A new technology has emerged that can significantly improve the upload speed of individual Internet broadcasters who create video content or customers who take photos with their smartphones and frequently upload them to social media.

Uplink CA (Carrier Aggregation), which can increase speeds by more than double compared to existing technologies by bundling frequencies not only for downloads but also for uploads in mobile networks, is being commercialized for the first time in Korea.

SK Telecom announced on the 25th that it has applied uplink CA technology, which increases data upload speeds by binding two upward frequency bands, to its network system and has begun preparations for commercialization.

This 'uplink CA' network construction is expected to significantly enhance the convenience of uploading for customers in MCN (multi-channel network), UCC, SNS, etc., which have been rapidly increasing recently, and to provide a network environment that can activate the related industry ecosystem.

Additional application of technology that can utilize existing frequencies
In LTE, the uplink speed is 25 Mbps per 10 MHz of frequency width.

SK Telecom also plans to maximize upload speeds by additionally applying solutions that can significantly improve upload performance (UL 64QAM) and technologies that can maximize the use of existing frequencies (MC-PUSCH). 'UL 64QAM' is a technology that improves data conversion efficiency into LTE signals by 50% compared to existing technologies, and 'MC-PUSCH' is a technology that utilizes fragmented frequencies within the same band as a single frequency.

Uplink CA is scheduled to be applied nationwide starting from the metropolitan area and metropolitan cities from late January to mid-February, and UL 64QAM and MC-PUSCH technologies are scheduled to be finalized around March. After that, when terminals with the corresponding technologies are released, full-scale commercial services are scheduled to begin in the first half of the year. (※Not applicable to existing terminals)

In LTE, the uplink speed can reach 25 Mbps per 10 MHz of frequency width, and uplink CA can achieve an upload speed of up to 50 Mbps, which is twice that of existing technologies, by combining two narrowbands (10 MHz).

Here, by fully utilizing the fragmented 15㎒ bandwidth through MC-PUSCH, an additional speed of 12.5Mbps can be obtained, and by additionally applying UL 64QAM, the maximum speed can be improved by 50%, which theoretically allows a speed improvement of about 4 times compared to when only the existing narrowband is used.

Uplink CA was initially developed in the early days of LTE-A introduction to improve upload speeds, which were relatively slow compared to download speeds, but it was only recently that all three technologies were standardized and the pace of technological development accelerated to the point where both systems and terminals could be commercialized.

SK Telecom Infrastructure Division Head Jongbong Lee said, “With the uplink CA technology and speed enhancement technologies that we have commercialized this time, the speed improvement that customers feel will be much greater than the numbers suggest,” adding, “Based on our advanced technologies, we will continue to lead the upcoming 5G era.”