SEOUL, November 26 (AJP) - South Korea’s SK Telecom said on Wednesday it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Samsung Electronics to jointly develop next-generation mobile technology, focusing on AI-based radio access networks (AI RAN) to support the eventual commercialization of 6G.
Under the partnership, research will be jointly carried out by SK Telecom’s network technology division and Samsung Research. SK Telecom will contribute data and infrastructure from its nationwide mobile network, while Samsung will lead work on AI channel estimation models and distributed multi-antenna algorithms.
The joint research will cover core network technologies. The two companies have been working together as members of the AI RAN Alliance since last year.
In June, they jointly proposed an AI-based channel estimation technique at a conference in Espoo, Finland. They also presented research findings at a conference in Boston in November.
SK Telecom released South Korea’s first 6G white paper in 2023 and showcased AI RAN-enabled base stations at MWC 2025. In October, the operator signed a separate agreement with Nvidia to deepen cooperation on AI RAN development.
Ryu Tak-ki of SK Telecom said integrating AI with wireless technology will be essential for global competitiveness in 6G, adding that the company aims to achieve “world-class AI RAN-based 6G capabilities” through its collaboration with Samsung.
Jung Jin-kook of Samsung Research said early, field-oriented cooperation would be critical to securing core AI RAN technologies and laying the groundwork for commercial 6G deployment.
* This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
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