South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom has launched a pilot service for Multi Carrier (MC) to enable use of both 800MHz and 1.8GHz frequency bands, in the area from Gangnam Station to Kyobo Tower Crossroads. Operator plans for its commercial launch in July 2012.

With the commercialization of MC technology, SK Telecom expects to offer the faster LTE speed by utilizing twice wider frequency bandwidth. Company will utilize both its existing 800MHz frequency band and the 1.8GHz band it newly acquired in the second half of last year. With an additional 20MHz uplink/downlink spectrum, it will be using a total of 40MHz for its LTE services.

SK Telecom will complete the optimization of handset-network interworking and handover between frequencies during the MC pilot service period and plans to commercialize the MC service in July 2012. The technology will be applied to all areas of Seoul in 2012 and expanded to 23 cities nationwide including metropolitan cities by early 2013.

SK Telecom already embedded the MC feature in Vega Racer 2 released in May 2012 and is currently in talks with device manufacturers to include MC as a basic feature for LTE smartphones. Upon commercialization of the MC service in July, users of Vega Racer 2 can receive automatic firmware upgrade by authorizing the process via responding to the text message sent to them. 

Operator further adds that the use of 1,8GHz frequency band will allow SK Telecom to offer LTE roaming service in many different countries. Currently, around 10 countries in Asia and Europe have chosen the 1.8GHz band for LTE services and it is expected that more and more operators around the world will use 1.8GHz, a GSM frequency band, for LTE.