Through 5G MEC Hub at Bridge Alliance
SK Telecom will connect 5G mobile edge computing (MEC) services around the world by partnering with the Bridge Alliance, the largest alliance of telecom companies in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The alliance has 34 telecommunication companies as its members. They include SK Telecom (Korea), Singtel (Singapore), Optus (Australia), AIS (Thailand), Globe (the Philippines), STC (the Middle East), and Airtel (India and Africa). They have a total of 900 million subscribers.
Mobile carriers around the world are investing in 5G MEC technology, which is considered as an important part of infrastructure for a wide range of 5G services including AR, VR, autonomous driving, games, smart factories, and robots. 5G MEC provides ultra-low latency communications and private data protection by locating small data centers at base stations close to users.
SK Telecom has been working hard to establish a 5G MEC hub through its activities within the Bridge Alliance since 2020. The first result was produced from its cooperation with Singapore's No. 1 telecommunications company, Singtel.
The two companies succeeded in running 5G cloud game "World of Warship" simultaneously on SK Telecom’s 5G MEC platform and Singtel’s 5G MEC platform through the 5G MEC Hub established at the Bridge Alliance. Wargaming, the developer of the game, participated in the verification process.
The 5G MEC Hub created a smooth data connection path between Korea and Singapore. This means that if a 5G service app is uploaded to the hub, users around the world can use 5G MEC at the same time. Experts say that a foundation has been created to allow 5G services in Korea to be quickly distributed to the global market.
SK Telecom is leading 5G MEC cooperation within the Bridge Alliance based on its experience in releasing 5G edge cloud services for the first time in Korea in cooperation with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world's largest cloud company, in December 2020.
In 2021, SK Telecom will work with Australian telecommunication company Optus and Thai telecommunication company AIS to develop a function to freely upload and download 5G service apps on the 5G MEC Hub.
Through this, SK Telecom will help companies that launch 5G services easily use 5G MEC offered by global carriers through the 5G MEC Hub at the Bridge Alliance. Currently, a telecom operator has to sign a contract with each 5G MEC service provider in different countries, which hinder the spread of 5G MEC services.
"Telecommunication companies around the world are trying to establish 5G MEC and link it with one another to expand 5G MEC services," said Lee Dong-ki, director of SK Telecom's 5GX MEC Product.