SK Telecom Co. said Wednesday it is hosting a regular meeting of the O-RAN Alliance, a global community of mobile operators for open radio access network (RAN), this week for the first time in South Korea to discuss communications network technologies.

The meeting kicked off Monday for a five-day run in Incheon, just west of Seoul, with officials from over 300 companies and research institutes across the world in attendance, according to the Korean mobile carrier.

It marks the first time the alliance is holding its face-to-face meeting in South Korea, which takes place three times every year in Europe, Asia and North America in rotation.

During this week’s meeting, the O-RAN Alliance will focus on the standardization of open RAN and sixth-generation (6G) communications network technologies.

Open RAN is a new approach to building and managing mobile networks that connect smartphones to the internet. It aims to create more adaptable and efficient mobile networks by promoting openness and interoperability.

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K Telecom said it has suggested standardizing “telco edge artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure,” a technology aimed at increasing the value of mobile communication networks through edge computing and AI solutions.

On Wednesday, South Korea’s Open Ran Industry Alliance, chaired by SK Telecom, plans to sign a memorandum of understanding with the O-RAN Alliance for technological cooperation and will host an open-RAN symposium on the sidelines of the five-day meeting.

“Open RAN and telco edge AI infrastructure technologies are core technologies needed for the evolution of mobile communications networks, including the 6G,” Dr. Takki Yu, vice president and head of infra tech office at SK Telecom, said.

Source: Yonhap News Agency