Models promote SK Telecom's smart robot Albert in front of the Fira Gran Via exhibition center in Barcelona, Saturday (local time). The exhibition center is the main venue for the Mobile World Congress 2017. / Courtesy of SK Telecom



By Yoon Sung-won

SK Telecom is set to highlight its latest technologies in artificial intelligence (AI) and fifth-generation (5G) telecommunication at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC) this year, the company said Sunday.



Korea's leading mobile carrier said it will also seek global partnerships at the MWC 2017 by inviting over 2,000 enterprises including Intel, Verizon, Ericsson, Nokia and BMW to its exhibition.



SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho has stressed industry-wide openness and cooperation by saying, "We cannot succeed alone in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution."



The mobile carrier will exhibit its AI-based robots and the voice-recognizing personal assistant service NUGU. The latter is compatible with SK holdings C&C's AI system Abril, which is based on IBM's Watson.



SK Telecom said its smart robot has a camera and a screen on its head to follow the user to provide inquired information. The company plans to build a personalized system for the robot by introducing intelligent visual-recognition technology. With this system, the robot will be able to distinguish users by scanning their faces.



SK Telecom will also present a robot for diverse purposes such as childcare, pet care and e-commerce services.



SK's virtual reality (VR) broadcasting service and a connected car system will also be exhibited. Based on the 5G telecom technologies, the 360 Live VR will enable 360-degree ultra high-definition broadcasting.



The 5G-based connected car dubbed T5 will also be demonstrated. SK Telecom and BMW Korea jointly unveiled the T5 in Korea in November last year.



SK Telecom said it has expanded collaboration with promising ventures. It has participated in this year's MWC with eight ventures, doubling the number from last year. The telecom company has picked startups and small businesses to join the international telecom fair together for the eighth straight year since 2010.



KT said it will open an exhibition themed with "the world's first 5G services."



The nation's largest fixed-line operator said it has prepared for an exhibition called "Innovation City" alongside the Global System for Mobile communications Association (GSMA), AT&T, Cisco and Huawei. In this exhibition, KT will release a glimpse of 5G network-based services it is preparing to unveil at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics for the first time in the world.



Among the technologies is Omni View, which is a multi-perspective streaming service that allows users to watch real-time broadcasting in a perspective they want. Time-Slice is another multi-perspective visual service that provides multi-angle replay of an athlete's movements taken by multiple cameras.



The High Speed Train technology will maintain data transmission even when a high-speed train is running through a tunnel, according to KT.



Meanwhile, KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu will deliver a keynote at the MWC 2017. It is Hwang's second MWC keynote following the one in 2015.



This year's keynote, slated for Feb. 27, will be about the next-generation mobile network and 5G technologies, according to the carrier.