SKT bases data offload strategy on femtocells

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SKT bases data offload strategy on femtocells

As befits the leading cellco in the world’s most advanced broadband economy, Korea’s SK Telecom has a highly sophisticated network plan for 3G and 4G

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 8 June, 2011

As befits the leading cellco in the world’s most advanced broadband economy, Korea’s SK Telecom has a highly sophisticated network plan for 3G and 4G expansion. It has recently outlined grand plans for a new breed of multimedia and content offerings, which will require a new approach to network building based around huge numbers of small cells and a ‘Cloud RAN’ architecture. Now the operator is getting down to the details of its technology, and one of its first decisions is to invest in a second generation of femtocells to support data offload from its main network and pave the way for the small cells of its LTE roll-out.

SKT is using femtocell access points from local supplier Contela, whose products run on the most established of the femto silicon platforms, from UK-based Picochip. The new 2FA product is a major upgrade from the first generation SKT/Contela femto, supporting 16 users per femto with dual-carrier HSPA+ and integrated Wi-Fi. The carrier aims to install about 10,000 units this year.

They will initially be deployed in areas of high data traffic such as cafés, shopping malls, offices and apartment blocks, taking the femtocell beyond being a purely residential solution. This is an increasingly common progression in carriers’ network plans, with the next stage being the adoption of outdoor ‘metrocells’, augmenting coverage and capacity at low operating cost.

SKT was the first cellco to use femtocells specifically for data offload from the macro network, extending the model from that of most early adopters, which focused on boosting indoor reception and quality of service. It was also the first operator to base its network on the 3GPP standard interface, Iuh.

Rupert Baines, Picochip’s VP of marketing, commented in a statement: “Many people are discussing ‘small cells’ and higher capacity femtocells. SK Telecom’s volume deployment demonstrates Contela’s leadership in this area. This roll-out proves that femtocells can increase capacity, improve network efficiency and ensure smartphone users get the best out of their devices.”