This momentous agreement – signed in a ceremony at SK Seorin Building, Seoul – marks the culmination of discussions initiated by the Global Telco AI Alliance, a consortium launched in July 2023 by SK Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, E&, and Singtel.

This innovative partnership aims to create a telco-specific LLM that empowers global telcos to effortlessly and rapidly construct generative AI models. With a focus on multilingual capabilities (including German, English, and Korean), this LLM is designed to enhance customer services—particularly in areas like AI-powered contact centres.

Claudia Nemat, Member of the Board of Management for Technology and Innovation at Deutsche Telekom, said:

“AI shows impressive potential to significantly enhance human problem-solving capabilities.

To maximise its use, especially in customer service, we need to adapt existing large language models and train them with our unique data. This will elevate our generative AI tools.”

The collaboration also involves key AI industry players, such as Anthropic (Claude 2) and Meta (Llama2), enabling the co-development of a sophisticated LLM.

Anticipated to debut in the first quarter of 2024, the new telco-focused LLM will offer a deeper understanding of telecommunication service-related areas and customer intentions that surpass the capabilities of general LLMs.

One of the primary objectives of this collaboration is to assist telcos worldwide in developing flexible generative AI services, including AI agents. By streamlining the process of building AI-driven solutions like contact centres, telcos can save time and costs and open new avenues for business growth and innovation.

Ryu Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom, commented:

“Through our partnership with Deutsche Telekom, we have secured a strong opportunity and momentum to gain global AI leadership and drive new growth.

By combining the strengths and capabilities of the two companies in AI technology, platform, and infrastructure, we expect to empower enterprises in many different industries to deliver new and higher value to their customers.”

This collaboration signifies a proactive response to the escalating demand for AI solutions within the telco industry, promising a paradigm shift in the traditional telecommunications landscape. The announcement follows SK Telecom’s $100 million investment in Anthropic in August.

See also: UMG files landmark lawsuit against AI developer Anthropic

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More people than ever are relying on telecoms networks to work, play, and stay connected during the pandemic. Operators are doing all they can to ensure their existing networks have enough capacity to cope with demand.

Gorkem Yigit, Principal Analyst at Analysys Mason, said:

“Video streaming continues to experience high year on year growth and that has been exacerbated by the pandemic and resulting lock-downs,

Yes, 5G grabs the spotlight, but 4G is carrying the brunt of this traffic. So, while investment in 5G infrastructure continues, operators need intelligent ways to maximize and extend existing 4G network capabilities in the short to medium term – keeping their CAPEX to a minimum.”

8 out of 10 of the world’s largest operator groups have deployed traffic management technology from the Openwave subsidiary of Swedish firm Enea. Many of these have since upgraded to include machine learning capabilities.

Openwave claims that, based on its figures, some operators faced a 90 percent surge in peak throughput during lockdowns.

Machine learning is helping to predict and identify congestion in the RAN (Radio Access Network) which resides between user equipment such as wireless devices and an operator’s core network.

John Giere, President of Enea Openwave, commented:

“Conventional mobile data management requires manual configuration and network investment – it is no longer fit for purpose.

Machine Learning has given existing 4G networks the shot in the arm they needed. It can work dynamically without external probes or changes to the RAN, delivering additional capacity at a time that operators most need it.” 

The use of machine learning has increased operators’ 4G RAN capacity by 15 percent in congested locations—providing further evidence of how AI technology can be used to quickly tackle real-world problems.

(Photo by Adrian Schwarz on Unsplash)

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