South Korea’s largest mobile operator SK Telecom (SKT) joined the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA), a global cross-industry group of companies formed to develop so-called 5G-based intelligent transport services and autonomous driving technologies.

The association, launched in September, was founded by global vendors Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Qualcomm, chip maker Intel and automobile giants Audi, BMW and Daimler, with a pledge to test applications like connected automated driving, ubiquitous access to services and integration into smart cities and intelligent transportation.

SKT is the first Asian operator to become a member of the group.

“5G will enable the automotive industry to create new and innovative values through services, including augmented autonomous driving, worry-free car management and rich in-car services,” said Alex Jinsung Choi, SKT’s CTO and head of its corporate R&D centre. “I believe 5GAA will play a pivotal role in realising 5GAA’s goal of creating new business opportunities for both the mobile telecommunications and automotive industries.”

Last month Vodafone Group became the first operator to join the 5GAA. Vodafone claimed in a statement at the time it provides more connected car services than any other company.

5GAA’s main activities include defining and harmonising use cases, supporting standardisation and regulatory bodies and addressing vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technology requirements. It also aims to run joint innovation and development projects leading to integrated solutions, interoperability testing, large-scale pilots and trial deployments.