Samsung Selected by SK Telecom to Provide Specialized LTE Network for Railway Safety and Operation

Samsung Electronics, a leading provider of mobile broadband networking solutions, selected by South Korean operator, SK Telecom, to provide South Korea’s first dedicated and independent network to meet the unique needs of railway safety and operation personnel. With newly adopted LTE network, workforces in the field and the operators in the control center can communicate using multimedia services. Fire departments and police forces will be informed immediately when there is an accident within the metro thanks to the compatibility between the LTE-railways and Korean nationwide public safety network.

The network, which will represent the first implementation of Samsung’s LTE-Railway (LTE-R) solution, will cover the entirety of Busan Metro Line 1, and is specifically designed to ensure seamless communication throughout the line. Samsung will provide its industry-recognized Evolved Packet Core, Home Subscriber Server and a dense array of remote radio units along the length of the metro line ensuring 100% coverage and consistent, reliable performance with high data capacity. In order to minimize interference and facilitate a reliable wireless connection, each train will also be outfitted with a series of receiver modules to relay connectivity between the network’s radio nodes and user devices on-board each car.

Busan Metro Line 1 is 41km from end to end, and is composed of both above ground and underground sections along diverse terrain including urban and rural environments. This introduces several important challenges as a result of varying propagation characteristics throughout the line, along with a critical need to effectively mitigate interference between adjacent cells and ensure perfect handover success rates. Samsung will leverage its extensive experience with heterogeneous network deployments to provide unparalleled reliability and performance.

Scheduled to begin next year, the deployment will be the first railway dedicated LTE network in South Korea demonstrating the suitability and superior capability of LTE for unique ‘public safety’-type networks; Samsung will continue to explore expansion opportunities on other metro lines and nationwide public-safety networks that are closely related to LTE-R.