SK Telecom, World's First Commercialization of 5G Edge Cloud Underway

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] SK Telecom is partnering with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to launch the world's first 5G Mobile Edge Computing (MEC)-based edge cloud service within this year.

Yu Sang-young, head of SK Telecom's MNO Business Division, announced in a keynote speech at the AWS Summit Online Korea held on the 13th, “The business-to-business (B2B) market is undergoing significant changes through the convergence of telecommunications services and cloud. Through collaboration with AWS, we will launch the world's top-tier 5G edge cloud within this year and lead innovation based on global super-collaboration.”

SK Telecom plans to build a 5G edge cloud ecosystem by integrating its world-class 5G MEC technology with AWS's public cloud technologies and services such as ‘AWS Wavelength.’ The 5G edge cloud is a distributed cloud service that dramatically reduces the physical time and distance required to process the rapidly increasing mobile data.

To this end, SK Telecom will establish MEC infrastructure in 12 major 5G hub regions nationwide, providing shared edge (public edge) services used by multiple companies and on-site edge services dedicated to specific companies. This is expected to become a core element of industrial innovation by reducing communication latency by up to 60% and being applied across various industries in the future.

In particular, applying 5G MEC to smart factories is expected to significantly reduce the cost of manufacturing cloud robots and power consumption, and improve the streaming speed of industrial AR glasses by four times. SK Telecom also plans to apply 5G MEC in the media and entertainment sectors to enhance immersive content and contribute to the expansion of cloud gaming. In the medical field, it is anticipated to improve hospital productivity through real-time sharing of high-definition medical imaging data.

SK Telecom is advancing as an integrated cloud service provider offering comprehensive services from telecommunications to cloud networks and security. Its multi-hybrid cloud management platform, based on AI, predicts real-time usage and optimizes costs, helping customers who use mixed cloud services to easily manage their resources.

Additionally, SK Telecom plans to expand its influence in the cloud security market by broadening cloud security products in connection with SK Infosec’s integrated control platform ‘Secudium.’

Yu, head of the MNO Business Division, stated, “The combination of 5G and cloud will provide opportunities for innovation across various industries and enhance the value of services. We plan to lead industrial innovation through broad cooperation with software developers, device manufacturers, and global mobile carriers.”

The AWS Summit is a globally prestigious event where companies from Asia-Pacific countries including Korea, Australia and New Zealand, the United States and Canada, ASEAN, and India share the latest cloud-related information and successful business cases. This year, due to the impact of COVID-19, the event was held online.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.