SK Telecom has built a 5G private network-based smart office with Hana Financial Group and Samsung Electronics, the first in the financial sector.

SKT said on Sept. 28 it has built a 5G private network at Hana Financial Group’s Cheongna headquarters in Cheongna International City, Incheon, and has begun full-scale operations.

A 5G private network is a customized 5G network that a company or institution builds in a specific space using dedicated spectrum. It can be configured as an independent private network, making it suitable for work environments that require security and mobility.

The project covers Hana Financial Group’s Cheongna headquarters, which is being relocated to Cheongna International City in phases starting this month, 10 affiliates and about 3,000 employees. It applies the 5G private network to 16 floors of work and shared spaces at the Cheongna headquarters, shifting a wired-centered work environment to a wireless-based one.

The 5G private network built this time uses spectrum dedicated to Hana Financial Group that was allocated by the Ministry of Science and ICT. It provides a wireless environment separated from external telecommunications networks and allows access only for registered work devices and users through secure SIM-based authentication.

SKT and Hana Financial Group also built a multi-layer security system, including encryption for the 5G wireless section, encryption of subscriber information, firewalls, distributed denial-of-service response and access control. They also used network slicing and physical network separation technologies to set up independent work networks for each affiliate and to enable network operations tailored to each affiliate’s security policies and work characteristics.

Samsung Electronics exclusively supplied enterprise core and radio solutions for the 5G private network. Dedicated equipment for the private network supports security and network stability.

SKT also secured network scalability in consideration of future AI-based work services and expanded use of data. It designed the system to integrate monitoring of usage and faults through a centralized network management system and to link with smart buildings, intelligent access control, AI CCTV, mobile employee IDs and AI services for work.

Kim Ku-young (김구영), head of SKT’s enterprise business division, said the Hana Financial Group smart office is an AI transformation case that supports innovation in how the financial sector works by combining SKT’s capabilities in 5G, security and operations. He said SKT will expand its enterprise AI transformation business to innovate work environments and business processes across industries, including finance.

Park Keun-young (박근영), chief executive of Hana Financial TI, said the smart office is a future-oriented work environment that enables group employees to communicate and collaborate without space constraints while complying with financial security regulations. He said it will accelerate innovation in how the group works by proactively responding to expanded AI- and data-centered work.