SK Telecom was selected as the first LTE-R provider for the Seoul Subway. SK Telecom announced on the 26th that it has signed a contract for the railway integration wireless network (LTE-R) of Seoul City and Hanam line Railway.
SK Telecom will deploy the LTE-R network at a 7.725 km section of the Hanam line by the end of December 2020. It is the first time that a contract has been signed to implement LTE-R in a Seoul Metropolitan station.
The company said that the LTE-R, which is a LTE-based railway network, will enable data communications including video calls even on trains running at speeds of over 350 km/hr, making the Hanam line safer.
SK Telecom plans to inform police stations and fire departments immediately in case of a natural disaster, and also establish a system where train operations, engine officers, staff members and maintenance personnel can make group calls.
Furthermore, in case of an emergency, control centers and engine officers will be able view live video clips of each passenger car. In addition, a navigation system will be developed so that the engine officer can check real time train operation information en route as well as real time information on trains' arrivals and departures.
Starting with the Hanam Line, the Seoul Metropolitan government plans to replace the aging networks on subway lines 5 and 2 with LTE-R. The bidding announcement is scheduled for this year.
SK Telecom’s Choi Il-kyu, head of the public business unit said, “In order to effectively deal with disasters in subways, it is essential to build an LTE-R linked to the national disaster safety communication network. We will deploy the LTE-R with our 30 years of experience in the mobile telecommunication technology business.”
