SK Telecom, South Korea's largest wireless operator, announced Samsung, Ericsson, and Nokia as its preferred vendors for 5G equipment.
“SK Telecom selected the aforementioned three companies for the realization of the 5G ecosystem and world-class service quality,” said the Operator in a statement. “SK Telecom has concluded the three companies possess the capability of leading relevant technologies amid cutthroat competition worldwide in taking the leadership in the 5G market.”
Huawei was not included in the selection, although there was intense speculation that SK Telecom might name Huawei as one of the preferred bidders, according to ZDnet.
The Operator said earlier it will start commercial 5G rollout in March 2019. It has been working with the all three vendors for 5G trials. In June, SK Telecom and Samsung successfully demonstrated their jointly-developed 5G Next-Generation Core (5G NC) based on 3GPP Release-15 standards. It has also successfully demonstrated data transmission using SA (Standalone) 5G with Nokia, just five days after the new 5G NR standard was approved by the 3GPP.
