SK Telecom, NTT Docomo jointly publish technical white paper

SK Telecom Co. announced on Wednesday that it had published a technical white paper on 6G common requirements and 5G base station power-saving measures, jointly with Japanese telecommunications carrier NTT Docomo.

This is the first concrete result of their strategic partnership signed in November last year, which aimed to closely work together in three areas: communications infrastructure, media and the metaverse.

The white paper highlights the companies' commitment to strengthening cooperation among global mobile carriers to save power at 5G base stations and reinforce cooperation in environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, such as contributing to achieving the net-zero goal.

The 6G common requirements specified in the white paper include the discovery of new products and services to vitalize the 6G ecosystem; vitalization of 6G open LAN standards and equipment ecosystem; standardization of 6G design for efficient utilization of existing networks such as 5G; development of equipment, handsets and batteries suitable for high-frequency band characteristics; and definition of usage for efficient frequency utilization.

These requirements are aimed at creating an early 6G ecosystem and will serve as a guide for the preparation of 6G international standards and related technology development by technology standardization organizations such as ITU-R and 3GPP in the future.

In addition to the common requirements for 6G, the white paper also describes the discovery of optimal power-saving technology through the measurement of power consumption of base stations of both companies; analysis and advancement of power-saving technology; and definition of power efficiency improvement process through cooperation with device manufacturers.

This is an essential step in improving the energy efficiency of base stations and minimizing the environmental impact of mobile networks.

Furthermore, the two companies plan to jointly study major technologies of 5G evolution and 6G and work closely together to establish technical standards.

SK Telecom is also the only South Korean operator to participate in the "6G Technology White Paper" released on Feb. 14 by the Next-generation Mobile Networks (NGMN), a global alliance led by telecom operators, and is working to create an early 6G ecosystem.

NGMN is an international alliance in which major global telecom operators such as SK Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, NTT Docomo, Vodafone, and China Mobile participate together to discuss next-generation network infrastructure, service platforms and terminal standardization.

"We expect that this white paper will provide a meaningful guide for the preparation of 6G international standards and related technology development by technology standardization organizations such as ITU-R and 3GPP in the future," said Lyu Tak-gi, SK Telecom's infrastructure technology manager. "With this white paper, SK Telecom and NTT Docomo are leading the way in developing technologies and standards that will shape the future of mobile networks."

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com