Seoul, Korea, January 28, 2016 – SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) today announced that it joined the Open Compute Project (OCP), a community-led initiative for open source hardware and data center design.
 
SK Telecom is committed to play a pivotal role in the newly created OCP Telco Project by making collaborative efforts with other global leading operators including AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, EE and Verizon to develop data center technologies for telecommunication companies. 
 
With the continuous growth of Internet services used via mobile devices, which leads to increased concentration of data traffic on mobile devices, SK Telecom and OCP agree that there is a pressing need to build an efficient mobile data processing system. Moreover, in the near future when the 5G network will be commercialized, the two organizations project that IT-telco converged infrastructure built on open source hardware and software will become core competency of ICT companies around the world as it will not only dramatically enhance infrastructure building and management efficiency, but also prevent fundamental causes of network errors and perform immediate recovery.
 
SK Telecom plans to work with other members to achieve a futuristic network infrastructure by developing open data center technologies that are efficient, flexible, and customized. To this end, the company will design a system optimized for mobile telecommunications by developing a data center based on open hardware and software. In addition, it will share its progress with other operators, and expand its global presence by applying OCP principles to its data center. 
 
Alex Jinsung Choi, CTO of SK Telecom said, “5G, with its diverse use cases, will open up a whole new ecosystem for telecom operators. SK Telecom is preparing the future by developing a flexible and open infrastructure that can adapt to the ever-changing service requirements. Joining OCP Telco Project is our first step towards it. We hope other operators will also join the effort.”
 
Jason Taylor, President and Chairman of the OCP Board and VP of Infrastructure at Facebook said, “SK Telecom is a globally respected telecom operator with a commitment to leading technology innovation across the industry. We look forward to their involvement in the OCP Telco Project as we usher in this new industry to embrace open data center technologies.”