ULLEUNGDO, North Gyeongsang Province ― Ulleungdo, an island 120 kilometers off the east coast, only has a population of about 10,000.

It is, however, one of the first islands equipped with fourth-generation Long Term Evolution communications technology, which improves network speed for wireless gadgets.

“We have completed the LTE network for 84 different cities in December and we’re planning to provide nationwide coverage by the end of March,” said Kwon Joon-hyuk, vice president of networks at LG Uplus.

“Jeju Island and Marado are also among the destinations that have already established LTE networks and LTE coverage is getting wider every day.”

LG Uplus is the only provider of LTE communications networks on Ulleungdo and its rivals SK Telecom and KT Corp. are gearing up to offer LTE service in the same 84 cities by April.

As part of LG Uplus’ efforts to publicize its wide LTE coverage, it took 18 people to experience its advanced technology on Ulleungdo for three days beginning Friday.

“I didn’t know how fast the 4G networks were but I came to believe it when I saw the actual figures,” said Ryou Hye-rim, a 27-year-old graduate school student who resides in Seoul.

“I never thought the LTE smartphones would work so well on a distant island like Ulleungdo.”

Ryou and her crew traveled around the island, taking part in activities which included measuring the download and upload speed and latency of the 4G LTE network.

When the adventure was entering its second day, the experience led her to think of switching her 3G smartphone with a 4G one if the price was right, she said.

On Ulleungdo, an average of 10,000 mobile devices connect to the 4G LTE network each day, according to a month-long research project carried out by the company.

It also found that the 4G network could also simultaneously connect up to 4,000 mobile devices within the island, said Kim Keun-uk, manager of LG Uplus’ engineering team in the greater area of Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.

The networks were constructed by about 20 people over three weeks from Nov. 15-Dec. 2 and two base stations have been established.

“The weather in Ulleungdo is different during the day and at night and only about 3-4 days are workable in a 15-day period,” said Kim. “Our team stayed and resided on Ulleungdo for about a month and the toughest part was dealing with the rain and snow when we were beginning the network establishment.”

He also recalled the time when he and his team had to spend a whole week doing practically nothing but waiting for the rain to stop pouring so that a car load of materials could come to the island.

Kim’s team now plans on installing a remote radio mast on the boat that ferries between Ulleungdo and the mainland, while also making some repairs to the already-established 4G networks, said Kim.

“We thought it might never happen by our deadline last year,” he said. “We were behind our rivals until now, but we believe it could be different with the new LTE networks. It just gave me satisfaction to see right before my eyes that the upgraded networks were up and running smoothly.”

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)