South Korea's smartphone maker Samsung Electronics and mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. said Tuesday they will jointly promote the fifth-generation (5G) network that runs on high-frequency bands at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), which kicks off in Spain next month. The two companies will demonstrate 7.55Gbps data transmission speed using millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency bands.

'3D Beamforming', an antenna technology that supports high-speed data transmission, will be applied to demonstrate the record-high speed of 7.55Gbps. The technology compensates high propagation loss, which arises with the use of millimeter-wave frequencies, by producing a pencil beam and steering the direction of radio signals.

So far, millimeter-wave frequency bands were not generally accepted as a means for cellular communication due to high propagation loss. However, due to saturation of frequency bands below 6GHz used today for mobile telecommunications, mobile operators are making efforts to develop new technologies that allow for the utilization of the ultra-high frequency bands to realize 5G, the next-generation network system.

In addition to millimeter-wave 3D Beamforming technology, the two companies will also show the 'Full Dimension MIMO' that utilizes tens to hundreds of antennas, surpassing the maximum of eight antennas defined in the current LTE-Advanced standardization.

The two parties also plan to strengthen their cooperation for the development of key 5G technologies to earn the title of the world’s first commercialization of 5G in 2020. In October 2014, SK Telecom and Samsung signed a Memorandum of Understanding for joint research in 5G network technologies and new 5G services.