SEOUL, South Korea-Korean operator SK Telecom said it will launch commercial cdma2000 1X service in the fourth-quarter, using equipment from Samsung Electronics.
Samsung and SK Telecom said the 1X system can be linked with a video-on-demand server to provide movies, music videos and Internet services to wireless handsets.
The Korean companies signed a $200 million supply contract for a cdma2000 1X system earlier in May. Field trials were conducted at Samsung’s research center last November.
The cdma2000 1X test system features a chipset developed by Samsung, while the handsets use the MSM-5000 chipset and software from Qualcomm Inc.
SK Teletech, an SK Telecom subsidiary, provided the high-speed Web service and video solution using notebook PCs and the SKY handset produced by SK Teletech.
SK Telecom’s 1X system will support data transmission at speeds of up to 144 kilobits per second and will offer twice the voice traffic capacity as SK Telecom’s current network. The Samsung equipment will cover most of the Korean peninsula, including the Seoul metropolitan area and mid-provinces.
Samsung and SK Telecom also agreed to cooperate in overseas projects for consulting, operation, maintenance and system supply.
