SK Telecom (SKT) and NTT DOCOMO have formed a strategic partnership to strengthen their metaverse platforms and accelerate research into 6G technologies.
Ryu Young-sang, President & CEO of SKT, described the memorandum of understanding as a meaningful collaboration between two leading mobile operators in Korea and Japan. He emphasized that joint efforts with NTT DOCOMO in future ICT will produce concrete outcomes that drive global innovation in information and communications technology.
Both operators already run metaverse services: SKT’s ‘ifland’ reports around 1.5 million monthly active users, while NTT DOCOMO introduced its browser-accessible ‘XR World’ earlier this year.
NTT DOCOMO has also made substantial investments in extended reality. In October it launched Qonoq, a $412 million unit dedicated to XR hardware and software development. The company is advancing its photonics-based IOWN (Innovative Optical and Wireless Network) initiative, aiming to dramatically increase bandwidth and reduce latency—improvements that would significantly enhance metaverse experiences.
Under the partnership, SKT and NTT DOCOMO will establish a consultative body to exchange metaverse technologies and operational know-how regularly. The two companies will explore long-term service interconnections and coordinate joint marketing efforts to expand their global reach.
Early deliverables from the collaboration will focus on cross-platform content and experiences: NTT DOCOMO users will be able to attend K-pop concerts hosted on ifland, while ifland users will gain access to virtual tours of major Japanese cities via NTT DOCOMO’s platform.
Motoyuki Li, President & CEO of NTT DOCOMO, said the partnership combines both companies’ technological strengths and accumulated expertise to develop new services that bring novel entertainment experiences to customers worldwide.
Beyond metaverse content and services, the operators will cooperate on 6G research and collaborate on shaping international standards. Initial technical objectives include securing Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) and virtualized RAN solutions that will form the foundation for 6G deployments. The companies will also pursue projects to migrate mobile network architectures toward cloud-native environments and jointly develop transport network technologies.
“We look forward to working with SK Telecom to expand both companies’ businesses,” said Li, highlighting the mutual benefits of the collaboration.
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