SK Telecom announced that it officially unveiled its strategy for advancing a global standards-based autonomous network at TM Forum DTW Ignite 2026, held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
TM Forum is a global telecommunications industry association comprising more than 240 telecommunications operators, IT companies, and software vendors worldwide. At the event, SK Telecom drew attention by presenting a concrete network strategy aligned with the forum's global standards.
Autonomous networks are a next-generation network operating model that minimizes human intervention by enabling AI to operate and manage networks autonomously.
SK Telecom explained that it adopted TM Forum's standards to overcome the limitations of existing autonomous networks. The company noted that proprietary technologies developed by different vendors and equipment manufacturers have limited scalability, while fragmented, domain-specific operating systems have made interoperability and integration difficult.
The company emphasized that for AI to function effectively, systems and data must be integrated using a common framework—or "the same language"—through global standards. SK Telecom added that TM Forum standards are not merely an option, but a fundamental prerequisite for realizing autonomous networks.
To accelerate the deployment of autonomous networks, SK Telecom has identified four key implementation areas:
Redefining operational business processes
Building a data ontology*
Transitioning to a next-generation Operations Support System (OSS)
Standardizing AI agents
*Data ontology refers to a digital framework that maps the relationships and meanings of data, enabling computers to understand and process information more effectively.
SK Telecom plans to work closely with global technology companies, including AWS, throughout this process. Through these collaborations, the company aims to improve network flexibility and scalability by enabling a single AI solution to centrally manage network equipment from multiple vendors.
The company also plans to drive productivity innovation and improve operational efficiency by strengthening its in-house AI Transformation (AX) capabilities. Currently, SK Telecom employees directly develop and operate more than 1,000 autonomous network platforms and AI agents.
One representative example is Spider, an AI-powered monitoring system that integrates monitoring across all core network equipment while automatically detecting anomalies and recommending corrective actions. According to SK Telecom, Spider has improved both operational efficiency and network stability by consolidating monitoring systems that were previously managed separately for different types of equipment.
Looking ahead, SK Telecom plans to accelerate its transition to a next-generation OSS and autonomous network implementation with the goal of achieving Level 4, as defined by TM Forum. At Level 4, human intervention is kept to a minimum, and the system is capable of understanding network conditions and making independent operational decisions. SK Telecom expects this to enable more efficient, reliable, and stable network operations.
Ahn Hong-beom, Head of Network AT/DT at SK Telecom
Building autonomous networks based on global standards will go beyond technological innovation and drive a paradigm shift across the telecommunications industry. We will continue collaborating with telecommunications operators around the world through TM Forum standards to establish a robust autonomous network ecosystem and deliver stable, intelligent communication services to our customers.
