Samsung's Bold Statement at Telecom Event: "Telecom Networks Lack Flexibility in the AI Era"

Kim Woo-jun, President of DX Division, Keynote Speech
Attended Event Hosted by Global Telecom Operators Alliance
Emphasizing 'Data-Friendly, Flexible, Multipurpose'

Kim Woo-jun, President of the Network Business Division at Samsung Electronics DX Division, said on the 1st, "Today's communication networks lack flexibility, are single-purpose, and are not easy to manage or modify," adding, "If the infrastructure does not change, it will pose a significant problem for the telecommunications industry."

Woojun Kim, President and Head of Network Business Division, DX Division, Samsung Electronics

On the same day, President Kim delivered a keynote speech at M360 APAC hosted by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) held at the Westin Chosun Hotel Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul. The event, hosted by KT as the host sponsor, was held under the theme "New Horizons in the AI Era."

President Kim stated that it took a long time for general-purpose technologies that changed the world, such as the steam engine, electricity, and computers, to lead to productivity improvements, and that artificial intelligence (AI) also requires fundamental changes at this point to drive long-term economic growth.

He emphasized, "For general-purpose technologies like AI to enable productivity improvements, infrastructure, processes, and organizations must be changed."

He said, "What empowers AI is data," and added, "How data is collected and utilized, whether our infrastructure is optimized for data utilization, and whether the data utilization environment is optimized are important."

He likened the need for AI-optimized infrastructure to 'hyperscalers' that perform large-scale data processing and big data analysis.

President Kim said, "Today's communication networks lack flexibility, are single-purpose, and are not easy to manage or modify," adding, "This legacy model was simply designed and was suitable for voice or text, but it is not appropriate for a rapidly changing world like today."

He warned that if telecommunications infrastructure does not change, it will become a major problem for the telecommunications industry, stating, "It must have a flexible and unified structure that is data- and AI-friendly."

He suggested, "Communication networks should be usable for various purposes, be flexible, and allow easy control, modification, and addition of functions."