At MWC 2026 in Barcelona, SK Telecom made one thing clear: artificial intelligence is no longer an add-on to telecom operations — it is becoming the foundation.
During a high-profile press conference at Mobile World Congress 2026, CEO Jung Jai-hun outlined a sweeping strategy to rebuild the company’s infrastructure, services, and culture around AI. The initiative, branded as an “AI Native” transformation, represents one of the most comprehensive AI overhauls ever announced by a telecom operator.
From redesigning legacy billing systems and deploying Zero Trust security to constructing gigawatt-scale AI data centres and expanding a trillion-parameter large language model, SK Telecom’s roadmap signals a deep structural shift. It also reflects a broader ambition: positioning South Korea among the world’s top three AI powerhouses.
SK Telecom’s AI-Native Vision: Beyond Digital Transformation
Digital transformation has been a buzzword in telecom for over a decade. But SK Telecom’s announcement at MWC 2026 suggests something more radical.
Rather than layering AI tools onto existing systems, the company plans to rebuild its operational core from the ground up. This includes:
- Rewriting internal IT architecture
- Integrating AI into network operations
- Personalising customer services at scale
- Building sovereign large language models
- Expanding hyperscale AI data centre infrastructure
According to Jung Jai-hun, the company is at a “golden time of transformation,” where customer value innovation and AI innovation converge beyond traditional telecommunications boundaries.
The message is clear: AI is not a feature — it is the operating system.
Rebuilding Telecom IT Systems Around AI
Modernising Sales, Billing, and Line Management
At the centre of SK Telecom’s AI strategy is a complete redesign of its integrated IT systems. Legacy billing stacks and line management platforms, long considered rigid and complex, are being rebuilt to be AI-optimised.
The objective is straightforward but transformative: enable hyper-personalised telecom services.
By analysing customer usage patterns, behavioural data, and real-time network information, AI systems will dynamically generate:
- Personalised pricing plans
- Customised membership benefits
- Targeted roaming packages
- Predictive service recommendations
This approach marks a major departure from static subscription models. Instead of customers choosing from predefined plans, AI will increasingly tailor offerings to individual usage behaviour.
For the telecom industry, this signals a shift from reactive billing systems to predictive, behaviour-driven monetisation models.
Zero Trust Security: Embedding AI into Cyber Defense
Security is another pillar of SK Telecom’s transformation.
The company announced plans to implement a Zero Trust security framework across its infrastructure. Unlike traditional perimeter-based security models, Zero Trust assumes no user or system is inherently trustworthy.
The new framework will include:
- Stronger multi-layer authentication
- Granular access controls
- Network segmentation
- Continuous AI-based threat monitoring
AI-driven security monitoring will analyse traffic anomalies, behavioural deviations, and potential breach indicators in real time. For telecom operators managing massive data flows, this approach reduces vulnerability exposure while enabling faster threat detection.
As AI systems increasingly rely on large datasets, robust governance and security safeguards become essential. SK Telecom’s Zero Trust adoption underscores the growing link between AI expansion and cybersecurity modernisation.
Autonomous Network Operations and AI-RAN
Telecom networks are complex ecosystems involving radio access networks (RAN), core systems, and edge computing nodes. Traditionally, managing these systems requires manual oversight and rule-based automation.
SK Telecom is pushing toward autonomous network operations, powered by AI.
The company plans to automate:
- Wireless quality management
- Traffic routing and optimisation
- Network equipment performance monitoring
- Fault detection and predictive maintenance
Through AI-RAN technology, SK Telecom aims to enhance network speeds and reduce latency. AI will analyse traffic loads, predict congestion, and dynamically allocate resources.
For enterprise clients relying on 5G and edge services, this could translate into more reliable connectivity and improved performance — especially in data-intensive industries like manufacturing, logistics, and smart cities.
Unified AI Agent Across Customer Touchpoints
Customer experience is another major focus of SK Telecom’s AI strategy.
The company is developing a single integrated AI agent designed to unify digital and offline touchpoints. This AI agent will connect experiences across:
- T world
- T Direct Shop
The AI agent will analyse daily usage data and provide real-time suggestions. For example, if a customer frequently travels internationally, the system may recommend optimised roaming packages before departure.
This integration reflects a broader industry shift: from fragmented service channels to AI-orchestrated ecosystems.
AI Contact Centres and Retail Transformation
SK Telecom’s AI push extends into customer support and physical retail.
AI-Enhanced Contact Centres
The company plans to expand its AI Contact Center capabilities, equipping representatives with AI tools that provide:
- Real-time conversation analysis
- Suggested responses
- Predictive issue resolution
- Sentiment detection
This model enhances human agents rather than replacing them, improving efficiency while maintaining personal interaction.
Smart Retail Stores
Even offline stores are being transformed. AI tools will assist staff in:
- Identifying customer needs
- Analysing historical service data
- Offering personalised recommendations
SK Telecom is also building “AI Personas” that analyse behavioural patterns across customer segments. These personas help refine conversational Q&A systems and marketing strategies.
By embedding AI into every customer interaction layer, the company is creating a continuous feedback loop between digital behaviour and service optimisation.
Building 1-Gigawatt AI Data Centres in Korea
Infrastructure expansion is one of the most ambitious aspects of SK Telecom’s plan.
The company intends to construct hyperscale AI data centres across South Korea with total capacity exceeding 1 gigawatt (GW). For context, this places SK Telecom among global hyperscale leaders in terms of AI-ready power capacity.
The goal is to:
- Attract global AI investment
- Establish Korea as a major Asian AI hub
- Support sovereign AI development
SK Telecom already operates a GPU cluster known as Haein and has deployed a virtualisation platform called Petasus AI Cloud, enabling GPU-as-a-service workloads.
The company now plans to expand this offering globally.
Collaboration with OpenAI
In a significant announcement at MWC 2026, SK Telecom revealed plans to build an AI data centre in Korea’s southwestern region in collaboration with OpenAI.
This partnership signals a strategic alignment between domestic AI infrastructure development and global AI expertise.
By combining hyperscale infrastructure with advanced AI research collaboration, SK Telecom aims to accelerate model training, inference capabilities, and AI application deployment.
Expanding a Sovereign Trillion-Parameter AI Model
On the model development front, SK Telecom disclosed that its sovereign AI foundation model currently contains 519 billion parameters, making it the largest of its kind in Korea.
The company plans to expand this to over one trillion parameters and introduce multimodal capabilities. Future versions will process:
- Text
- Images
- Voice
- Video
Multimodal AI opens opportunities across industries — from automated manufacturing inspection to advanced customer service chatbots and content moderation systems.
CEO Jung described the strategic vision in national terms: AI data centres as the “heart” and hyperscale LLMs as the “brain” of Korea’s AI ecosystem.
AI in Manufacturing: Partnership with SK hynix
AI transformation is not limited to telecom services.
SK Telecom is working with SK hynix to develop a manufacturing-focused AI package. This solution analyses real-time process data to:
- Reduce defect rates
- Improve equipment efficiency
- Enhance predictive maintenance
The offering will combine infrastructure, AI models, and application-layer solutions into a unified enterprise package.
For manufacturers operating in competitive semiconductor markets, such AI-driven optimisation could deliver measurable productivity gains.
Transforming Corporate Culture Through AI
Technological change is only one side of the transformation. SK Telecom is also reshaping its internal culture.
The company has introduced:
- An AX Dashboard to track AI usage across departments
- An AI Board to oversee transformation governance
- An AI Playground enabling employees to build AI agents without coding
More than 2,000 AI agents are already deployed across marketing, legal, and public relations teams.
This internal AI democratisation effort reflects a growing recognition that digital transformation requires cultural adaptation, not just infrastructure investment.
Industry Implications: A Blueprint for Telecom AI Transformation?
SK Telecom’s AI-native transformation raises important questions for the global telecom industry:
- Can legacy operators successfully rebuild core systems around AI?
- How will data governance evolve as AI systems process more behavioural data?
- Will trillion-parameter sovereign models deliver competitive advantages?
- How sustainable are gigawatt-scale AI data centres in terms of energy consumption?
Telecom operators historically moved cautiously due to regulatory constraints and infrastructure complexity. SK Telecom’s aggressive pivot suggests that competitive pressures — especially from cloud providers and AI-native companies — are accelerating change.
AI as the New Operating Model
What distinguishes SK Telecom’s announcement at MWC 2026 is scale and integration.
The company is aligning:
- Infrastructure expansion
- AI model development
- Customer experience redesign
- Enterprise solutions
- Internal governance
Rather than launching isolated AI products, SK Telecom is restructuring its operating model around artificial intelligence.
Whether execution matches ambition remains to be seen. Building gigawatt-scale data centres, training trillion-parameter models, and transforming corporate culture are monumental tasks.
However, one conclusion is evident: AI is no longer experimental within telecom. It is becoming foundational.
At MWC 2026, SK Telecom signalled that the future of telecommunications may not simply be faster networks — but smarter, autonomous, AI-driven ecosystems operating at national scale.
And in that future, AI is not a tool. It is the core.
(Picture Credit : PR Newswire)