SK Telecom, Monday announced that it has signed an MOU with Ericsson to collaborate on the development of a 5G core network that deploys network slicing technology. The two companies will also continue their existing partnership to build a joint 5G test bed starting this year with the aim of providing the world’s most advanced end-to-end 5G pilot services. As part of this collaboration, the two companies also plan to build the world’s first 5G ready Hyperscale Data Center System which guarantees high performance and reliability for IT and virtualized telco services.
Besides providing very high speed wireless broadband, 5G will enable a wide variety of new services such as virtual reality, augmented reality, super multi-view video streaming, and holograms that requires the network to deliver a large amount of content in real-time with minimal delay. 5G is also targeted to cater for a large number of connections such as the Internet-of-Things, where sensors sporadically send and receive small amounts of data on a massive scale simultaneously.
According to SK, designing and implementing a single 5G network architecture that can satisfy these diverse service requirements has therefore been identified as one of the most challenging tasks. With 5G network slicing technology, SK Telecom is expected to secure a strong competitive edge in the 5G era as the technology significantly enhances the network’s operational efficiency and reduces the time required to deploy new services over its 5G network.
Alex Jinsung Choi, CTO at SK Telecom
Virtual network architecture, including network slicing, is critical to supporting new services in the era of 5G. We will build an optimal network for a wide array of services from the overall end-to-end standpoint, and pioneer the evolution of innovative networks.
Ulf Ewaldsson, CTO at Ericsson
Network slicing, based on virtual Evolved Packet Core, is an important part of the technology evolution of 5G, supporting operators with a new, broader set of services. We look forward to bringing 5G to life together with SK Telecom.
