SK Telecom goes live with bare-metal cloud-native 5G Core with Ericsson

• SK Telecom (SKT) and Ericsson strengthen 5G network operation capability going live with world’s first bare-metal cloud-native 5G Core 
• Improves traffic processing efficiency significantly compared to existing physical-based core network
• Evolution of network technology to provide a basis for growth of 5G service

SKT and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) have successfully gone live with bare-metal cloud-native 5G network, using Ericsson 5G Core and Cloud Native Infrastructure (CNIS).

The live SKT 5G network allows for rapid introduction of new functions and services, and greatly improves service performance. For example, for industrial sites with increased equipment to be served, and concert halls with rapidly increasing traffic, it has the advantage of shortening work hours and efficiently responding to traffic changes through quick response.

SKT's cloud-native 5G core is expected to improve traffic processing significantly compared to existing physical-based cores by applying the latest technologies related to packet acceleration processing, route optimization, and multi-flow control for ultra-high-speed and large-capacity 5G services.

Park Jong-kwan, VP, Head of  Infra Tech, says, "Based on the commercialization of the cloud-native-based 5G core, we have laid the foundation to provide cutting-edge ICT services more efficiently and stably. We will continue to develop and apply the next-generation network technology that will become this”.

Monica Zethzon, Head of Solution Area Packet Core at Ericsson says, “With the bare-metal cloud-native 5G Core solution, SKT is reconfirming its ambitions to lead the way in creating a future-focused, versatile 5G network. The efficiency and performance gains to the 5G Core network that comes from this new Cloud Native Infrastructure will be a strong foundation for innovative use cases and new services for enterprises and consumers.  We are proud to continue our long-standing partnership with SKT, together supporting the innovative ecosystem of technology-driven businesses.” 

In addition, the next-generation 5G core is expected to be suitable for personalized services as well as various types of on-demand services required by companies and institutions. It is expected to be widely used in building B2B solutions, including various media services, including metaverse, and smart factories.

In the industrial field, as the number of advanced ICT services based on 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI) increase, application development and modification are frequently made.

Through preemptive commercialization, SKT plans to quickly establish a cloud-based service optimized by the high-tech ICT environment and develop a high security level and service scalability by performing communication network operation.

SKT and Ericsson have been developing and verifying the cloud-native in stages since 2019, and since November of last year, they have been testing a full-scale 5G network for commercial service, where the Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core is deployed on the Kubernetes over bare metal infrastructure solution Ericsson Cloud Native Infrastructure (CNIS).

Bare metal cloud means that cloud-native applications, are deployed in containers directly without the need for a virtualization layer between the hardware and the application.