SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM, “SKT”) has been awarded the IEEE Milestone, hosted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), for its 1996 commercialization of CDMA in conjunction with the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.

“We are delighted to be honored as the first Korean company to be awarded IEEE Milestone status for CDMA commercialization,” said Ryu Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom. “We will maintain the creative, challenging and collaborative spirit that led to CDMA commercialization and pioneer the AI era.”

In 1996, based on CDMA introduced in Korea by ETRI, SK Telecom collaborated with Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics to successfully commercialize a CDMA digital mobile communications system as a response to the explosive demand for mobile communications. The achievement demonstrated its capability of increasing call capacity by over 10-fold compared to analog methods, sparking the growth of the global ICT industry.

“The commercialization of CDMA milestone recognizes the collaborative efforts and visionary spirit that brought essential technology to the world,” said IEEE President-Elect Kathleen Kramer. “IEEE is pleased to celebrate the brilliance of human ingenuity and the transformative technologies that have shaped our world and inspired generations of innovators.”

Since 1983, the IEEE Milestones program has been honoring outstanding achievements in the areas of electrical, electronic and information engineering that have significantly contributed to the advancement of human society and the industrial world. IEEE Milestones honor achievements that have existed for at least 25 years encompassed by technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity.

Previous IEEE Milestone achievements include a wide array of history-making scientific and technological breakthroughs, including Benjamin Franklin’s research on electricity in 1751, Volta’s invention of the electric battery (1799), Marconi’s wireless telegraphy experiments(1895), the first wireless radio broadcast (1906), the first public demonstration of television (1926), computer graphics technology (1965–1978), and the first internet transmission (1969).