Samsung Electronics has signed contracts with KT and SK Telecom to supply equipment and technology for their AI RAN projects. The agreements place Samsung in the role of sole global vendor for KT and main vendor for SK Telecom. Both projects operate under the Ministry of Science and ICT’s Hyper AI Network initiative.
Background on the Partnerships
The contracts rest on decades-long partnerships between Samsung and the two carriers. KT and SK Telecom previously worked with Samsung on conventional radio access network equipment. The new agreements shift the emphasis to AI-driven optimization and automation inside the radio access layer.
The Hyper AI Network program supplies the policy framework. It directs domestic carriers to accelerate the use of artificial intelligence in network operations. Samsung’s selection follows directly from that directive.
Specific Roles Assigned
KT named Samsung its only global vendor. This arrangement gives the carrier one primary point of contact across the full scope of its AI RAN rollout. SK Telecom named Samsung its main vendor while retaining room for secondary suppliers.
Samsung will deliver the core systems needed to embed AI capabilities into the radio access network. The ministry’s initiative supports these deployments through its stated goals for domestic infrastructure modernization.
Technical Shift from Prior Work
Earlier collaborations focused on standard RAN hardware and software. The current projects require systems that place AI functions directly in the radio access layer for optimization and automation. This changes how base stations and controllers behave in live networks.
The announcement confirms Samsung as the primary supplier for both projects. No other global vendors appear in the KT selection. The contracts were signed after the ministry asked carriers to move faster on AI adoption in network operations.
Why it matters
The selection gives Samsung a direct route to install and test its AI RAN features on operating Korean networks. KT gains a single accountable supplier, which reduces the number of integration points and the risk of disputes over interfaces between different vendors’ equipment. SK Telecom keeps a primary partner while preserving the option to add other suppliers later.
This structure favors Samsung’s existing product lines and software stack. The company can scale its AI RAN capabilities on networks it already understands from prior deployments. The ministry’s preference for established domestic suppliers concentrates the early work with one firm that has long supplied both carriers.
Operators and equipment buyers outside Korea will watch the Korean deployments to see how the resulting architecture performs. If the same AI RAN approach later appears in Samsung’s export offerings, it will have been shaped by these specific contracts. If it remains tailored to the Korean market, buyers elsewhere will need separate evidence of its maturity.
The outcome locks Samsung into the leading position for the next phase of base station and controller upgrades inside Korea. Carriers that must deal with the company on future AI RAN purchases now have a concrete reference point from these two projects.
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