SK Telecom (CEO and President Yoo Young-sang) presented its 6G blueprint to the world by announcing the results of the development and verification of next-generation mobile fronthaul technology in preparation for 6G wired networks.

SKT announced on the 6th that it presented the direction of future 6G network evolution at the IOWN (Innovative Optical & Wireless Network) Global Forum, a global next-generation telecommunications standards consortium.

SKT participated in the 6th regular member meeting of the ION Global Forum held in Munich, Germany from September 5 to 7, and presented the SKT 6G White Paper, which contains key 6G requirements and evolutionary directions, as well as the results of a demonstration of next-generation mobile fronthaul technology with low power and high capacity in preparation for 6G wired networks.


The I-ON Global Forum was established in January 2020 for the purpose of researching, developing, and establishing standards for next-generation communication technologies centered on 6G wired networks and data centers, and includes 125 big tech companies and research institutes from around the world, such as NTT, Sony, Intel, and Microsoft.

The Aion Global Forum holds two general meetings annually, and SKT is the only domestic telecommunications operator to have joined and been active as an official member of the Aion Global Forum since 2022.

During the keynote speech on the first day of the plenary session of the I-ON Global Forum, SKT [discussed] the 6G unveiled last August Introducing the key contents of the white paper, the presentation covered core 6G requirements, evolutionary directions, and the direction of I-ON integration in the 6G standardization process, attracting significant attention from the attendees.

In addition, SKT announced the results of the development and verification of next-generation low-power/high-capacity mobile fronthaul technology in preparation for 5G evolution and 6G wired networks. These results were based on proposals made by SKT at the ION Global Forum workshop held in Paris last February, and were verified in collaboration with Nokia/HFR.

SKT disclosed that in this verification, it achieved results reducing power consumption to one-third of the level compared to existing 5G fronthaul technology, and stated that it would also verify next-generation mobile fronthaul technology linked with Open RAN technology in the future.

SKT carried out various activities at the ION conference held in Osaka last April, including presenting 6G-related technology demonstration cases (progress of interoperability demonstration between SDN platform and next-generation open optical transmission equipment) and contributing and presenting the contents of the 6G white paper and energy saving white paper jointly produced with NTT Docomo.

In addition to I-ON, SKT is active in various global standardization organizations and forums such as the O-RAN Alliance, NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Networks), 3GPP, and ITU. In particular, it is taking the lead in creating an early 6G ecosystem by being the only domestic telecommunications operator to participate in NGMN, publishing a 6G technology white paper, and serving as co-chair of the requirements study group (RS-01) under nGRG, the 6G research group of the O-RAN Alliance. In addition, it is pushing forward with preparations for the future 6G network, including publishing the first '6G White Paper' by a domestic telecommunications company.

Ryu Tak-ki, Head of Infrastructure Technology at SKT, stated, “SKT is striving to present the direction of early 6G technology evolution by actively participating in various global forums and standardization activities related to 6G, including I-ON,” adding, “We will continue to expand collaboration with global carriers and manufacturers to lead the development of technologies for the evolution into future 6G networks.”