SK Telecom’s core 5G roaming technology has won approval to be studied this year by Next Generation Mobile Networks, the South Korean mobile carrier said Wednesday.
NGMN is an international organization established by 28 telecom companies around the world in 2006 to discuss the standardization of wireless network infrastructure and telecom services.
SK Telecom's logo (Yonhap)
SKT’s technology is one of four chosen technologies out of 20 proposed by other telecom companies. The Korean mobile carrier proposed the roaming technology in partnership with Germany’s Deutsche Telekom, UK’s British Telecom, Singapore’s Singtel and Canada’s Bell Mobility as part of efforts to build 5G infrastructure that would connect countries.
SKT and its global partners are going to work on technologies that will provide users with the same quality of 5G network services at home and abroad, the company said.
The technology selected as an NGMN research topic is likely to be proposed as an international standard for the next-generation network by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) under the International Telecommunication Union.
“It is crucial to seek global cooperation in order to prevent fragmentation of the upcoming 5G network technologies,” said Park Jin-hyo, head of the network technology research institute at SKT. “SK Telecom will move for early commercialization of 5G.”
KT, an archrival of SK Telecom, is also making efforts to lead a research group on 5G at the NGMN, with an aim to take the market leadership. KT has been participating in the 5G Trial & Testing Initiative by the organization since last April and has shared its 5G pilot services for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.
By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)