In collaboration with SK Telecom and Samsung, Hana Financial Group built out a large-scale smart office, spanning 16 floors of its headquarters, multiple group affiliates, and thousands of employees. Using 5G-enabled laptops, tablets, and mobile devices, employees can access a seamless work environment anytime, anywhere. This enhanced connectivity drives more efficient use of office space, supports employee productivity, and fosters a more agile way of working, while reducing the time and resources needed to reconfigure the building. It also lays the groundwork for adopting AI across daily operations.

Financial institutions handle highly sensitive data such as customers’ credit and bank information, and operate under strict network-separation requirements — leaving Wi-Fi adoption largely off-limits over security concerns and cyber risks. This project deploys a multi-layered security system, encompassing enhanced encryption, a firewall, DDoS protection, and USIM-based authentication — granting network access exclusively to authorized devices and registered users. Samsung’s private 5G solutions offer both the complete isolation of wired networks and the convenience of wireless connectivity.

“For AI and data to be used widely in day-to-day work, employees need a network that gives them secure, reliable access to internal systems and data from anywhere,” said Kim Goo-Young, Head of Enterprise Business Office at SK Telecom. “Built on Samsung’s core and radio solutions, that secure foundation is now in place — making this smart office a leading example of how we innovate the way the financial sector works.”

For this project, Samsung provided its full stack of network solutions including radios, baseband, and cloud-native core, supporting the mid-band (4.7GHz) spectrum dedicated to private 5G networks in Korea. Samsung’s 5G Standalone Core enables network slicing, which divides a single physical network infrastructure into multiple virtual slices where each is dedicated to a specific application. Through this deployment, Hana Financial Group’s subsidiaries will each have access to separate network slices, offering independent operating environments tailored to individual security policies and business needs.

“This meaningful milestone underscores Samsung’s leadership in deploying private 5G solutions that deliver even under the most stringent security standards required by regulated industries,” said Angelo Jeongho Park, Executive Vice President and Head of Strategic Sales, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “By combining cutting-edge technology and our extensive commercial experiences across diverse industries — including manufacturing, finance, construction, IT, and more — we are providing secure, tailored networks today while enabling businesses to seamlessly integrate AI-driven innovations.”

Samsung Networks has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios, and cores. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung is driving the industry to advance 5G networks and paving the way for 6G and beyond with its market-leading product portfolio, from purpose-built RAN, vRAN, Open RAN, AI RAN, and cloud-native AI core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools (CognitiV NOS). The company currently provides innovative network solutions to mobile operators that deliver boundless connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

Set to begin in October 2026, the projects will deploy 5G Standalone (SA) private networks across industrial environments, ranging from shipyards to petrochemical facilities, to validate AI RAN capabilities and generate real-world insights for future deployments.

As part of the Korean MSIT’s initiative, the projects bring together operators, network solution providers, and other industry partners. The collaboration aims to accelerate the adoption of cutting-edge technologies, including AI RAN, physical AI, and autonomous operations, while laying the groundwork for the transition to 6G.

“Korea has long stood at the forefront of global digital and technological advancement. As a key partner with deep roots in this region, we are proud to drive the next stage of network innovation alongside leading operators through these AI RAN projects,” said June Moon, Executive Vice President, Head of R&D, Networks Business at Samsung Electronics. “As AI evolves toward embodied intelligence, networks are becoming platforms that connect a new generation of intelligent machines, including humanoids and autonomous vehicles. Bringing AI RAN and physical AI together in real-world industrial settings marks a meaningful step toward the future of connectivity.”

AI-Powered Welding Robots at Shipyards

At the Yeongam Shipyard of HD Hyundai Samho, a prominent global shipbuilder, KT will carry out field trials of key physical AI services, ranging from welding and painting robots in manufacturing environments to autonomous robots for telecom facility operations.

For the AI-powered quadruped welding robot use case, Samsung will support KT with its software-driven, AI-native solutions, including Network in a Server (NIS) — an integrated edge AI platform comprising virtualized RAN (vRAN), AI Core, and AI applications — and Samsung CognitiV Network Operations Suite (NOS) for intelligent network automation. Leveraging 5G connectivity and the edge AI platform, the quadruped robot can autonomously perceive its working environment and perform precise welding.

With these capabilities, Samsung is addressing the demanding network requirements of physical AI services in industrial settings, where ultra-low latency, high reliability, and consistent throughput are critical for real-time robotic control. Designed for on-premise deployment and local processing, NIS brings network and AI capabilities closer to where data is generated and decisions are made. It runs vRAN and 5G SA core software on an AMD EPYC 8004 Server CPU-powered commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) Compact Edge Server from Supermicro with Wind River Cloud Platform. Its software-driven architecture also enables flexible scaling, with the ability to incorporate accelerated GPU compute as needed to meet site-specific requirements. 

“KT views this project as an important starting point for validating the next-generation communications paradigm where AI and networks converge,” said Jongsik Lee, Executive Vice President, KT. “Together with Samsung, we will demonstrate a range of Physical AI services in an AI-RAN-enabled private network environment and secure the key technologies and service models that will lead the AI-Native 6G era.”

Autonomous Patrol Robots at Petrochemical Facilities

As another key part of the country’s Hyper AI Network initiative, SK Telecom will validate physical AI services at SK Incheon Petrochem, a major energy hub for the Seoul metropolitan area. These capabilities include an autonomous robot that patrols hazardous areas and CCTV-based monitoring. The patrol robot transfers high-definition videos in real time while on the move, enabling AI analysis to detect potential hazards and facilitate integrated monitoring.

Samsung is providing its AI-native NIS solution for SK Telecom’s project. The companies will explore how AI-native connectivity can further enhance safety and efficiency in petrochemical environments, where complex chemical processes require rigorous monitoring and operational precision.

“At SK Telecom, we believe AI creates greater value when paired with the right foundation to support it, and this project puts that belief into practice,” said Takki Yu, Head of Network Technology Office at SK Telecom. “Drawing on our AI expertise, we will work with Samsung to validate physical AI services in real-world environments and advance AI RAN as a key technology underpinning the government’s Hyper AI Network initiative and its AI Highway agenda.”

Samsung’s AI RAN delivers a range of capabilities, including anomaly detection, throughput enhancement, and energy efficiency improvements, all validated on live networks around the globe. Building on this experience, Samsung continues to work with leading operators and partners to expand the real-world footprint of AI-native, 6G-ready networks and propel the adoption of AI-driven services across global markets.

Samsung Networks has pioneered the successful delivery of 5G end-to-end solutions, including chipsets, radios, and cores. Through ongoing research and development, Samsung is driving the industry to advance 5G networks and paving the way for 6G and beyond with its market-leading product portfolio, from purpose-built RAN, vRAN, Open RAN, AI RAN, and cloud-native AI core to private network solutions and AI-powered automation tools (CognitiV NOS). The company currently provides innovative network solutions to mobile operators that deliver boundless connectivity to hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom (SKT) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop core 6G technologies, with a primary focus on artificial intelligence-based radio access network (AI-RAN) technology.

The companies will develop and test key technologies for the 6G era including AI-based channel estimation, distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission, AI-RAN-based schedulers and core network architectures.

Samsung Research of Samsung Electronics and the Network Technology Office of SK Telecom will lead the collaboration.

AI-based channel estimation predicts and corrects signal transmission in real time, enhancing network performance by enabling faster, more accurate data delivery in environments where radio waves are distorted by obstacles such as buildings or walls.

Unlike traditional architectures where a single base station handles data processing, distributed MIMO technology allows multiple base stations or antennas to work together to transmit and receive data. This approach supports reliable, ultra-high-speed communication across both urban and rural areas.

AI-RAN schedulers and AI-based core networks determine when, where and how to send data, ensuring efficient resource allocation even when many user devices are connected. These technologies are key to improving network quality and driving automation in a future hyperconnected society.

Through this partnership, Samsung Research will develop AI-RAN technologies including AI-based channel estimation models, schedulers and distributed MIMO. SKT will lead data provision and test infrastructure setup based on its nationwide network operations.

The companies are also collaborating as members of the AI-RAN Alliance. They jointly proposed an AI-based channel estimation technology that was officially approved as a work item. This month, they presented their research outcomes at the alliance’s all-member meeting, continuing their joint efforts.

“Through field-focused collaboration with SKT, we will be able to verify the effectiveness of AI-based wireless technologies in real-world settings and secure key AI-RAN technologies at an early stage,” said JinGuk Jeong, Executive Vice President and Head of Advanced Communications Research Center (ACRC), Samsung Research at Samsung Electronics. “We hope that continued collaboration between our companies will help pave the way for the rollout of 6G.”

“The convergence of AI and wireless communications will be crucial to 6G competitiveness,” said Takki Yu, Vice President of SK Telecom Network Technology Office. “Through our collaboration with Samsung Electronics, we plan to secure world-class AI-RAN-based 6G technologies and lead the global 6G ecosystem.”

Since establishing the ACRC in 2019, Samsung has pursued full-scale 6G research and published the 6G White Paper and 6G Spectrum White Paper — presenting its vision and direction for next-generation communications. At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025 in Barcelona, the company showcased a range of demonstrations in collaboration with the AI-RAN Alliance. Following last year, Samsung again hosted the Silicon Valley Future Wireless Summit in November to advance AI-RAN research and strengthen industry collaboration.