SKT Prepares in Advance for Communication Infrastructure Damage Caused by Climate Change

SK Telecom and the Korea University Ojeongri Resilience Research Institute are analyzing the impact of future climate change on communication infrastructure.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] SK Telecom has taken steps to predict in advance the risk of damage to communication equipment caused by climate change and to establish a response system for it.

On the 20th, SK Telecom announced that it had comprehensively analyzed the impact of future climate change on communication infrastructure and established a response strategy in collaboration with Korea University's Oh Jung-ri Resilience Research Institute.

SKT explained that this risk assessment is meaningful in that it predicts the probability of abnormal climate events until 2050 beyond the level of typical natural disasters in response to climate change, and preemptively analyzes the risk of damage to communication infrastructure.

SKT has a system in place to prevent loss of communication facilities and equipment due to natural disasters and to quickly restore them afterward, to ensure stable operation of wired and wireless communication infrastructure installed nationwide.

SKT conducted this risk assessment to elevate the current response system to a higher level by developing an advanced preemptive response system that reflects the intensity and frequency of future extreme climates such as abnormal weather.

The risk assessment targeted all communication equipment including base stations and repeaters located nationwide, analyzing physical damage caused by five types of abnormal climates?wildfires, landslides, heatwaves, heavy snow, and heavy rain?from 2021 to 2050 in 10-year increments.

The evaluation results showed that the probability of occurrence of four abnormal climates?wildfires, landslides, heatwaves, and heavy rain?except for heavy snow, is on an increasing trend until 2050. In certain regions, the probability of occurrence of more than one abnormal climate was high, resulting in a compound increase in the risk of damage to communication equipment.

Some mountainous areas showed an increasing probability of both wildfires and heavy rain, indicating the need for risk management regarding loss of communication equipment.

Based on these evaluation results, SKT plans to build the ‘SKT Climate Change Physical Risk Map,’ which visually displays abnormal climate occurrence scenarios on a map to prepare for climate change risks, and will continuously analyze and improve the climate impact on communication equipment.

Additionally, SKT plans to enhance the climate change risk assessment system using the ‘Shared Socioeconomic Pathways’ scenario. The Shared Socioeconomic Pathways is a scenario that forecasts greenhouse gas emissions according to global socioeconomic changes until 2100. It comprehensively considers future social and economic changes, greenhouse gas reduction efforts, demographics, economic development, welfare, ecosystem factors, resources, institutions, technological development, social factors, and policies.

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