South Korea’s largest mobile operator, SK Telecom, and Bell Labs (the research arm of Alcatel-Lucent) today announced a partnership to work together on future mobile technology. Specific details on the Memorandum of Understanding signed between both parties were not revealed, but a joint statement noted that “one potential project involves the two companies working toward defining what the architecture and shape of wireless networks will look like beyond 4G networks that network operators are introducing today.” Another potential area focuses on “developing methods for enabling increasingly complex networks to manage and configure themselves,” otherwise known as self-optimising networks. The two companies said they may also explore technologies that can be applied at the core of operator networks within the next two to three years such as Cloud Computing, a concept that describes the transformation of applications processing from devices at the edge of the network to network servers. 

According to Wireless Intelligence, SK Telecom had 24 million domestic connections at the end of June this year and a dominant 51 percent market share. It is expected to upgrade its HSPA networks to LTE technology in the next two years.