• South Korea is a hotbed of AI and next-gen radio access network (RAN) developments
• The country’s Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) has gathered partners for an AI-RAN initiative 
• It aims to involve global industry bodies in its R&D efforts

South Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) is to invest 47bn won ($31.2m) in a multi-year R&D project that aims to develop an “AI-native architecture that internalises not only network resource optimisation and fault prediction but also AI learning and inference capabilities within the network” and position the country as a leading AI-native networks innovator for the 6G era. 

ETRI will work on its AI-RAN Global Flagship Project, which runs from now until 2030, with South Korea’s three main operators – SK Telecom, KT Corp and LG Uplus – as well as a range of tech developers and academic/research institutions on the initiative.

The work will complement existing AI-RAN developments already underway in the country: Samsung was one of the founders of the AI-RAN Alliance in 2024, while SK Telecom has since joined as an executive member. The country’s other two main telcos, KT and LG Uplus, are general members of the alliance, as is ETRI.   

Specifically, as part of this project, the ETRI team plans to build an AI-RAN virtual network platform using commercial base station software and establish an integrated research environment capable of learning and verifying AI-based wireless network technologies. 

The institute notes it will “develop AI-RAN software based on the international mobile communication standards 3GPP Release 19 and Release 21, and verify AI model performance and network optimisation technology in a digital twin-based virtual network environment that reflects massive MIMO environments.

As a result of the work, ETRI plans to reach out to international bodies to initiate “joint research on AI-based base station energy-saving technology, AI-RAN verification platform, and digital twin-based wireless environment technology, and expand international technology cooperation and global standardisation through activities with the AI-RAN Alliance, 3GPP and O-RAN Alliance.”

Kim Il-kyu, head of the mobile communications research division at ETRI, stated: “AI-RAN is a core technology that will determine national competitiveness in the 6G era. We will strive to secure source technologies and verification systems for next-generation AI-based wireless networks so that Korea can lead the global AI-native network market.”

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV