%)
IPTV
28.3M
Pay TV
subscribers
in Korea
(April 2014)
14.8M
(52.4%)
Cable
Satellite
2
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
The number of IPTV subscribers is increasing fast. It exceeded 9M in March 2014, and reached 9.2M a month later.
This was an increase of 150,000 a month on average. With this growth rate, it is expected to exceed 10M this year.
As the competition among IPTV, cable and satellite operators was getting tougher, they began UHD service in an
effort to prevent subscriber churn and attract new subscribers. The service was launched by the cable operators and
SK Broadband, in April. And KT and LG U+ are scheduled to begin the service by the end of this year.
n IPTV subscribers trace by telco

Million
6
LG U+
KT
1.8M
(22.2%)
9.6M
IPTV subscribers 5.4M
in Korea
(66.7%)
2.4M
(June 2014)
(30.2%)
SK Broadband
LG U+
SK Broadband
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q1
Q2
KT
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Growth in Koreas IPTV market has been mostly driven by KT. As of June 2014, the company has 5.4M IPTV
subscribers, which is 66.7% of the countrys total. IPTV operators in the market are in fierce competition with each
other as well as with cable operators.
n UHD TV services
Resolution
Codec
Frame rate
Encoding rate
Launch
Cable TV
(CJ Hellovision, C&M, t-broad)
IPTV
(SK Broadband)
IPTV
(KT)
Satellite TV
(KT Skylife)
4K (3840x2160)
HEVC (H.265)
60 fps
32Mbps
2014.04
4K (3840x2160)
HEVC (H.265)
30 fps
15Mbps
2014.09
4K (3840x2160)
HEVC (H.265)
30/60 fps
20Mbps
2014.09
4K (3840x2160)
HEVC (H.265)
30 fps (60 fps planned)
30Mbps
2014.06
Research and Consulting Scope of Netmanias

99
Services
Mobile
Network
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
eMBMS/Mobile IPTV
CDN/Mobile CDN
Transparent Caching
BSS/OSS
Cable TPS
Voice/Video Quality
IMS
Policy Control/PCRF
IPTV/TPS
LTE/LTE Advanced
Mobile WiMAX
Carrier Wi-Fi
LTE Backhaul/Fronthaul
Data Center Migration
Wireline
Network
Carrier Ethernet
FTTH
Data Center
Metro Ethernet
MPLS
IP Routing
Visit http://www.netmanias.com to view and download more technical documents.
Analyze trends, technologies and market

Report
Technical documents
Blog
One-Shot gallery
Analysis
Concept Design
DRM
POC
Training
Networks
eMBMS
LTE
IMS
Infrastructure Services
Consulting
CDN
Transparent
Caching
Wi-Fi
protocols
IP/MPLS
Carrier Ethernet
Future
About Netmanias (www.netmanias.com)
NMC Consulting Group (Netmanias) is an advanced and professional network consulting company, specializing in IP
network areas (e.g., FTTH, Metro Ethernet and IP/MPLS), service areas (e.g., IPTV, IMS and CDN), and wireless network
areas (e.g., Mobile WiMAX, LTE and Wi-Fi) since 2002.
Locations
Headquarter
Branch Office
2F, Namyeong Building

730-13, Yeoksam-dong,
Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-921,
Korea
3832 NE 88th Street

Seattle, WA 98115
USA

Korea Communication Review October

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Korea Communication Review October

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Korea Communication Review October

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Netmanias Consulting www.netmanias.

Korea Communication Review

Korean ICT News page 1-2

LTE Statistics in Korea

Korea Communication Review

Smartphone subscriptions to exceed 40 million in late September

Feature Phone (2G/3G)

Publisher: Dr. Harrison J. Son | son@netmanias.com

Korea Communication Review October 2014

Netmanias Consulting www.netmanias.com

Korea ICT News

KT aims to build a nationwide GiGA

KT and SKB launched the worlds first

HFRs Fronthaul solution to hit the

LG U+ and Nokia developed

RACS: Radio Acceleration Cloud Server

DASAN Networks Successfully lands

Samsung and ubiQuoss chosen as

Netmanias Consulting www.netmanias.com

Korea Communication Review October 2014

SK Telecom's Network Evolution Strategies

Carrier aggregation, inter-cell coordination and C-RAN architecture

Band 3 (1.8GHz, 20MHz)

App. Server(e.g. cache)

Macro cell site

Small RRH Unified RAN

KOREA ICT NEWS

KOREA ICT STATISTICS

LTE Statistics in Korea UPDATE

Broadband subscribers in Korea UPDATE

IPTV subscribers in Korea UPDATE

Netmanias Consulting www.netmanias.com

Korea Communication Review October 2014

To go nationwide with its Giga Internet (GiGA FTTH)

High-capacity OLT deployed for GiGA Internet service by KT

by UHD TV, Internet of Things (IoT), etc. Chang-Seok Seo,

2. Upgrade Premium Core Capacity

(Premium Core: QoS, IP/MPLS)

1. FTTH Access: E-PON10GE-PON

Core Node (14)

Akamai CDN edge,

3. Upgrade KORNET Capacity

Korea Communication Review October 2014

Netmanias Consulting www.netmanias.com

Existing MDU wiring systems

UTP Cat5 to the home

Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps)

G.hn (300 Mbps)

2-Pair Ethernet (500 Mbps)

Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps)

802.3z 1000Base-T (1Gbps)

Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps)

802.3as 1000Base-X (1 Gbps)

Migration Strategies to Giga-Class Broadband Access in Korea

GiGA Wire (G.hn)

1-pair (Telephone line)

2-pair (UTP Cat 5/5e)

2-pair (UTP Cat 5/5e)