SK Telecom plans to actively apply the solution to Public Safety-LTE (PS-LTE) and LTE-Railroad (LTE-R) in Korea, while also entering overseas markets including the U.S. and Great Britain
 
Seoul, Korea, January 23, 2016 – SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) and Nokia have jointly developed the world’s first “Mission-Critical Push-To-Talk (MCPTT)” solution, which is a next-generation push-to-talk communications technology over VoLTE, and demonstrated the solution at Nokia's Research and Development Center in Kraków, Poland.
 
As the standard for mission-critical-voice functionality over LTE adopted by the 3GPP standards body, MCPTT enables efficient communication among hundreds of rescue workers by using a dedicated channel at times of massive disasters.
 
Unlike the existing IP-based push-to-talk, which is heavily affected by the number of users on the same network, MCPTT ensures high-quality communications as it uses the VoLTE network and supports a stable group communications service - even when there is a surge in users - through the application of Group Communication System Enabler (GCSE)* based on evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (eMBMS)**.
     * GCSE is an eMBMS-based group communication technology adopted by 3GPP.
  ** eMBMS is a technology that can transmit large-volume multimedia content to massive users at once over wireless LTE network.
 
For this reason, emergency service organizations such as police and fire fighting agencies in countries like Korea, the United States and Great Britain called for the development of MCPTT, and as the result the technology has been standardized in March 2016 by the 3GPP standard body through close cooperation and active participation of these relevant organizations.
 
SK Telecom plans to utilize the MCPTT solution for Public Safety-LTE (PS-LTE) and LTE-Railroad (LTE-R) in Korea and also expects to expand its reach to countries that are currently promoting the public safety network projects such as the United States and Great Britain.
 
“For the first time in the world, SK Telecom and Nokia have successfully developed MCPTT, the core solution for public safety networks,” said Shim Sang-soo, Senior Vice President and Head of Infra Business Promotion Office. “SK Telecom will continue to contribute to the successful completion of the public safety network project in Korea, while actively seeking new business opportunities in the global market.”
 
About SK Telecom
Established in 1984, SK Telecom is the largest mobile operator in Korea by both revenue and number of subscribers. With over 29.45 million mobile subscribers including 20.5 million LTE subscribers (as of 3Q 2016), the company holds around 50 percent of the market. It has reached KRW 17.137 trillion in revenue in 2015.
SK Telecom has led the advancement of mobile technologies ranging from 2G to 4G, and is currently setting important milestones in its journey to 5G. The company is not only leading innovation in the field of mobile network, but also providing IoT, media, home and platform services/solutions/technologies.
SK Telecom is determined to play a significant role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution by achieving innovations and promoting shared growth with other players in the industry.
For more information, please visit www.sktelecom.com/en or contact skt_press@sk.com