KT, a major Korean mobile carrier, has launched its long-term evolution advanced service using wider bandwidth in the 1.8 GHz range and carrier aggregation technology, company officials said on Sunday.

South Korea’s second largest telecom operator said it will provide its LTE-Advanced service in four districts of Seoul ― Gangnam, Seocho, Junggu and Jongno ― and in areas in six other metropolitan cities ― Busan, Incheon, Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju and Ulsan.

“As of now, KT is the only service provider in the world that provides both wideband LTE service and LTE-Advanced service based on carrier aggregation technology,” KT’s spokesperson Jang In-seok said.

Last month, KT secured a crucial bandwidth in the 1.8 GHz range through a state-led broadband frequency auction.

The company said as it utilizes the existing 1.8 GHz 100,000 digital cell sites nationwide, it is able to provide seamless wideband LTE service.

KT plans to extend the service into all areas in the metropolitan cities by March 2014 and across the country by July 2014.

The existing LTE users can use up to 100 Mbps speed without changing their handsets, and new LTE-Advanced subscribers will be able to obtain downstream speeds up to 150 Mbps.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)