"The way mobile networks communicate has evolved into person to person, person to device, device to agent, and agent to agent, and in the end, requirements for the uplink will grow. For Korea to secure global AI leadership, switching to 5G standalone (SA) is essential."
Sibel Tombaz, CEO of Ericsson Korea, said this at a press briefing held on the 25th at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul. The briefing introduced Ericsson's strategy to be showcased at "MWC26," which opens on Feb. 2. Uplink refers to the traffic used when devices such as smartphones send data to a base station (or server).
CEO Tombaz said, "With 5G non-standalone (NSA), it is difficult to meet the demands of the AI era, so 5G SA and 6G are indispensable." She said, "Ericsson provides trusted AI-based solutions across the radio, core, and business layers, backed by the world's first implementation of autonomous network level 4," adding, "We will continue to play a leading role so AI and 5G, and further 6G, can evolve in a complementary way."
Ericsson predicted that networks in the AI era will move beyond simple connection infrastructure to become the core foundation supporting demand for AI applications and next-generation digital services. It also suggested that 5G Advanced, AI-RAN, cloud-native architecture, network APIs, and automation technologies will be the key pillars that make this possible.
So far, major domestic carriers have provided 5G services using the NSA method, which employs both 5G and Long Term Evolution (LTE) spectrum. But the government has been accelerating the shift by making the transition to 5G SA a condition for last year's spectrum reallocation. CEO Tombaz said, "We are working closely with Korean clients to launch 5G SA core and related solutions."
Lee Ji-hyun, Ericsson Korea's head of networks (CTO), likewise emphasized that by 2030, when 6G applies AI, AI-native base stations (AI-Native RAN) will become important, and AI uplink (Uplink) will become especially crucial in the physical AI era.
Lee said, "New AI services and devices will have different latency and speed requirements, and different download (DL)/upload (UL) characteristics," adding, "Networks also need to place computing in the right locations, considering where to process AI data and latency." Lee continued, "Ericsson applies AI across spectrum efficiency, traffic management, services, and security to improve network efficiency, and in the 6G era aims to evolve into 'AI-native base stations (AI-Native RAN),' where AI and telecom infrastructure are fully fused."
Hong Seok-won, head of CSS and CTO at Ericsson Korea, said, "Autonomous networks are essential to timely launches of differentiated services amid increasingly complex telecom networks," emphasizing, "Considering diverse layers and vendor situations, openness through standards-based interfaces is key."
At MWC, Ericsson will present a 5G and next-generation network blueprint for the AI era under the theme "Opening new horizons." Focusing on intelligent base stations (AI-RAN), 5G Advanced, and autonomous networks, it will also propose directions for advancing technologies, unveil global collaboration cases, and suggest new revenue models and service innovation strategies for telecom operators.