SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM, hereinafter referred to as “SKT”) today announced that it will participate in MWC Barcelona 2022 to be held from February 28 to March 3 to showcase its innovative future technologies and services.

Located in Hall 3 Stand 3I30 of Fira Gran Via, SKT’s exhibition space is divided into four different zones, namely Metaverse, AI, 5G & Beyond and Special Experience.

By applying the concept of metaverse to its exhibition, SKT invites visitors to experience the convergence between the real and virtual worlds in an intuitive manner.

Metaverse

Upon entering the company’s booth, the visitors will be greeted by Ifland avatars that appear on the large LED screen located at the center of the booth.

Ifland is SKT’s metaverse platform that is rapidly gaining popularity in Korea through expanded features and partners. At MWC, the company will unveil the global and head-mounted display (HMD) versions of Ifland to allow visitors to experience a more immersive virtual world.

Visitors will be able to experience ‘Metaverse Gallery’, a service where they can gather in the metaverse to enjoy docent-guided tours of digital art galleries, as well as ‘Metaverse K-pop Concert’ that offers a realistic and immersive volumetric concert experience via a HMD.

SKT will also introduce Jump Studio, a mixed reality capture studio that creates high-quality volumetric video content, and will invite visitors to enjoy a volumetric concert realized via mixed reality technologies.

AI

The AI Zone will showcase SKT’s self-developed chip ‘Sapeon,’ which enables the provision of high-quality AI services by enhancing the performance of AI data centers through speedy computation of massive amounts of data. It is being highlighted as an environmentally-friendly solution as it uses 20% less power than GPU, while supporting 1.5 times faster deep learning computation.

SKT’s AI speaker Nugu applied with Amazon Alexa will also be on display to show how both English and Korean based AI services are being provided through a single AI speaker.

In addition, SKT will demonstrate AI cameras built with Vision AI as well as Supernova, an AI-based media upscaling solution.

5G & Beyond

The 5G & Beyond zone will show how SKT is leading the evolution of 5G network technologies.

Since commercializing its 5G service in April 2019, SKT has been aggressively expanding its 5G service coverage and further advancing 5G technologies to realize hyper-connectivity. The company has also been focusing on providing strong network security by applying quantum cryptography technologies to diverse areas in collaboration with IDQ.

The company will introduce its successful verification of ‘5G SA Option 4’ technology on a commercial 5G network carried out in collaboration with Samsung Electronics. ‘5G Option 4’ connects both 5G and 4G radios in advanced SA mode, enabling operators to utilize specialized SA functions such as network slicing, and maximize network resources.

SKT will also be showcasing E2E virtualized and open architecture, including cloud-native core and virtualized RAN, which significantly enhances network efficiency and agility. In addition, it will introduce its efforts to promote Open RAN aimed at building a more competitive and vibrant RAN supplier ecosystem.

Moreover, the company will demonstrate how its MEC infrastructure is being used to ensure seamless provision of high quality massive 5G services with super-fast speed and ultra-low latency through ‘AR Car Showroom’ and ‘VR Game Boost Solution’.

Special Experience

The Special Experience zone will feature futuristic services applied with connected intelligence such as Urban Air Mobility (UAM).

Through an exciting ride on a giant robot arm, visitors will experience a virtual trip to a future city within the metaverse via UAM.

UAM is expected to become a game changer by resolving traffic and environmental problems in megacities. Designating UAM as one of its most important future growth drivers, SKT is accelerating its progress towards realizing UAM by fully leveraging its expertise in network and mobility platforms, as well as broad partnerships with companies from both home and abroad.

SKT will also introduce ‘T Universe,’ a subscription service/platform that provides greater value in customer’s daily lives.

4YFN

Meanwhile, SKT will also showcase innovative ideas and technologies of 11 startups along with its ESG projects at 4YFN, the startup event of MWC Barcelona to be held in Hall 6 of Fira Gran Via.

The 11 startups that will participate in the event along with SKT will present ICT-based ESG measures under the themes of ‘Barrier Free,’ and ‘Environment, Energy and Social Safety Net,’ and seek areas of cooperation with diverse global partners.

“We have designed an exhibition that provides visitors with an intuitive experience of the future world where reality is converged with virtual reality,” said Park Kyu-hyun, Vice President and Head of Digital Communication at SKT. “We expect visitors to MWC Barcelona 2022 to meet the future ICT world through SKT’s diverse technologies and services.”