SK Telecom Expected to Serve as Catalyst for Global Expansion of 'LoRa' Network for Luggage Location Tracking
Promoting International Roaming Service Cooperation for 'LoRa' Network between Korea and EU as Part of 'Korea-EU' IoT Cooperation

Going forward, there will be no need to worry even if you lose your luggage while traveling abroad or if your bag gets mixed up with another traveler's. This is because through international roaming of IoT (Internet of Things) networks, you can attach an IoT-based location tracking device to your luggage and check the location of your bag sent from Korea within Europe.

SK Telecom (CEO and President Jang Dong-hyun, www.sktelecom.com) announced on the 14th that it participated in the 'Korea-EU IoT Cooperation Conference' held in Nice, France from the 12th to 14th and has agreed to cooperate in developing a 'LoRa' network roaming system between the two regions. When LoRa international roaming is realized, various services expected to enhance safety and convenience during cross-border travel, such as luggage location tracking services, are expected to be launched.

At this 'Korea-EU IoT Cooperation Conference,' SK Telecom proposed to major European IT companies including Telefonica from Spain and EGM/CEA, EU-side partners, to cooperate in developing a roaming system for 'LoRa,' a low-power IoT technology.

In response, CEA and EGM, which are pilot-operating LoRa networks in Europe, expressed active welcome to the development of international LoRa network roaming technology, and both parties agreed to derive roaming interoperability standards through cooperation.

Additionally, SK Telecom plans to meet with the 'LoRa Alliance,' a LoRa standardization body, in Berlin next week to propose 'LoRa' roaming interoperability standards and plans to develop LoRa roaming terminals and network servers by the end of this year.

SK Telecom participated as a joint research institution in the 'Sejong University (Korea)-EGM (EU)' consortium in the IoT field as part of the government-led 'Korea-EU Joint Research R&D Project' last June, and this 'Korea-EU IoT Cooperation Meeting' is a follow-up measure. SK Telecom is the only domestic telecom operator participating in the 'Sejong University-EGM (Easy Global Market)' consortium for IoT field cooperation.

Prior to this, SK Telecom announced on the 4th a plan to build a nationwide LoRa network and connect 4 million IoT devices by 2017.

Park Jin-hyo, Head of Network Technology at SK Telecom, stated, "Going forward, we will actively share the technical expertise gained from the commercialization process of nationwide LoRa network construction with domestic and overseas operators and contribute to creating an international IoT ecosystem."