Samsung signs two AI RAN contracts with KT and SK Telecom in South Korea

Samsung Electronics announced on 23 September that it had signed two AI radio access network contracts with KT and SK Telecom, taking the sole global vendor role for KT and the main vendor role for SK Telecom under South Korea’s Hyper AI Network initiative, the company said.

Samsung’s roles in the two contracts

The contracts place Samsung in different positions with the two operators. Samsung says it is the only vendor selected for both projects, while its designation as KT’s sole global vendor differs from its main-vendor role with SK Telecom. The projects sit within an initiative run by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

According to Samsung, the initiative brings network operators, equipment providers and industrial partners together to test AI RAN, physical AI and autonomous operations. The company describes the work as part of its development of networks for a transition towards 6G. The two contracts concern deployments using 5G Standalone technology.

Samsung’s June Moon, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D in its Networks Business, described the industrial projects as a way to bring AI RAN and physical AI together. His comments centred on connecting machines through networks. The operators’ planned uses put that approach into separate shipyard and petrochemical trials.

KT’s robots at Yeongam Shipyard

KT plans field trials at HD Hyundai Samho’s Yeongam Shipyard. Samsung says the applications will include robots for welding and painting in manufacturing areas, alongside autonomous robots for telecom facility operations. A four-legged welding robot is one of the uses for which Samsung will supply network and edge AI technology.

For that welding trial, Samsung will provide its Network in a Server platform and CognitiV Network Operations Suite. The company says the platform combines a virtualised radio access network, an AI Core and AI applications. CognitiV is intended to automate network operations, while the server platform processes data at the site.

Samsung says the robot is designed to assess its surroundings and carry out welding using the 5G connection and edge platform. That remains a proposed industrial use in the KT project: the work at Yeongam is described as a field trial rather than an established production deployment.

Jongsik Lee, Executive Vice President at KT, said the operator intends to demonstrate physical AI services on a private network and develop technologies and service models for later networks. His stated aim puts the Yeongam work in the category of validation, with welding, painting and facility robots providing distinct applications to test.

SK Telecom’s trial at Incheon Petrochem

SK Telecom’s project will take place at SK Incheon Petrochem. Samsung says the planned applications include a mobile patrol robot and monitoring through CCTV cameras. It will provide Network in a Server for this project as well, giving both operators the same Samsung platform for different industrial settings.

Under the planned patrol use, the robot will transmit high-definition video while moving through the facility. Samsung says AI analysis of that footage is intended to identify potential hazards and support monitoring. The operator and Samsung plan to test whether the network can support those functions in the petrochemical environment.

Takki Yu, Head of Network Technology Office at SK Telecom, said the operator would work with Samsung to validate physical AI services in an operating industrial setting. SK Telecom’s trial therefore centres on mobile video and monitoring, compared with KT’s proposed welding and painting applications at the shipyard.

Samsung’s Network in a Server platform

Network in a Server is designed for installation at the site where the applications run. Samsung says it processes data locally and combines network functions with AI applications on an edge server. That arrangement is intended to meet the low-latency, reliability and throughput requirements the company identifies for robotic control.

The platform runs virtualised radio access and 5G Standalone core software on a Supermicro compact edge server powered by an AMD EPYC 8004 processor, with Wind River Cloud Platform. Samsung says the architecture can also accommodate accelerated GPU computing to meet requirements at a particular site.

Samsung says its AI RAN technology includes functions for detecting network anomalies, improving throughput and managing energy use, and that those functions have been validated on live networks. The Korean projects apply its network equipment and software to proposed robotic services at two industrial locations.

Samsung and the operators are scheduled to begin the projects in October 2026, deploying 5G Standalone private networks at the industrial sites, according to Samsung.