SK Telecom Demonstrates AI-RAN Tech on Live Network

Seoul, South Korea - SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) announced Thursday that it has conducted a live network test of artificial intelligence radio access network (AI-RAN) technology.

The company characterized the trial as a development in integrating telecommunications infrastructure and AI processing within a single base station.

The tests were conducted with Nokia, a Finnish telecommunications equipment provider, and HFR, a South Korean manufacturer, using servers equipped with Nvidia graphics processing units.

The trials evaluated whether the hardware could maintain standard network performance while concurrently processing AI workloads.

During the Nokia trial, engineers implemented a configuration in which a GPU managed AI tasks and a separate semiconductor handled network traffic.

A separate HFR test used a single GPU to handle both network and AI processing simultaneously.

According to SK Telecom, both approaches met benchmarks for communication quality, data throughput, and power efficiency.

In a separate initiative, SK Telecom collaborated with Intel to validate an AI-based resource management system for virtualized base stations.

The system monitors CPU loads on multiple servers in real time and automatically reallocates network resources.

The company stated that the technology is intended to improve operational flexibility and reduce energy consumption.

SK Telecom plans to showcase AI-RAN demonstrations and its resource management system at the Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona.

The company also intends to showcase on-device AI antenna-optimization software to reduce signal interference and improve upload speeds, as well as integrated communication and sensing technologies.