Mobile network operator SK Telecom said Thursday that it had joined a Google-led global initiative, dubbed OpenConfig, to improve network infrastructure around the world.

OpenConfig, an informal working group of network operators, was founded in October 2014 with the aim of developing network systems and enhancing the efficiency of network infrastructure.

Expressing high expectations for the initiative, SKT said it would try to strengthen global partnerships in the network sector.

“SKT is developing network technologies with broad compatibility, aimed at dealing efficiently with an explosive increase of data traffic in the 5G era, in which hologram, virtual reality and ultrahigh-definition content will go mainstream,” SKT’s chief technology officer Choi Jin-sung said in a statement. He said SKT would take the lead in bringing changes to the world’s telecommunications market through collaboration with global IT giants such as Google and Facebook.

As an OpenConfig member, SKT will take part in joint projects to share core telecom technologies to improve operating and monitoring systems of network infrastructure.

Around 60 engineers from 15 global firms, including Verizon, AT&T and Deutsche Telekom, are working together for joint projects.

SKT, the first Asian company that has joined the initiative, will have five network experts assigned to OpenConfig projects.

Also partaking at the Open Compute Summit event Wednesday in San Jose, California, the Korean firm also discussed future plans to develop new information and communications technologies with Facebook.

The annual OCP Summit event is where global ICT firms gather to discuss how to advance the current data processing systems.

The Korean telecom firm and the world’s largest SNS company will work on developing high-speed storage systems built on solid-state drives.

Solid-state drive storage is rapidly replacing conventional hard disk drives, and solving data traffic overloads in connection terminals for SSDs is one of the most pressing issues affecting the transition.

By Kim Young-won  (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)