The history of the growth of South Korea's information and communications technology (ICT) industry has gone hand in hand with SK Telecom's challenges.

CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), which was commercialized for the first time in the world in 1996, was a project led by the predecessor of SK Telecom, which was Korea Mobile Telecommunications at the time, and became a decisive turning point that changed the national industrial structure over the next 30 years.

CDMA is a digital mobile communication technology that allows multiple users to utilize a single frequency simultaneously; unlike TDMA, which was the global standard at the time, it was a method that had no commercial applications.

SK Telecom collaborated with the government, research institutions, and manufacturers to turn this unknown technology into reality, completing a nationwide network in just a few months, starting with Seoul and the metropolitan area.

With this, Korea became the world's first country to commercialize digital mobile communication.

The nationwide telecommunications infrastructure built by SK Telecom became the foundation for the growth of the ICT industry.

As mobile subscribers rapidly increased and replaced the landline-centric communication environment, the semiconductor, terminal, and network equipment industries grew alongside it.

The information and communications industry has significantly expanded its share of the gross domestic product and established itself as a key driving force for economic growth.

since SK Telecom led the generational evolution of mobile communication and drove the expansion of the industry.

3rd generation mobile communication opened up the mobile data and content industries, and the commercialization of 4th generation LTE triggered the popularization of smartphones and the growth of the platform economy.

SK Telecom also led the world's first commercial 5G service, launched in 2019, laying the foundation for digital transformation in industrial sites and the expansion of artificial intelligence services.

In particular, 5G served as a catalyst for SK Telecom to transform from a telecommunications company into an 'AI company'.

Through a strategy that combines networks, data centers, and AI technology, SK Telecom is expanding its business scope across AI services and infrastructure.

SK Telecom, which built a 'communications highway' with CDMA 30 years ago, is now setting out to build an 'AI highway' that connects data and artificial intelligence.

Ultra-high-speed, ultra-low-latency networks and AI infrastructure are considered key factors that will determine the competitiveness of all industries, including manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and finance.

The 30-year history of CDMA demonstrates how SK Telecom’s technological choices and execution capabilities led the leap forward in South Korea’s ICT.

Over the next 30 years, SK Telecom is preparing for another industrial transformation centered on AI infrastructure.