SK Telecom To Enhance 5G Equipment Compatibility

SK Telecom announced on September 19 that it has prepared a “5G equipment interoperability verification standard” to facilitate interoperation between 5th generation (5G) mobile communication devices with global mobile carriers such as AT & T, China Mobile and Orange.

The 5G equipment interoperability verification standard includes methods to test interoperability between 5G base stations, exchanges and terminals developed by different equipment manufacturers and analysis methods to find improvement points quickly.

By using this standard, companies can test various interoperability between 5G equipment in the network designing stage and find the best interlocking method. As a result, companies can provide a stable and high-quality service by constructing 5G network with products made by different manufacturers such as an A company-produced base station, a B company-produced exchange, and a C company-made terminal.

In addition, terminal manufacturers will have less elements to test for the interoperability with telecommunication equipment, which means that they can promptly launch a variety of 5G terminals.

SK Telecom is the chair company for the interworking project of Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN), which was created to discuss the direction of next-generation infrastructure. Over the past one year, SK Telecom has been working with its members on developing effective verification methods. SK Telecom plans to test the interconnection of commercial equipment based on this standard from the fourth quarter of this year.

The company plans to work on incorporation of international standards. The 5G equipment interoperability verification standard is based on the “Non-standalone (NSA),” a compound standard between 5G and Long Term Evolution (LTE) defined by 3GPP last December. SK Telecom and other companies plan to incorporate the improvement measures derived from interworking tests into the standard.

In addition, SK Telecom plans to develop verification standards for interworking 5G equipment based on Standalone (SA), a sole standard for 5G until next year. – Business Korea