Below the ATHENA structure, SK Telecom plans to regularly apply AI- and cloud-based automation throughout all community layers
In sum – what to know:
6G roadmap – SK Telecom’s ATHENA paper outlines its post-2030 community evolution technique, persevering with a 6G collection launched in 2023.
AI integration – The operator distinguishes between “AI for community” optimization and “community for AI” infrastructure assist for rising AI providers.
3GPP ecosystem – SK Telecom is contributing to 3GPP, ITU, and O-RAN work and plans to display AI-RAN and associated applied sciences at MWC 2026.
Korean service SK Telecom has launched its third 6G white paper, titled ATHENA, setting out its mid- to long-term imaginative and prescient for community evolution past 2030. The doc continues a collection launched in 2023 and focuses on how communication infrastructure could evolve within the AI period.
The paper outlines a framework constructed round AI-native structure, zero belief safety, hyper-connectivity, openness, and cloud-native operations.
The Asian service describes two parallel instructions for AI integration: “AI for community,” geared toward enabling real-time analytics and autonomous optimization, and “community for AI,” centered on adapting infrastructure to assist AI-driven providers effectively. The white paper additionally highlights expanded virtualization, open interfaces, and general-purpose {hardware} to extend flexibility throughout radio, core, and transport domains.
Below the ATHENA structure, SK Telecom plans to regularly apply AI- and cloud-based automation throughout all community layers, whereas creating a community information platform to assist AI-based providers.
The Korean operator stated it’s actively contributing to international requirements by means of our bodies similar to 3GPP, ITU, and the O-RAN Alliance, and was just lately elected to the board of the AI-RAN Alliance.
Yu Takki, head of community know-how workplace at SK Telecom, stated: “Regardless of uncertainties within the 6G period, we’ll proceed to create new progress alternatives by main the evolution of future communication infrastructure over the subsequent decade, prioritizing buyer worth and mixing AI, virtualization, openness, and 0 belief safety,”
On the upcoming MWC Barcelona 2026, the telco stated it is going to showcase key associated applied sciences, together with numerous AI brokers for networks, AI-RAN know-how, on-device AI-based antenna optimization, and built-in communication and sensing know-how.
SK Telecom is more and more leaning on AI infrastructure as its subsequent progress driver. In a current name with buyers, SK Telecom’s CFO Jong-seok Park, stated that the corporate stays centered on establishing a robust basis for its AI enterprise. He pointed to a two-digit progress pattern in its AI information heart enterprise income, citing a rise in utilization charges of Gasan and Yangju information facilities and the acquisition of Pangyo information heart. “This 12 months, we goal to speed up progress by actively creating enterprise enlargement alternatives by means of enterprise scale-up with an extra information heart within the Seoul metropolitan area,” he continued.