Joining Forces for Joint R&D for World's First 5G Pilot Service

SK Telecom (CEO and President Jang Dong-hyun, www.sktelecom.com) is pursuing comprehensive 5G technology research and development cooperation, including the development of 5G terminal prototypes, together with Qualcomm (CEO Steve Mollenkopf, www.qualcomm.com), the world's largest telecommunications semiconductor manufacturer.

SK Telecom’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Choi Jin-sung and Qualcomm’s Executive Vice President of Research and Chief Technology Officer (EVP & CTO, Matt Grob) attended a strategic meeting between the two companies held at SK Telecom’s headquarters in Euljiro on December 18. The CTOs of both companies agreed on joint research and development for the world’s first 5G pilot service.

Both companies plan to focus on developing 5G terminal prototypes. The 5G terminal prototypes will be manufactured with core functions implemented to verify 5G network interoperability and communication performance prior to full-scale terminal development, and are expected to serve as a significant turning point for 5G services.

In the 5G era, as large-capacity content including immersive multimedia services such as augmented and virtual reality is expected to be transmitted over networks, the development of high-spec, low-power 5G terminals capable of supporting this is essential. To this end, the two companies will select promising frequency bands to be used in the 5G era and proceed with the development of 5G terminal prototypes capable of interoperability with the network.

In addition, both companies are collaborating on various initiatives to develop core 5G technologies, such as gigabit (Gbps) data transmission and ultra-low latency wireless access technologies. Based on this, they plan to engage in 5G technology standardization with global standards organizations such as the ITU and 3GPP. Facing the 5G era, where innovation in network structure is essential, SK Telecom intends to proactively present technical definitions and detailed network structures on the international stage and lead the standardization process.

The two companies have maintained a close cooperative relationship since the world's first commercialization of CDMA in 1996, and based on this, have led domestic and international markets in the mobile telecommunications industry. Recently, they have demonstrated leading technological capabilities, such as the world's first commercialization of LTE and LTE-A and the development of Carrier Aggregation technology. The two companies plan to extend the close cooperation between them, which has continued from 2G to 4G, to 5G.

SK Telecom’s Chief Technology Officer, Choi Jin-sung, stated, “We will do our utmost to accelerate the opening of the 5G era, including the world’s first 5G pilot service in 2018 which is being pursued as a national agenda, through close cooperation with Qualcomm, the world’s largest telecommunications semiconductor company,” adding, “The development of 5G terminal prototypes will be a significant turning point in ushering in the 5G era.”

Matt Grob, Executive Vice President of Research (CTO, Chief Technology Officer) at Qualcomm, said, “We are looking forward to engaging in 5G technology research and development with SK Telecom, a leader in South Korea’s wireless communication technology.”

SK Telecom is leading the development of domestic 5G technology by serving as the chair company of the '5G Forum,' which was launched through collaboration between the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, industry, academia, and research institutes. In addition, it is presenting the direction of 5G network evolution by announcing 5G architectures to global standards organizations (3GPP, ITU), and is also striving to build a 5G ecosystem both domestically and internationally, such as by opening the 5G Global Innovation Center at its R&D Center in Bundang last October.