SK Telecom Debuts Commercial 5.76Mbps HSUPA Service
December 14, 2007
Following the launch of its 1.45Mbps HSUPA (High Speed Uplink Packet Access) service in major Korean cities including Seoul, Busan, and Daejeon in June 2007, as reported in an Asia Express dated June 22, 2007, Korean telecom operator SK Telecom recently announced plans to begin commercialization of its next-generation HSUPA network. This new HSUPA network is reported to boast a speed of 5.76Mbps, 15 times faster than the data transfer rate available on current HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access) networks.
According to EETimes Asia, SK Telecom's 5.76Mbps HSUPA service is believed to be the first commercial one worldwide and will initially cover only the two districts of Gangdong-gu and Songpa-gu in Seoul. The service is expected to extend to the entire Seoul region by the first quarter of 2008 and to other metropolitan regions by year-end 2008. Full commercial service is slated for launch in the second quarter of 2008, to coincide with the rollout of HSUPA terminals.