SK Broadband Breaks 1Gbps Gfast Barrier with Sckipio-enabled Solution

RAMAT GAN, Israel, Nov. 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sckipio Technologies and internet service provider SK Broadband announced the first commercial deployment of Gfast 212MHz gigabit internet in Asia. SK Broadband deployed the new Gfast gigabit service in Seoul and Seongnam, South Korea.

"SK Broadband is determined to provide gigabit internet to all, but not all South Korean apartments can be easily wired with fiber all the way to the apartment," said Choong-Bok Lee, the manager in charge of access networks at SK Broadband. "That's why we chose Sckipio's Gfast. It's the best way to extend gigabit fiber performance to these apartments over existing twisted pair telephone wires."

Most South Korean apartment buildings already have fiber to the basement. Yet, often these are older buildings, making it impractical to bring fiber all the way to the apartment. That is the reason why only 34 percent of South Korean apartments have fiber all the way to the apartment while the remaining 66 percent are needing another approach.

That is where Gfast comes in. Gfast is a standards-based access network technology that adds true gigabit connections to each unit in the building by using the existing twisted pair telephone wiring.

Working with South Korean network infrastructure equipment maker HFR, Sckipio provides SK Broadband solutions supporting up to 96 subscribers. HFR's DPU serves 24 subscribers in a single DPU and can connect to an additional three DPUs to serve 96 subscribers sharing the same copper binder. Only Sckipio's Gfast supports 96 concurrent gigabit subscribers.

"We're partnering with SK Broadband and HFR to accelerate South Korea's lead in broadband speeds," said David Baum, Sckipio CEO. "This deployment demonstrates Gfast technology's use case to deliver gigabit service to large apartment environments without needing to install fiber connections to each apartment."

"Gigabit speeds have become the new marketing standard for operators around the world," said Julie Kunstler, Principal Analyst at Ovum. "Given South Korea's advanced access infrastructure and competition for broadband subscribers, it follows that SK Broadband is embracing Gfast."

About Sckipio
Sckipio develops award-winning, standards-compliant Gfast modems used to enable ultra-broadband access and mobile backhaul. Sckipio partners with more than 30 companies globally on Gfast and is one of the leading contributors to the ITU-T standard. For more information about Sckipio, visit www.sckipio.com.

Media contacts:
Marianne Dempsey/Michelle Allard McMahon
sckipio@rainierco.com
508-475-0025

\Hugin