As the 40-year-old mobile communications industry faces a new phase in the AI era, the need for future-oriented communications policies is being emphasized. Experts have suggested that, rather than simply reducing telecommunications costs across the board, we should provide more high-quality services at the lowest possible cost.

Yonsei University's Barun ICT Research Institute announced on the 5th that it held a symposium commemorating the 40th anniversary of mobile communications in Korea on the topic, "The Path ICT Should Take in the AI Era." The event, held at the Baekyangnuri Grand Ballroom at Yonsei University, reviewed Korea's achievements in the ICT sector and discussed the role of ICT in achieving economic and social value in the AI era.

Mobile communications have permeated our daily lives for 40 years.

In his congratulatory address, Yonsei University President Dong-Seop Yoon stated, “AI is triggering a paradigm shift across all areas of industry and society, and amid fierce competition to secure global AI leadership, Yonsei University will also join this important journey.”

SK Telecom President Yoo Young-sang said, “Mobile communications, which has been changing people’s lives and contributing to the development of the ICT industry in Korea for the past 40 years, is now facing a new challenge: AI,” and predicted, “Just as electricity transformed the 20th century, AI will revolutionize the 21st century.”

He continued, "SKT, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, has rapidly commercialized world-class WCDMA, LTE, and 5G technologies since its world-first commercialization of CDMA in 1996. Furthermore, it played a significant role in the semiconductor industry with its acquisition of SK Hynix in 2012. Going forward, we will continue to grow into a global AI company."

Kim Beom-su, director of Yonsei University's Barun ICT Research Institute, said, "As AI becomes more widespread, it is expected to bring positive changes to all aspects of our lives. However, concerns are also being raised about unpredictable risks. Therefore, it is time to predict the changes AI will bring and calmly prepare for them."

He also said, “I will reveal the dark side of SKT and ICT.” He said, “We will explore blueprints and specific policy measures for the industrial ecosystem that Korea will create in the AI era.”

■ AI, a new driving force for telecommunications companies
The telecommunications industry has experienced remarkable growth over the past 40 years, but since the 2010s, its growth rate and influence have stagnated. Amidst this, AI is expected to be a key factor in reviving the telecommunications industry's glory.

Five years after commercialization in 2018, the number of 5G subscribers continues to grow slightly. However, feeling the limitations of focusing solely on telecommunications, telecommunications companies are gradually increasing their presence in non-telecommunication and non-telecommunication businesses. SKT, the first to enter the AI business, announced plans to increase its AI portion to 36% in the future.

Professor Kwon Nam-hoon of the Department of Economics at Konkuk University argued that "AI is the new driving force behind the telecommunications industry," and that "when we evolve to 5G and even 6G, we need killer applications that go beyond the services we experienced in 1G and 4G." He cited services that "make people's daily lives more useful, making their absence inconvenient," such as AI assistants and the metaverse.

Also, “communication requires an active approach that goes beyond communication. “Telecommunications companies should become enablers of the AI transition in the B2B and B2C sectors by going beyond telecommunications and incorporating AI,” he suggested.

Professor Kwon then looked back on the history of past ICT policies and emphasized the need for forward-looking communications policies in the coming era, where AI will become a new driving force.

The ultimate goal of communications policy is to promote consumer interests. Professor Kwon argued that the current administration's ICT policy "is intended to strengthen competition in the communications market, but its focus on industrial development needs to be strengthened."

To this end, regarding the household telecommunications cost policy at key locations, he stated, “It is against economic principles for rates to be high compared to the amount of telecommunications consumed by the people,” and “In cases where total telecommunications consumption increases, it is more important to provide more high-quality services at the lowest cost globally rather than reducing telecommunications costs across the board.”

Finally, Professor Kwon argued, "In the era of AI convergence, ICT policy must move beyond the confrontational structure of services, devices, platforms, and content and restore a virtuous cycle of a mobile communications-centered ecosystem." He explained that because demand is expanding beyond devices to content and internet services, a collaborative and developmental framework linking communications, devices, platforms, and content must be pursued.

He also argued that for ICT policy to succeed, “we must create new domestic markets based on discovered killer applications, and we also need an active defensive strategy against global big tech companies.”