2021년 4월 11일
It has been more than two years since the launch of the 5G (5th generation mobile communication) service, which started on April 3, 2019. In the early days of the service, there were complaints about the narrow usable area and slow speed. However, it is true that it has brought about a big change in the overall domestic ICT (Information and Communication Technology) industry and the real life of users.
Korea has emerged as a communication technology powerhouse with 5G as a starting point, and mobile carriers are leading the global market with technology and content. We looked at the changes of the three mobile carriers in the 5G era.
SK Telecom is establishing itself as a leader in 5G (G) mobile communication technology in the global market. It is developing 5G technology and services through cooperative relationships with various overseas companies, and has been recognized for its technological prowess by winning various global awards.
According to the industry on the 11th, SK Telecom won 12 crowns at last year's telecommunication-related global awards. Starting with three GSMA Global Mobile Awards in February of last year, it has been awarded consecutively in various categories including △Small Cell △Reading Light △5G World △Network Transformation △CommunicAsia △World Communication.
In February of this year, it was also selected as one of the 'Global Top 100 Innovative Companies' by Clarivate Analytics, a global patent solution specialist.Clarivate is a provider of various patent database and analysis solutions. Since 2012, it has been announcing the 'Global Top 100 Innovative Companies' through four indicators: the number of patent registrations, influence, registration rate, and marketability.
SK Telecom's recognition of its leadership in the global market is the result of speeding up the standardization of 5G technology together with domestic and foreign telecommunication companies and organizations.
SK Telecom participated as a board member in the O-RAN Alliance, a global 5G carrier alliance for the establishment of open base stations in 2018. Later in the same year, with ETRI (Etri), it proposed a fronthaul standard based on the O-RAN standard for the first time in Korea, and developed the '5GX in-building solution' the following year.
In addition, it participated in the NGMN Alliance, a standardization group hosted by global mobile carriers such as Deutsche Telekom, and provided mobile network standard guides to equipment developers. The open 5G base station standard was proposed jointly with domestic ETRI and the like and was confirmed as a standard by the Korea Information and Communication Technology Association (TTA).
In November last year, it also signed a contract with Deutsche Telekom to establish a '5G technology joint venture (tentative name)'. The stake is 50/50. Deutsche Telekom provides mobile communication services to about 240 million subscribers in 13 countries around the world.
The two companies are aiming to commercialize 5G/LTE RF repeaters this year through a joint venture. Through this, SK Telecom also expects royalties to advance into the global market together with small and medium-sized domestic telecommunication equipment makers.
SK Telecom is also promoting 5G overseas connection with 'Bridge Alliance', a telecommunication company in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa launched this year. The Bridge Alliance is a consortium of 34 global telecommunications companies, which have more than 900 million subscribers.
In particular, SK Telecom is expanding cooperation with leading companies in each industry based on 5G MEC (Mobile Edge Computing) technology and platform.
MEC is a technology that reduces the data transmission interval by installing a small data center close to the user. By processing data at the edge of the communication network, ultra-low latency services, which are the core of 5G, can be implemented.
SK Telecom launched the 'Global MEC TF' and 'Telecom Edge Cloud TF' together with a number of global telecommunication companies. In addition, SK Telecom participated as a 5G MEC global business partner of AWS, the only Amazon subsidiary in Korea, and collaborated with Microsoft to unveil the 'Azure Edge Zone' and 'Azure Private Edge Zone' services that combine 5G and MEC.
This is because SK Telecom proposed a technology related to the 5G MEC interworking platform to the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) and was selected as an international standardization task.
Activities to enhance social value through 5G are also underway. Last year, SK Telecom held an event to introduce UNESCO World Heritage through 5G technology together with the Korean National Commission for UNESCO and Magenta Company.
Participants selected from 36 cities in 14 countries, including Korea, China, Australia, Italy and Canada, will introduce their country's UNESCO World Heritage Sites to the world through live video for one hour. Starting with Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak on Jeju Island, SK Telecom vividly delivered various cultural heritages to the world.
At the same time, we are actively promoting support for global startups. SK Telecom participated in a recruitment event for promising North American and Asian startups in June last year and selected five startups with promising technologies and business models in the post-corona era.
SK Telecom will seek joint business opportunities with these startups and support 5G technologies and solutions.