SKT held the OpenLAN Symposium 2024 and proposed Telco Edge AI infrastructure, 6G and OpenLAN technology standardization tasks, and also supported the activation of the domestic OpenLAN ecosystem, carrying out various activities to lead the global OpenLAN ecosystem.

SKT announced that it held the world's largest O-RAN Alliance standards meeting from the 10th to the 14th at the Paradise City Hotel in Incheon, becoming the first Korean company to do so. On the 12th, SKT, as the chairman of the Korean Open RAN public-private consultative body ORIA, signed a business agreement for cooperation in open RAN technology between the O-RAN Alliance and the ORAN Alliance, with the Ministry of Science and ICT in attendance, and also hosted ORIA's 'Open RAN Symposium 2024'.

The O-RAN Alliance is a global standardization organization for open RAN technology established in 2018 by major global mobile carriers. Currently, approximately 300 member companies, including mobile communications manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, Ericsson, Nvidia, and Apple, as well as research institutes, are participating.

SKT serves as co-chair of the requirements research group under the nGRG (next Generation Research Group), the 6G research group of the O-RAN Alliance, and has been operating as the inaugural chairman of ORIA (Open Ran Industry Alliance), a domestic open RAN public-private consultative body launched last year.

In this meeting, SKT proposed the standardization of Telco Edge AI infrastructure, a key technology for the evolution of next-generation infrastructure. In addition, SKT’s newly proposed 6G fronthaul requirement research item was approved, and there was active discussion at this meeting on whether to adopt the data collection and processing function for open RAN intelligence proposed in February as a formal standard.

Meanwhile, SKT announced that it will carry out various support activities to further activate the domestic open RAN ecosystem through the O-RAN Alliance standards meeting. At the OpenLAN Symposium 2024 held on the 12th, SKT began with a keynote speech by Ryu Tak-ki, Chairman of ORIA and head of SKT Infra Technology, and promoted information exchange and collaboration on openLAN policies and domestic and international industry trends.

Ryu Tak-ki, head of Infra Technology, said, “Open RAN and telco edge AI infrastructure technologies are key technologies for the evolution of mobile communication technologies including 6G, and holding the O-RAN Alliance standards meeting in Korea is a good opportunity for Korea to lead open RAN technology.” He added, “SKT will continue to contribute to building the open RAN ecosystem by working closely with various domestic and foreign standards organizations, industries, and academia.”