Ahead of selecting suppliers of equipment for its fifth-generation network in June, South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom’s chief is unsure about whether to consider China’s Huawei over security issues. “Huawei is a concern,” SKT CEO Park Jung-ho told The Korea Herald last week during the Mobile World Congress 2018 held in Barcelona, Spain. “We are at a crossroads when it comes to the decision, whether (to make it from the standpoint of) the government or customers.”Huawei's booth at Mobile Wor

박정호 SK텔레콤 사장이 6월 5G 네트워크 장비업체 선정을 앞두고 걱정을 내비쳤다. 박 사장은 지난 달 26일 스페인 바로셀로나에서 열린 모바일월드콩그레스(Mobile World Congress)2018에 참석해 기자와 만나 “화웨이는 걱정이다” 고 말했다. SKT는 지난 1월 5G 네트워크의 조기 상용화를 위해 전사적 태스크포스팀을 가동하고 화웨이, 노키아, 에릭슨, 삼성전자 등 국내외 장비업체에 2차 입찰제안요청서(Request For Proposal)를 발송했다. 1차 요청서는 국내 통신사 중 가장 먼저 지난 해 7월에 발송한 바 있다.5G RFP는 SK텔레콤이 구상하는 5G 상용 시스템의 요구사항을 정리한 문서로써 이번 2차 RFP에는 3GPP 5G 표준을 기반으로 상용장비의 세부 기술과 사업 요구사항을 담았다.SK텔레콤은 2차 RFP를 통해 선정될 협력사와 5G 상용망 구축을 위한 구체적인 논의를 해 나간다는 방침이다. 이를 위해 박 사장은 MWC 개막 이튿날인 27일 화

BARCELONA, Spain -- Samsung Electronics will focus on the US to seek growth opportunities in the upcoming fifth-generation network market after its success in India with Long Term Evolution network equipment, said the chief of Samsung’s network business Tuesday.“We are aggressively starting to enter the US market with Verizon,” said Kim Young-ki during a press conference at Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona. “We provided some main equipment for 4G in the US in partnership with Verizon and

박정호 SK텔레콤 사장이 스페인 바르셀로나에서 열리고 있는 모바일월드콩그레스 (Mobile World Congress) 2018 에서 노키아 벨연구소와 차세대 웨어러블 기술에 대해 논의했다. 박정호 SK텔레콤 사장 (SK텔레콤)박 사장은 현지시간 27일 노키아 부스를 방문해 마커스 웰던 (Marcus Weldon) 벨연구소 기술총괄대표 (Chief Technology Officer)과 비공개로 만나 해당 기술에 대해 논의했다. 벨연구소가 주요 VIP들에게만 공개한 것으로 알려진 이 기술은 ‘더 슬리브 (The Sleeve)’로 팔에 감는 웨어러블로 노키아가 차세대 이동통신의 주요 디바이스 (device)로 개발 중이다. 현재 프로토타입 (prototype) 으로 플라스틱과 합성섬유 소재로 손목이나 팔에 차는 형태로 개발되어 있으며 센서가 부착되어 팔을 움직이면서 사물을 인지하며 통신할 수 있다. 부착된 센서는 팔의 근육과 신경계를 모두 파악해 사물을 움직이게 하고 모든 건강 정보를

BARCELONA, Spain -- SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho discussed upcoming wearable technology that will be enabled by the fifth-generation telecom network with Nokia Bell Labs on Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress 2018. Park held a private meeting with Bell Labs Chief Technology Officer Marcus Weldon at Nokia’s booth at the MWC to talk about Nokia’s undisclosed wearable technology dubbed “The Sleeve,” according to an industry source.  SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho (SK Telecom)The extent of their potent

BARCELONA, Spain -- As part of its efforts to boost its system chip business, Samsung Electronics on Tuesday promoted its latest system chip products at a private booth at Mobile World Congress 2018. The world’s top memory chip provider is shifting its focus from the mainstay memory products from non-memory chips that are seeing growing demand in the “fourth industrial revolution” and Internet of Things era. The MWC, the biggest mobile industry tradeshow, has been considered an optimal opportuni

BARCELONA, Spain -- Confessing that they were obsessed with being the first to release the newest technologies, Koh Dong-jin, head of Samsung Electronics’ mobile business, said Monday the South Korean tech firm was now more committed to developing products that can deliver meaningful value to consumers.The message came at a press conference for Korean reporters after the Galaxy S9 Unpacked in Barcelona, as Koh once again confirmed that Samsung will launch next-generation foldable display phones

BARCELONA, Spain -- Samsung Electronics has made significant progress in its 5G technologies and the tech giant is expected to produce a 5G phone in the “not so distant” future, according to Chief Technology Officer Park Jin-hyo of SK Telecom.“It is not so far for Samsung either in coming up with a 5G device,” Park told The Korea Herald while attending the Mobile World Congress 2018 on Monday in Barcelona, Spain.　The comments came as China’s up-and-coming Huawei announced its first 5G chipset Ba

BARCELONA, Spain -- DJ Koh, head of Samsung Electronics’ smartphone business, said Sunday that the cameras of the flagship Galaxy S9 and S9+ smartphones are what he wants to highlight the most. After coming down from the stage of the “Unpacked 2018” event, Koh met with The Korea Herald and pinpointed key features of the new phones.“I would definitely put the camera first among others,” he said. “Then I also want to highlight the stereo sound and preloaded SmartThings platform on both Galaxy S9 a

BARCELONA, Spain – ‘The 5G world is just around the corner’ is the key message from the Mobile World Congress 2018 which kicks off Monday for a four-day exhibition in Barcelona, Spain. Under the main theme of “Creating a Better Future,” mobile operators, vendors and policymakers from around the world will be showcasing their up-to-date 5G technologies and services for life and society at Fira Gran Via and Fira Monjuic. Compared to last year’s show that concluded the 5G world was yet too distant

Tech Brunch breaks down how complex technologies work. -- Ed. Quantum cryptography, the science of utilizing quantum mechanics to perform cryptographic tasks, is rising as an essential data security technology to replace existing security solutions in the upcoming era of 5G network and Internet of Things. In an interview with The Korea Herald last week, Cho Seok-beom, Ph.D manager at Quantum Tech. Lab of South Korean mobile carrier SK Telecom, said keys encrypted with photons are “highly sensiti

BARCELONA, Spain -- SK Telecom announced Monday it would acquire the world’s No. 1 quantum cryptographic business, based in Switzerland, as a move to strengthen data security in the next-generation network. The Swiss company acquired by SKT is IDQ, which announced the world’s first quantum random number generator in 2002 and launched the first quantum key distribution service in 2006. The South Korean mobile carrier announced the acquisition on the opening day of the Mobile World Congress 2018 i

BARCELONA, Spain -- At first sight, Samsung Electronics’ newest flagship Galaxy S9 and S9+ smartphones have few design or display features to amaze. But the ninth edition of its luxury Galaxy line has a handful of significant changes inside. The latest Samsung smartphones debuted Sunday in Barcelona, Spain, are more entertaining, immersive and personalized. The South Korean tech giant has applied augmented reality technology to emojis -- digital images used to express ideas and emotions -- for t

BARCELONA, Spain -- Instead of revealing a new flagship G series model for the first half of this year, LG Electronics unveiled Sunday an upgraded version of last year’s V30 smartphone with camera functions based on artificial intelligence. Named “V30S ThinQ,” the latest LG smartphone is the first mobile device to adopt the firm’s AI platform ThinQ, which was introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, the company said on the eve of the opening of the Mobile World Congress 2018 in Ba

MWC DEBUT -- Models showcase LG Electronics’ premium smartphone V30S ThinQ enhanced with artificial intelligence-based camera functions in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, ahead of the opening of the Mobile World Congress 2018. (LG Electronics)