SK Telecom is making the TM Forum international standards the central axis of its strategy to overcome the limitations of autonomous network methods that vary from carrier to carrier, and is accelerating the transition to a next-generation Operational Support System (OSS) and the achievement of Autonomous Network Level 4. The plan is to resolve scalability constraints caused by proprietary methods through standardization and establish a system where AI integrates and operates data and processes using a common language.

SK Telecom officially announced its strategy to promote a global standards-based autonomous network at the TM Forum 'DTW Ignite 2026' held in Copenhagen, Denmark on the 25th.

The TM Forum is a global telecommunications industry association with over 240 telecommunications carriers, IT companies, and software suppliers participating worldwide.

At this event, SKT presented a concrete implementation plan aligned with the forum's standards.

SKT has established four major execution areas for the implementation of an autonomous network: redefining operational business processes, building a data ontology, transitioning to next-generation OSS, and standardizing AI agents.

A data ontology refers to a digital data map that connects the relationships and meanings between data in a network form so that a computer can recognize them.

SKT announced that it is pursuing a direction to integrate and control network equipment from various manufacturers using a single AI solution by collaborating with global companies such as AWS.

SKT plans to simultaneously strengthen its in-house development capabilities based on AI Transformation (AX).

They explained that employees are currently directly developing and operating more than 1,000 autonomous network platforms and AI agents.

'Spider,' an AI monitoring system that integrates and monitors all core network equipment and automatically detects anomalies and recommends corrective actions, is cited as a representative example.

SKT announced that the introduction of 'Spider' has enhanced operational efficiency and stability by consolidating control systems that were previously separated by equipment into a single system.

The ultimate goal is as defined by the TM Forum Autonomous network level 4 is a stage where human intervention is minimized and the system makes independent decisions by judging on its own.

Ahn Hong-beom, Head of Network AT/DT at SKT, stated, “We will strive to build an autonomous network ecosystem by collaborating with telecommunications companies worldwide through TM Forum standards and provide stable and intelligent communication services to customers.”