This file photo provided by KT Corp. shows the telecommunications company’s booth at this year’s Mobile World Congress held in Spain. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s three major telecommunications companies said Tuesday they have outlined their artificial intelligence (AI) business strategies at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Spain.
SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. underlined collaboration with local and global partners to make a presence in the AI fields.
SK Telecom, the country’s leading wireless services provider, held a general meeting of the Global Telco AI Alliance (GTAA) at the world’s largest mobile exhibition, the company said in a press release.
SK Telecom and three other companies — Deutsche Telekom, the United Arab Emirates’ state-owned telecom firm e& and Singaporean telecom conglomerate Singtel — formed the GTAA in 2023 to accelerate the AI transformation of their existing telecom businesses and develop new growth drivers through AI-powered business models.
“In the era of AI revolution, an unprecedented business opportunity is being created for telecom companies. They need to cooperate to establish the ‘AI infra super highway’ that seems essential for expanding their AI services,” SK Telecom President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ryu Young-sang said in his keynote speech.
He said SK Telecom will make efforts to increase the number of GTAA members to accelerate the AI innovation.
At the MWC, which kicked off Friday and will last until Thursday (local time), KT, the country’s second-largest mobile carrier and sole satellite communication company, designated satellite, quantum and AI network as key technologies for the adoption of 6G, a next-generation communications technology with data transfer rates of up to 50 times faster than 5G.
Quantum delivers the most comprehensive and cost-efficient end-to-end data management solutions designed for the AI era.
To secure core technologies in satellite and quantum segments, KT said it has signed initial pacts with Korea Aerospace Industries Co. (KAI), the country’s sole aircraft manufacturer, and LIG Nex1, a Korean defense firm, for cooperation in developing low-orbit satellite communication technology and exploring related business opportunities.
The company said it also plans to develop AI technologies that can be applied to autonomous vehicles.
LG Uplus, the country’s third-largest mobile carrier, said it will collaborate with Google to enhance its AI competitiveness.
Through the partnership, LG Uplus plans to expand the functions of its call assistant AI service ixi-O by utilizing Google Cloud and AI model Gemini.
The AI service ixi-O will use Gemini to more precisely analyze the context of calls and improve functions such as summarizing call content and suggesting recommended actions, the company said.
(Yonhap)
