[Edaily Reporter Kim Hyun-ah ] With the rapid surge in AI usage, SKTelecom—noting the potential for the rise of a “token economy”—is launching its “Token Gateway” business. While connecting telecommunications, AI services, and infrastructure, the company is also selecting employees with expertise in both telecommunications and AI as “Frontiers” and deploying them to its growth businesses.

SKTelecom CEO Jeong Jae-heon held a town hall meeting for employees at SKT Tower on the 8th and announced the “SKTelecom Growth Gear Strategy.” The strategy aims to create new growth engines by integrating telecommunications, AI services, and AI infrastructure. This was CEO Jeong’s third town hall meeting this year, and it lasted about two hours.

CEO Jeong stated, “The focus of AI competition is expanding beyond models and infrastructure to an ecosystem that stably generates, supplies, and utilizes tokens,” adding, “This presents a new growth opportunity for SKT, which has been consolidating its telecommunications and AI capabilities.”

The “Token Gateway” Connecting AI Usage

SKTelecom(017670)

The “

Token

Gateway”

proposed by SKT is, simply put, an intermediary gateway that connects businesses or individuals using AI to the necessary AI models and computing infrastructure.

SKT envisions that as the environment where businesses and individuals select and use various AI models based on their tasks expands, the role of managing which models are used and to what extent, as well as connecting users with the necessary models and computing resources, will become increasingly important.

SKT plans to combine its 23 million-strong customer base, payment system, a platform capable of providing various AI models, and its telecommunications and AI infrastructure capabilities with the token gateway.

However, the specific service format and revenue model are still in the conceptual stage. SKT intends to identify relevant business models as the token economy takes shape and establish a framework that enables participation in the market.

“Frontier”: Bridging AI and the Business Front Lines

SKT plans to select employees with diverse experiences and capabilities as

“Frontiers”

through an internal recruitment drive in the near future. The primary targets are employees who understand existing businesses, such as telecommunications, while also possessing an interest in and expertise with AI.

Frontiers will be assigned to new businesses that combine telecommunications and AI, or to projects that integrate telecommunications with AI services and infrastructure. Their role is to understand challenges in existing business operations and connect them with AI technology to create new business opportunities.

This role shares similarities with Palantir’s FDE (Forward Deployed Engineer), who is stationed directly at client sites to identify customer problems and apply AI and software technologies.

However, SKT’s “Frontier” initiative does not involve creating a separate job category or organizational unit. Instead, it involves flexibly reassigning personnel needed for growth businesses from within existing organizations. Specific details are expected to be finalized during the year-end organizational restructuring.

CEO Jeong emphasized that SKT’s AX (AI Transformation) must go beyond simply improving individual work efficiency and move toward a stage where it transforms work styles and organizational structures.

Telecommunications, AI, and Infrastructure as a Single Growth Engine

In the telecommunications sector, SKT will strengthen AI-based hyper-personalization and AI-friendly autonomous networks.

In AI services, the company will expand into new markets such as defense and public sector AI, industry-specific AI, and “AI for All.” In AI infrastructure, it will expand its data center and submarine cable businesses and accelerate the development of GW-class AI data centers.

The AI Factory, developed in collaboration with NVIDIA, will undergo phased expansion with the goal of launching commercial services next year.

SKT’s strategy is to secure new growth drivers by connecting telecommunications, AI services, and AI infrastructure, while broadening business opportunities in line with the expansion of the token economy.

CEO Jeong stated, “Telecommunications and AI are intertwined and serve as a single growth engine shaping SKT’s future,” adding, “Let’s continue to foster a ‘One Team’ culture that maximizes organizational productivity and synergy based on AX and accelerates our growth.”