Global Telecom Giants Form Elite Alliance: "Gamechanger Leading the AI Ecosystem"

‘Global Telco AI Alliance Summit’ Held
SK, Deutsche Telekom, e&, Singtel Executives Attend
Aiming to Create Value with Generative AI

SK and global telecom companies have united as one team to lead the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. They have formed the 'Global Telco AI Alliance' and are working to secure growth engines.

On the 27th, SK Telecom announced that it held the 'Global Telco AI Alliance CEO Summit' at Walkerhill in Seoul and launched the 'Global Telco AI Alliance' together with telecom companies such as Deutsche Telekom, e&, and Singtel.

Representatives of each company attending the 'Global Telco AI Alliance CEO Summit' are taking a commemorative photo after signing the MOU.
[Photo by SKT]

The summit, chaired by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, was attended both online and offline by SKT President Yoo Young-sang, Claudia Nemat, Vice Chairman of Deutsche Telekom, Hatem Dowidar, CEO of e& Group, and Yuen Kuan Moon, CEO of Singtel Group.

Deutsche Telekom is one of the largest global telecom companies operating in 12 countries worldwide, including Germany and the United States. The e& Group provides telecom services in 16 countries across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Singtel is a leading Asian telecom company active in 21 countries including Australia, India, Indonesia, and Thailand. The combined subscribers of these one-team telecom companies reach 120 million.

Global Top 4 Telecom Companies Sign AI Innovation MOU

At this summit, SKT, Deutsche Telekom, e&, and Singtel launched the 'Global Telco AI Alliance' and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for AI business cooperation. First, the four companies will jointly develop a ‘Telco AI Platform’ based on their core AI capabilities. The ‘Telco AI Platform’ will play a central role in planning new AI services, including the joint construction of large language models (LLM, Large Language Model) for developing AI agents specific to each telecom company. Instead of spending separate time and costs on developing large platforms, they will focus on flexibly localizing and advancing AI services on a common platform to enhance customer usage value. They will also pursue multifaceted cooperation, including the provision and procurement of large language models, data and AI expert support, and more.

Second, to jointly develop the Telco AI Platform, they will operate working groups for discussions in areas such as new investments and joint research and development (R&D). Third, they will also cooperate in publishing, vertical service partnerships, and marketing operations for AI service development by country.

"A Game Changer Leading the Expansion of the Global AI Ecosystem"

The ‘Global Telco AI Alliance’ was promoted on the consensus that it is difficult to survive without AI-based change and innovation amid intensified global competition triggered by generative AI. They also agreed on the need to join forces among companies because flexible digital transformation is challenging in the rapidly changing industrial environment, including platform linkage, business model expansion, and system automation. This is the second super-collaboration SKT is pursuing for AI innovation, following the strengthening of the ‘K-AI Alliance’ announced in June with leading Korean AI startups.

The telecom companies in the ‘Global Telco AI Alliance’ agreed that they must redefine traditional telecommunications with AI, transforming existing core businesses such as wired and wireless communications and media into AI-driven operations to secure new growth engines. They shared the view that future value must be cultivated through creating new AI businesses, providing new customer experience value, and building an AI ecosystem.

Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group (center), delivering the keynote speech at the 'Global Telco AI Alliance Summit' held on the 27th at Walkerhill, Seoul.
Photo by SKT

Chairman Chey Tae-won emphasized the need to unite efforts by proposing to global telco leaders to transform into AI companies that provide new and innovative communication experiences.

Claudia Nemat, Vice Chairman of Deutsche Telekom, said, “To maximize the potential of generative AI for our customers and industry, we look forward to developing telecom-specific applications through the Telco AI Alliance,” adding, “The launch of this alliance will be an important milestone for our industry.”

Khalifa Al Shamsi, CEO of e& life, stated, “AI holds tremendous potential to reshape and innovate the telecommunications industry, and the launch of this alliance will be the starting point of this journey of change,” emphasizing, “Our shared goal is to redefine the industry paradigm, establish new growth engines through discovering AI-based business models, and focus on creating future value.”

Yuen Kuan Moon, CEO of Singtel Group, said, “Through this alliance, we expect to accelerate the development of AI services that provide innovative benefits to both customers and businesses,” and added, “We will strive to enhance customer service and productivity by leveraging AI based on advanced 5G networks.”

SKT President Yoo Young-sang said, “The launch of this alliance marks the starting point of a new journey where we can grow together with global partners and innovate business models,” adding, “Through AI-driven transformation across all industries, we will become a game changer leading the expansion of the global AI ecosystem by providing new experiences and value to customers.”

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