Also referred to as LTE-M, eMTC is designed to free up spectrum capacity for LTE traffic on a network, and marks an important milestone for the development of the internet of things.
The trial was conducted on KT’s LTE network using Nokia’s Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station, and eMTC utilised only 1.4MHz of the full 20MHz LTE system, leaving the remaining spectrum free for normal LTE traffic.
“This trial, a world first, offers a solid platform to promote the widespread application of services powered by IoT technology by addressing limitations that are hampering its spread and reach,” said Chang Seok Seo, SVP and head of network strategy unit at KT.
“Together with Nokia, we will play a pivotal role in pioneering the emergence of IoT as the first-choice technology in Korea and beyond.”
eMTC will reportedly provide data rates of up to 1Mbps as well as four times better coverage, while reducing device complexity by up to 80% compared to conventional LTE.
“This project underlines our position as a driving force behind the creation of a programmable world, where close to 50 billion devices will be connected in 2025,” said Andrew Cope, head of Korea at Nokia.
“With this trial, we have successfully demonstrated the capabilities of LTE as a veritable backbone for a growing range of IoT use cases.”
KT and Nokia Networks launched what they claimed was the first IoT lab in South Korea in July last year.
