SK Telecom establishes 5G open RAN indoor demonstration network

South Korean telecom giant SK Telecom Co. has established a 5G open RAN indoor demonstration network at its Bundang headquarters, according to an announcement made on Wednesday. Open RAN is a technology that enables interconnection between mobile communications equipment from different manufacturers.

The company tested the performance of open RAN equipment in indoor office spaces in collaboration with domestic small- and medium-sized enterprises. SK Telecom installed a cloud-based 5G open RAN base station with a domestic mid-sized company, HFR, Inc., as the first demo case of the network.

The telecom company demonstrated real-time services such as wearable 360-degree CCTV, as well as transmission speed and delay time, in the demonstration.

According to the company, the new equipment reduced power consumption, improved base station capacity compared to existing open RAN equipment, and reduced the size of the equipment. With this successful test, SK Telecom has completed the construction of indoor and outdoor demonstration networks, following the existing outdoor open RAN field demo network.

"We have taken one step closer to commercializing open RAN by succeeding in the 5G open RAN base station demonstration in an indoor environment," said Ryu Tak-gi, in charge of SK Telecom’s infrastructure technology.

He also emphasized that open RAN is an essential technology not only for the advanced 5G era but also for the upcoming 6G era, and SK Telecom will continue to make efforts to develop open RAN technology and invigorate the domestic ecosystem.

Write to Han-Gyeol Seon at always@hankyung.com