SK Telecom
Samsung acquires network services provider TWS; SK-Telecom launches Global MEC Task Force
1. Samsung Acquires Network Services Provider TeleWorld Solutions to Accelerate U.S. 5G Network Expansion
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced the completion of an agreement to acquire TeleWorld Solutions (TWS), a network services provider headquartered in Chantilly, VA.
TWS provides network design, testing and optimization services to mobile service and cable operators, equipment OEMs and other companies across the U.S. With network builds associated with 5G and 4G LTE enhancements advancing in the U.S, the acquisition will address the need for end-to-end support in delivering network solutions.
TWS, a privately owned company, will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics America, Inc. The service offerings and customers of TWS complement Samsung’s growth among networks infrastructure clients. With competencies in radio frequency (RF) and network design service—as well as installation, testing, and optimization services—TWS will continue to serve its existing customers and clients they currently support with Samsung. The TWS leadership team will continue to manage the business and, together with Samsung, address the network upgrade cycle occurring in the US.
With a growing position in the US networks industry, along with its 5G technology leadership, Samsung Networks has collaborated with major U.S. network operators to fulfill 5G’s network expansion. As its growth continues through network operator agreements and enterprises seeking their own cellular networks, the combination of Samsung and TWS will help customers address next-generation demands.
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2. SK Telecom Joins Forces with Bridge Alliance Members for Cooperation in 5G MEC
SK Telecom today announced the launch of the ‘Global MEC Task Force’ with Bridge Alliance member operators, including Singtel, Globe, Taiwan Mobile and PCCW Global, for cooperation in 5G mobile edge computing (MEC).
SK Telecom will share its lessons-learned in 5G and MEC areas with other members that are preparing to launch 5G, while making joint efforts for the development of MEC technologies and services. The company will also play a leading role in setting international MEC standards to build an interoperable MEC platform.
MEC is being highlighted as a key technology that can improve the performance of ultra-low latency services such as cloud gaming, smart factory and autonomous driving by creating a shortcut for mobile data communications.
Through the task force, SK Telecom expects to lead the expansion of the 5G MEC ecosystem to the Asian countries, and develop valuable overseas market opportunities for its 5G technologies/services including MEC.
As the first chair of the task force, SK Telecom will be hosting the first MEC workshop with Bridge Alliance from January 13 to 15 at its headquarters located in Seoul, Korea. The workshop will identify potential regional MEC-based use cases, and discuss business models and commercialization plans.
The company will introduce its 5G strategies, 5G MEC-based use cases including smart factory, and 5G clusters including ‘LoL Park.’
“As the global 5G pioneer, SK Telecom is committed to contribute to the expansion of the global 5G ecosystem,” said Lee Kang-won, Vice President and Head of Cloud Labs of SK Telecom. “SK Telecom will work closely with Bridge Alliance Member Operators to help accelerate their progress in 5G and MEC, and create a pan-Asian 5G MEC ecosystem.”
“As the role of telecommunications companies is expanding beyond simply providing mobile connectivity to offering new values based on infrastructure, Bridge Alliance believes that this cooperation will serve as a key driver for realizing win-win business opportunities to all members,” said Ong Geok Chwee, CEO of Bridge Alliance.Photo: (from left) Ha Min-yong, VP and Head of Global Alliance Group, SK Telecom, Ong Geok Chwee, CEO of Bridge Alliance, and Lee Kang-won, VP and Head of Cloud Labs, SK Telecom.
For more information, please contact [email protected] or [email protected]
https://www.sktelecom.com/en/press/press_detail.do?page.page=1&idx=1439&page.type=all&page.keyword=
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SK Telecom top winner at Global Telecoms Awards in London, UK
South Korean network operator SK Telecom’s early success in 5G helped it win three awards at the Global Telecoms Awards (GLOTEL Awards), held on November 7 in London, UK. SK Telecom received awards in the categories of ‘5G Implementation Excellence,’ ‘Best Operator,’ and ‘BSS/OSS Transformation Excellence.’
SK Telecom was also highly commended in the consumer IoT and fixed network categories, bringing its awards total on the night to five. Other notable performers were Huawei, with two wins and a highly commended, and ZTE with one win and two highly commended.
With the aim to provide customers with the best 5G service quality, SK Telecom has deployed the fastest and widest 5G network in Korea, arming it with quantum cryptography technologies and an AI-based network management system named TANGO (T Advanced Next Generation OSS). Moreover, by combining its 5G with cutting-edge ICT, the company has introduced a wide range of powerful solutions including 5G-AI Machine Vision, 5G Live Golf Broadcast, AI Video Security and 5G-based Cooperative Intelligent Transportation System.
“I feel confident in saying that this was the strongest set of entries to the awards we’ve had yet,” said Telecoms.com Editor Scott Bicheno (pictured above with Chang-min Park of SK Telecom), who hosted the awards alongside comedian Miles Jupp and was also one of the judges. “Our judges had a really tough job choosing between so many great products, services and projects this year and for that I thank them. The fact that so many entries were highly commended shows how close the scoring was. My congratulations to the winners and thanks everyone who contributed to our best awards yet.”
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Here’s the complete list of winners:
5G Implementation Excellence
Winner – SK Telecom: World’s First 5G Commercialization
Advancing Artificial Intelligence
Winner – Telefónica: Aura
Highly Commended – Nokia: AI as a Service for CMCC Hainan
Automation Initiative of the Year
Winner – Huawei: AUTIN
Best 5G Innovation
Winner – Vodafone Germany: Automotive Factory of the Future
Highly Commended – China Mobile, China Southern Power and Huawei: Smart Grid 5G Slice Operation and Monetization
Best Digital Transformation Project
Winner – Infosys and Vodafone UK: Digital Platform
Highly Commended – Singtel: Unboxed
Best Operator
Winner – SK Telecom
Highly Commended – Reliance Jio Infocomm
BSS/OSS Transformation Excellence
Winner – SK Telecom: OSS Evolution for E2E integration and 5G Business
Connecting the Unconnected
Winner – Ufinet: Rural connectivity case studies
Consumer IoT Initiative of the Year
Winner – O2 and Accenture: Making UK homes smarter energy users
Highly Commended – SK Telecom: V2X Service Enabler (VSE)
Digital Transformation Innovation
Winner – BT: The Digital Business Marketplace
Highly Commended – Netcracker: Digital Transformation Solution
Fixed Network Evolution
Winner – Turkcell: Customer Oriented Failure Prioritization and Complaint Management
Highly Commended – SK Telecom: Giga Premium 10G Residential Broadband Internet Service
Ground-breaking Virtualization Initiative
Winner – AT&T: Edge Solutions
Industrial IoT Initiative of the Year
Winner – Dialog Axiata: Affordable and Purpose-built IoT Solutions for Industries in Emerging Markets
Highly Commended – ZTE: ZTE NMVP Solution
Innovating in the Cloud
Winner – MYCOM OSI: The Assurance Cloud
Managed Services Innovation of the Year
Winner – Ericsson and Telenor: Common Delivery Center for innovative Managed Services model
Highly Commended – Saudi Telecom Company: STC Fixed Network Customer Operations Service transformation
Mobile Device Innovation
Winner – Reliance Jio Infocomm: JioPhone
Mobile Money Mastery
Winner – AsiaHawala and Comviva: AsiaHawala powered by mobiquity Money
Most Innovative Cloud Service
Winner – Tata Communications Transformation Services: Cloud Networking and Security as a Service
Highly Commended – Red Hat: Red Hat open hybrid cloud technologies
Project Delivery Perfection
Winner – ZTE: ZTE for China Mobile ‘He-Fetion’ Project
Highly Commended – X by Orange: X by Orange with Red Hat
Security Solution of the Year
Winner – Mobileum Signalling Firewall
Highly Commended – CUJO AI: AI-powered cybersecurity technology
Telecoms Transformation
Winner – Huawei: NFV-SDN based telco cloud technology initiative
Highly Commended – ZTE: 5G Slicing Wholesale Solution for New B2B2C Business Model
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About SK Telecom
SK Telecom is the largest mobile operator in Korea with nearly 50 percent of the market share. As the pioneer of all generations of mobile networks, the company has commercialized the fifth generation (5G) network on December 1, 2018 and announced the first 5G smartphone subscribers on April 3, 2019. With its world’s best 5G, SK Telecom is set to realize the Age of Hyper-Innovation by transforming the way customers work, live and play.
Building on its strength in mobile services, the company is also creating unprecedented value in diverse ICT-related markets including media, security and commerce.
For more information, please contact: [email protected] or [email protected]
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SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics MOU for 8K TV connected via a 5G Network
SK Telecom (SKT) today announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Samsung Electronics to jointly develop and commercialize the world’s first 5G-8K TV. SKT said the 5G-8K TV will revolutionize users’ television-watching experience by directly receiving 8K video over SK Telecom’s ultra-low latency and ultra-wideband 5G network.
SKT launched its 5G service simultaneously with its rival Korean cellular carriers in early April. Korea’s largest mobile operator by subscribers said it reached the 1 million 5G subscriber milestone on 21 August.
*8K (7680×4320 resolution) is the highest resolution currently in existence, a fourfold enhancement of UHD standard.
SK Telecom plans to apply Mobile Edge Computing and Network-Based Media Processing to its pre-standard 5G network to realize seamless transmission of 8K video. Samsung Electronics will apply its 8K AI Upscaling and next-generation codec technologies to upgrade full HD and UHD images to 8K resolution. The company will also equip 8K TVs with 5G dongles to support direct transmission of 8K resolution video content.
Park Jin-hyo, second from left, who heads SK Telecom’s ICT Technology Center, and Lee Hee-man, right, who heads Samsung Electronics’ VD Service PM Group, with other officials after signing a MOU to develop 8K TV powered by 5G networks. / Courtesy of SK Telecom.
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Viewers will be able to watch video content of POOQ* and oksusu at 8K resolution.
*POOQ is an over-the-top video subscription service offering programs on terrestrial TV. It is a joint platform of Korea’s terrestrial broadcasters.
The two companies have also agreed to jointly evolve 5G-8K TV further to deliver a new user experience by working together in the areas including eSpace, SK Telecom’s hyper-space platform for replicating the real world in cyberspace, and 5G Sero TV, a 5G-based television that can be rotated both horizontally and vertically to provide a smartphone-like UX for TV users.
Moreover, they plan to develop B2B business models in areas of smart office and digital signage by adding 5G connectivity to televisions and displays.
SK Telecom introduced technologies related to ‘5G connected screen’ at an MPEG held in July 2019 and was designated as the NBMP (Network Based Media Processing) chair company to lead international standardization of 5G connected screen related technologies. To this end, SK Telecom will newly open Hyper Media Lab under its ICT R&D Center.
“The 5G-8K TV is the culmination of ultra-low latency 5G networks combined with ultra-high definition TV technology,” said Park Jin-hyo, Chief Technology Officer and Head of ICT R&D Center at SK Telecom. “5G technology will help make the world of hyper media a reality.”
Samsung Electronics will utilize artificial intelligence features that upscale lower-quality content to appear close to 8K resolution. Samsung will equip its 8K TV with a small piece of hardware, called a dongle, to support wireless reception of 8K images.
SK Telecom Launches 5G AR and VR Services for eSports
SK Telecom today announced the launch of three 5G AR and VR services – ‘Jump AR’, ‘LCK* VR Live Broadcasting’ and ‘VR Replay’ – to offer a more realistic and immersive experience when watching eSports games.
‘Jump AR’ is an augmented reality service that teleports users to an eSports stadium, LoL Park, through their smartphone screens. When accessing the ‘Jump AR’ app, a ‘virtual portal’ to LoL Park in Seoul appears on the screen. If users take a few steps towards the virtual portal, they are transported to the virtual LoL Park.
By moving their smartphones around, users can get a 360-degree view of LoL Park’s interior, leave AR messages of support, watch greeting videos of players, and also read messages left by other eSports fans.
SK Telecom applied a hyper-immersive space platform and real-time tracking technology to allow users to freely navigate the virtual LoL Park. Users can also take fan selfies through 3D facial recognition and realistic AR rendering technologies.
LCK VR Live Broadcasting’ allows users to watch eSports players close-up through the 360-degree VR cameras installed in LoL Park while enjoying the cheers from actual audience in real time.
‘VR Replay’ is a new eSports video content that provides highlights from the perspective of characters in the game. By wearing VR headsets, users can watch 360-degree battle scenes from characters’ point of view. SK Telecom applied an advanced technology that combines separate scenes into a 360-degree video content.
The company provides ‘LCK VR Live Broadcasting’ and ‘VR Replay’ through ‘SKT-5GX’ section of ‘oksusu.’
The esports arena within the LoL Park, set up by Riot Games in Seoul, can seat 400 spectators, but tickets are frequently sold out early, the Korean telecom firm said, noting that its new AR and VR services will allow esports fans to enjoy games anywhere with smartphones if they fail to obtain tickets.
The Jump AR service offers users the experience of being teleported down to the esports arena, providing a 360-degree view.
The VR Replay offers highlight scenes of games from the perspective of game characters. Wearing a VR headset, users can enjoy an immersive viewing experience as if they are in the middle of the battlefield in the games.
The VR on-the-spot live broadcast enables users to watch players at close range through 360-degree VR cameras installed at the esports arena.
“With new 5G immersive technologies, SK Telecom has realized unprecedented eSports broadcasting services and content,” said Jeon Jin-soo, Vice President and Head of 5GX Service Business Division of SK Telecom. “We will continue to develop innovative 5G services to offer immersive experiences for customers.”
Models promote SK Telecom’s AR and VR services designed to offer more immersive viewing experiences for esports fans at LoL Park in Seoul in this photo provided by the mobile carrier, PHOTO Courtesy of SK Telecom
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About SK Telecom
SK Telecom is the largest mobile operator in Korea with nearly 50 percent of the market share. As the pioneer of all generations of mobile networks, the company has commercialized the fifth generation (5G) network on December 1, 2018 and announced the first 5G smartphone subscribers on April 3, 2019. With its world’s best 5G, SK Telecom is set to realize the Age of Hyper-Innovation by transforming the way customers work, live and play.
Building on its strength in mobile services, the company is also creating unprecedented value in diverse ICT-related markets including media, security and commerce.
For more information, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].
Media Contact
Yong-jae Lee
SK Telecom Co., Ltd.
(822) 6100 3838
Irene Kim
SK Telecom Co., Ltd.
(822) 6100 3867
Ha-young Lee
BCW Korea
(822) 3782 6421
SK Telecom with Swisscom: World’s First “5G” Roaming Service
SK Telecom announced today that it will begin the world’s first 5G roaming service [1] from midnight KST on July 16 through a strategic partnership with Swisscom, the largest telecommunications provider in Switzerland.
Note 1. Not only is there no standard for “5G’ roaming (or even signaling.control plane), but there are no standards for anything related to 5G radio and non radio aspects. Hence, this “5G’ roaming agreement is specific to these two carriers. They have obviously agreed on a roaming/handoff spec for 5G NR (3GPP Rel 15) in the data plane and LTE signaling in the control plane.
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Swisscom, which boasts over 6 million mobile subscriptions, started to roll out its 5G network on April 17th. The company currently provides 5G service in 110 cities and villages including Zurich, Geneva and Bern as well as rural and touristic areas.
SK Telecom’s customers using Samsung Galaxy S10 5G smartphone will be able to use 5G roaming service through Swisscom when visiting Switzerland after upgrading their devices with the latest software update. In the future, SK Telecom plans to provide software upgrades to LG V50 users and further expand 5G roaming service to other countries around the globe.
“SK Telecom once again proved its leadership in advanced roaming technology with the launch of world’s first 5G roaming service” said Han Myung-jin, Vice President and Head of MNO Business Supporting Group of SK Telecom. “We will continuously expand our 5G roaming service to enhance customer experience and benefits.”
Meanwhile, with the aim to enable its customers to make and receive high-quality, free-of-charge international roaming voice calls while travelling to 171 countries across the world, SK Telecom launched ‘baro’ on December 17, 2018. As of June 2019, ‘baro’ has attracted 2.2 million users and 38 million cumulative calls (total of 800,000 hours of voice calls). Moreover, ‘baro’ won the ‘Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough in Asia’ award at the 2019 Asia Mobile Awards held as part of MWC19 Shanghai.
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About SK Telecom:
SK Telecom is the largest mobile operator in Korea with nearly 50 percent of the market share. As the pioneer of all generations of mobile networks, the company has commercialized the fifth generation (5G) network on December 1, 2018 and announced the first 5G smartphone subscribers on April 3, 2019. With its world’s best 5G, SK Telecom is set to realize the Age of Hyper-Innovation by transforming the way customers work, live and play.
Building on its strength in mobile services, the company is also creating unprecedented value in diverse ICT-related markets including media, security and commerce.
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For more information, please contact:
[email protected] or [email protected].
About Swisscom:
Swisscom, Switzerland’s leading telecoms company and one of its leading IT companies, is headquartered in Ittigen, close to the capital city Berne. Outside Switzerland, Swisscom has a presence on the Italian market in the guise of Fastweb. About 20,000 employees generated sales of CHF 2’860 million to the end of the 1st Quarter 2019. It is 51% Confederation-owned and is one of Switzerland’s most sustainable and innovative companies.
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Media Contacts:
Yong-jae Lee
SK Telecom Co. Ltd.
(822) 6100 3838
(8210) 3129 6880
Irene Kim
SK Telecom Co. Ltd.
(822) 6100 3867
(8210) 8936 0062
Ha-young Lee
BCW Korea
(822) 3782 6421
SK Telecom and Samsung Bring South Korea Closer to 5G Standalone Commercialization
The two companies successfully completed interoperability test between 5G Standalone Core and Commercial Network Solutions (based on 3GPP Release 15 which is not 3GPP’s final submission to ITU-R for IMT 2020 RIT/SRITs.
SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics today announced the successful completion of South Korea’s first interoperability assessment between 5G Standalone (SA) Core and other commercial network systems over a pre-standard 5G network. This successful result brings the two companies one step closer to 5G SA commercialization.
The 5G SA Core, jointly developed by SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics, not only supports technologies including network slicing and function modularization based on 3GPP standards, but also offers additional functions that operators have been using since LTE, include billing, subscriber management and operational convenience system. The interoperability assessment is the final stage for verifying the validity of 5G SA data transmission, signifying that the SA system is ready to be launched for commercial service.
Both companies implemented several cutting-edge technologies in the 5G SA Core that has been used for the interoperability. The technologies include Data Parallel Processing technology that performs QoS and transmission control simultaneously; Data Acceleration technology that classifies and distributes similar traffic types; and Path Optimization technology that automatically delivers data traffic to Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) platform.
“Along with the initial phase of NSA rollout, SK Telecom has been continuously focusing on researching and developing the SA technology in order to provide customers a differentiated service quality with innovative products, which will be launched in the first half of next year,” said Park Jin-hyo, Chief Technology Officer and Head of ICT R&D Center at SK Telecom. “By strengthening bilateral collaboration with Samsung, SK Telecom will drive and lead highly innovative 5G technologies and solutions.”
“The fundamental structure of 5G SA is built on a completely new configuration, successfully delivering the most optimized 5G service to customers and enterprises across numerous industries,” said Jaeho Jeon, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “Maintaining Korea’s leadership in network innovations through continuous investments in next-generation technologies is important to Samsung and SK Telecom, and the companies will continue to collaborate on developing and commercializing 5G SA.”
Once 5G SA is commercialized, data processing efficient will be improved by threefold, allowing efficient control for supporting massive data traffic. Moreover, 5G SA system is highly optimized for emerging next generation services such as Autonomous driving, Smart Factory, Smart Farm, and AR/VR.
For the past five years, the two companies have been collaborating on LTE and 5G development, which ultimately led to this successful 5G SA Core interoperability test. Some of other accomplishments include the commercialization of Virtualized LTE Core and Packet Optimization system; and they have completed the development of 3GPP Rel. 15 based SA Core in July last year, and successfully launched 5G NSA commercial service in April this year.
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About SK Telecom:
SK Telecom is the largest mobile operator in Korea with nearly 50 percent of the market share. As the pioneer of all generations of mobile networks, the company has commercialized the fifth generation (5G) network on December 1, 2018 and announced the first 5G smartphone subscribers on April 3, 2019. With its world’s best 5G, SK Telecom is set to realize the Age of Hyper-Innovation by transforming the way customers work, live and play.
Building on its strength in mobile services, the company is also creating unprecedented value in diverse ICT-related markets including media, security and commerce.
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For more information, please contact:
[email protected] or [email protected].
Media Contact
Yong-jae Lee
SK Telecom Co. Ltd.
(822) 6100 3838
(8210) 3129 6880
Irene Kim
SK Telecom Co. Ltd.
(822) 6100 3867
(8210) 8936 0062
Ha-young Lee
BCW Korea
(822) 3782 6421
SK Telecom completes live TV broadcast over its 5G network
As a follow on to yesterday’s IEEE techblog on Korea 5G and ideal content, SK Telecom has completed the first live TV broadcast over its commercial 5G network and live broadcasting solution.
The operator ushered in 2019 with a live broadcast of Korea’s largest New Year’s event at the Bosingak pavilion in Seoul from around 11 minutes starting at midnight Korea Standard Time.
The live broadcast used SK Telecom’s T Live Caster live broadcasting solution, which the network operator has developed over a four year period. T Live Caster is designed to enable live broadcasting of video taken by smartphones over channels including TV and personal broadcasting over 5G anThe video taken by smartphone cameras installed with the T Live Caster app and connected to connected to a 5G mobile router was transmitted through 5G stations and entertainment channel XtvN’s transmission system for cable and IPTV viewers of the channel.
The video was taken by smartphone cameras installed with the T Live Caster app and connected to 5G mobile routers and transmitted through 5G base stations and XtvN’s transmission system to cable and IPTV viewers of XtvN.
Despite the highly congested data environment, the video was transmitted at a latency of less than one second, comparable to that of existing wired broadcasting systems.
“With today’s successful live TV broadcasting over commercial 5G network, SK Telecom ushers in a new era of 5G-based media services,” SK Telecom SVP and head of 5GX IoT/Data Group Choi Nak-hoon said.
“In this new era, individual creators will be able to provide high-quality live broadcast anytime, anywhere, via 5G smartphones.”
South Korea has successfully switched on commercial 5G network on the first day of December, officially marking the era of high-speed network. The country’s No.1 mobile carrier has become the first to make a commercial 5G video call, using a prototype Samsung smartphone.
SK Telecom’s 5G network currently covers main areas of 13 cities and counties nationwide, including Seoul, four cities in Gyeonggi-do (Seongnam, An-san, Hwaseong, Siheung), six metropolitan cities, Seogwipo in Jeju Island, and Ullengdo and Dokdo Islands in Ulleng county.
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SK said it plans to continue to enhance the quality of T Live Caster to UHD and interconnect the solution to personal broadcasting platforms within the year.
Plans also call for tapping into the drone broadcasting market. Last June, SK Telecom struck a partnership with drone manufacturer DJI to jointly develop a drone video surveillance solution.
SK’s blog about the event didn’t identify the suppliers of the 5G network infrastructure.
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References:
https://www.globalskt.com/home/info/2482
SK Telecom partners with MobiledgeX for Edge Computing; Ericsson video call over SK Telecom 5G test network
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SK Telecom, the largest mobile operator in South Korea, announces an agreement to partner with MobiledgeX to enable a new generation of connected devices, content and experiences, creating new business models and revenue opportunities leading into 5G (?).
“In the 5G era, Mobile Edge Computing will be a key technology for next-generation industries including realistic media and autonomous driving,” said Jong-kwan Park, Senior Vice President and Head of Network Technology R&D Center of SK Telecom. “Based on this partnership, SK Telecom will continue to drive technology innovations to provide customers with differentiated 5G services.”
The relationship between SK Telecom and MobiledgeX reflects an aligned vision for the future of mobile operators as key players in future mobile application development, performance, security, and reliability. This vision is shared by leading cloud providers and device makers working with MobiledgeX to seamlessly pair the power and distribution of mobile operator infrastructure with the convenience and depth of developer tooling of hyperscale public cloud and the scale, mobility and distribution of billions of end user devices.“Deutsche Telekom created MobiledgeX as an independent company to drive strategic collaboration across the world’s leading telecoms, public cloud providers, device makers and the surrounding ecosystem – enabling a new era of business models, operating efficiencies and mobile experiences. We are particularly excited to announce SK Telecom‘s participation in this collaborative ecosystem where everybody wins. SK Telecom is a global leader in 5G which follows their rich tradition of innovation within their network, strategic partnerships and developer engagement. This new era is underway,” says Eric Braun, Chief Commercial Officer of MobiledgeX.
The relationship between SK Telecom and MobiledgeX reflects an aligned vision for the future of mobile operators as key players in future mobile application development, performance, security, and reliability. This vision is shared by leading cloud providers and device makers working with MobiledgeX to seamlessly pair the power and distribution of mobile operator infrastructure with the convenience and depth of developer tooling of hyperscale public cloud and the scale, mobility and distribution of billions of end user devices.
MobiledgeX and SK Telecom executives hold up their respective copies of a memorandum of understanding between the two companies to jointly develop mobile edge computing applications. (SK Telecom)
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MobiledgeX is focused on delivering developer-facing edge cloud services and bringing mobility to those services, dynamically placing application back-end as close to mobile devices as possible and removing them when not needed. MobiledgeX, Deutsche Telekom and Intelhave partnered with Telecom Infra Project (TIP) to form an Edge Application Developer project group (see here) to ensure the gained insights and supporting source code are available to all. This is a new opportunity for everyone presented as a consequence of $2 trillion of CAPEX investment in network infrastructure over the past 10 years and the virtualization of the network from the central offices to the towers. MobiledgeX is building a marketplace of edge resources and services that will connect developers with the world’s largest mobile networks to power the next generation of applications and devices. MobiledgeX is an independent edge computing company founded by Deutsche Telekom and headquartered in Menlo Park, California.
https://mobiledgex.com/press-releases/2018/12/12/sk-telecom-partners-with-mobiledgex
https://www.fiercetelecom.com/telecom/sk-telecom-and-mobiledgex-join-hands-mobile-edge-computing
Separately, SK Telecom said it will comply with the IoT Security Guidelines proposed by GSMA for the safe usage and expansion of IoT networks.
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- Ericsson video call over SK Telecom’s 5G test network:
Ericsson and SK Telecom have conducted a video call over the operator’s live 5G test network, the latest milestone in a long-running partnership.
On this occasion, the companies used 100 MHz of 3.5-GHz spectrum, marking the first time that so much spectrum in this band has been used in a field test. SK Telecom used Ericsson’s commercial radio equipment, based on the 5G New Radio (NR) standard. Ericsson also supplied a test device equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon x50 5G modem. As well as a video call, SK Telecom also demonstrated streaming via a 5G data session.
As has been well documented, South Korea is pushing hard to be a frontrunner on 5G, which might explain Ericsson’s keen involvement with SK Telecom’s research and trials. The two companies have been at the forefront of testing out network slicing, where an access network is subdivided into virtual partitions, with the parameters of each one tailored to meet the requirements of specific services, from low-bandwidth massive IoT connectivity, to low-latency, high-throughput A/VR services. Ericsson and SK Telecom have also trialled multi-vehicular 5G trials in partnership with BMW.
Another explanation for Ericsson’s close involvement with SK Telecom might have something to do with Samsung. The Korean vendor missed the boat on 4G when it backed WiMAX instead of LTE, but it is making a concerted effort to not be left out of 5G. Last year, it unveiled its end-to-end 5G portfolio, and it has struck important partnerships and supply deals, including with SK Telecom, Telefonica, and Verizon.
With South Korea expected to be among the first movers when it comes to 5G commercialisation, Ericsson will want to make sure SK Telecom’s network is adorned with as much of its equipment as possible.
Alex Jinsung Choi, CTO and Head of Corporate R&D Center, SK Telecom, said:
“5G will offer much more than just faster data speeds. It will serve as a true enabler for a whole new variety of powerful services that deliver unprecedented value to customers. Today’s demonstration of 5G-based connected car technologies marks the very first step towards achieving fully autonomous driving in the upcoming era of 5G.”
The test environment was realized by using an Ericsson 5G field trial network. It consists of multiple radio transmission points on 28GHz frequency band to cover the entire track and one user equipment installed in every car. The trials showed consistent Gbps-level throughput with a few millisecond latency. Uninterrupted connectivity, using beam tracking and beam transfer across the different transmission points at speeds exceeding 100 kilometers per hour is also achieved. The performance shown enables multiple connected car use cases such as augmented and virtual reality, obstacle control and vehicle to vehicle communication, based on a system solution including radio and core network infrastructure from Ericsson.
Thomas Norén, Head of Product Area Network Products, Ericsson, said:
“Ericsson is working with leading operators and ecosystem players to drive the realization of 5G – both with today’s pre-standard field trials, and through standardization activities along with global standards bodies and industry groups. The trial takes a step closer to 5G technology and commercialization, especially for connected vehicle applications.”
The trial simultaneously implements new key 5G capabilities with multi-site, multi-transmission point, MU-MIMO, and with multiple devices operating in the millimeter wave frequency band. It demonstrates beam tracking and beam mobility between different 5G access points, at high mobility.
https://www.ericsson.com/en/news/2018/12/sk-telecom-qualcomm-and-ericsson-collaborate-on-5g
https://www.mobileworldlive.com/asia/asia-news/skt-makes-5g-video-call-on-3-5ghz-band/
Deutsche Telekom and SK Telecom Sign Strategic Cross-Investment Agreement in MobiledgeX and ID Quantique
Deutsche Telekom and SK Telecom today entered into a cross investment agreement to further strengthen their competitiveness in 5G and deepen their cooperation in the global market. With this agreement, the two market leaders of Korea and Germany continue their strategic partnership announced at Mobile World Congress 2016.
Under the agreement, SK Telecom plans to invest in MobiledgeX, an edge computing company founded by Deutsche Telekom and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, focused on delivering developer-facing edge computing services. Deutsche Telekom plans to invest the same amount to ID Quantique (IDQ), SK Telecom’s strategic partner in quantum cryptography communication technology based in Switzerland.
Mobile EdgeX is developing a middleware platform that will enable third-party developers to run their applications on edge computing platforms, is also now at the heart of an open source effort that is part of the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) and which is being backed by DT and Intel. (See TIP Forms New Edge Computing Unit.)
Other operators have shown interest in MobiledgeX, including Vodafone and Verizon, while Telefónica has included the Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup’s tech in a distributed cloud architecture initiative called CTpd.
Deutsche Telekom and SK Telecom intend to use mobile edge computing technologies to reduce data transfer time, latency and jitter. With mobile edge computing, companies can conduct on-site monitoring of disaster-affected areas and respond faster to accidents.
Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges and Park Jung-ho, President and CEO of SK Telecom, announced the cooperation in Seoul, South Korea.
Going forward, SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom plan to share their technologies and knowhow. The two companies made their cross-investment decision to gain leadership in the upcoming era of 5G by offering specialized 5G services with ultra-low latency in areas like telemedicine as well as AR and VR, while addressing potential security threats.
“SK Telecom is pleased to enter into a cross-investment agreement with Deutsche Telekom as it will serve as a valuable opportunity for us to further solidify our 5G leadership in the global market and drive new growth,” said Park Jung-ho, President and Chief Executive Officer of SK Telecom.
“We look forward to intensifying our successful cooperation with SK Telecom. The partnership will help both companies to strengthen our global technology leadership and bring 5G and other innovative services to our customers,” stated Timotheus Höttges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom.
Unlike the pre-5G era, which was mainly about communication between people, the 5G era will be marked by communication between people and things, as well as communication between things (IoT), which will support intelligent services like connected car, smart factory and wearable devices.
Earlier this month, the German carrier said it expects to launch commercial 5G services in 2020. In May 2018, Deutsche Telekom announced the deployment of the first 5G antennas to test the technology in downtown Berlin. The antennas, which are based on 5G New Radio, allowed Deutsche Telekom to demonstrate what it claimed to be Europe’s first 5G data connection over a live network. The telco said that it is currently in the process of deploying a 5G cluster in Berlin.
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Separately, Deutsche Telekom is reviewing the idea of adopting quantum cryptography communication systems. Both SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom are currently in the process of qualifying quantum cryptography technologies on their respective trial networks.
Deutsche Telekom will make an investment in ID Quantique, a Switzerland-based strategic partner of SKT. The start-up is focused on the development of quantum cryptography communication technology, an innovation designed to increase the security of telecoms services. ID Quantique’s applications are already being tested in trial networks deployed by both Deutsche Telekom and SKT.
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Note that in February 2016, Deutsche Telekom and SK Telecom entered into a strategic business partnership agreement to collaborate in the fields of services, Internet of Things (IoT) and related R&D areas. With the aim to strengthen their capabilities as ICT industry leaders and to achieve new growth through joint business opportunities in Asian and European Markets, SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom will cooperate in the global sales of innovative solutions and products and work together to lead standardization of innovative technologies, including 5G enabling technologies and SDDC (Software-Defined Data Center).
Under the 2016 partnership agreement, the two companies will pursue joint R&D activities to develop cutting-edge technologies – including 5G enabling technologies – and push for their standardization (where – in ITU-R WP5D for IMT 2020?), while actively taking a part in diverse global projects to drive ICT infrastructure innovations.
In particular, through development of key 5G technologies such as network slicing and mobile edge computing, the two companies plan to drive standardization and implementation of 5G, and identify 5G key applications.
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