South Korea's remote northwestern Baengnyeongdo Island is getting LTE-A broadband connections thanks to KT, which demonstrated the technology on the island last week.
Introducing LTE services on the island is in line with the telecom firm's initiative, called GiGA Island, to spread the LTE networks to every corner of the nation. "The company will install the GiGA network infrastructure on around 500 inhabited islands in five years to help the public utilize telecom services without a hitch under any condition," said Oh Sung-mock, chief of KT's network division, at a launch ceremony, according to The Korea Herald.
The installation of the LTE network on the island, around 190 kilometers northwest of Incheon City, follows two previous projects: one in Imjado, an island in South Jeolla Province, and another in Daeseong-dong, a town in the demilitarized zone in Gyeonggi Province, last year.
The operator is deploying GiGA Microwave technology that uses microwaves to transmit data and does not require fiber optical cables, which are vulnerable to external impact such as those by anchors, to guarantee stability of mobile networks, a KT official told the Herald. Read more