Separating Work and Personal Life with a Single Phone: KT to Commercialize 5G 'App Slicing' Within This Year

Joint Technology Development and Verification with Samsung Electronics and Google
Launch of 5G Work Network Rental Egg Service

#. Mr. A, who often works outside the office, has stopped carrying a separate work smartphone. When he launches a work application (app), it automatically connects to a corporate-dedicated 5G network, which is separated from the general internet network. Data for critical apps such as approval processes and video conferencing is prioritized within the network to ensure stable and reliable processing speeds. Once work is complete and he launches personal apps like YouTube, the data connection automatically switches back to the general internet network.

KT is expanding wireless work environment services for enterprise and public sector clients, leveraging its 5G Standalone (SA) infrastructure. The company plans to commercialize enterprise-dedicated 5G-based app slicing within this year and expand its 5G work networks through both rental “Egg” devices and hub-based service models.

On the 17th, KT announced that it will commercialize app slicing within this year, extending enterprise-dedicated 5G services to smartphones. The company is broadening the network slicing technology, which was recently applied to safety management devices such as CCTV systems at the World Fireworks Festival, to smartphone applications. App slicing enables each app on a single smartphone to use a different network: work apps are connected to the enterprise-dedicated 5G network, while personal apps use the general internet. This ensures a separation of work and personal environments within a single device. The 3GPP 5G SA standard technology, known as User Route Selection Policy (URSP), is adopted to allow each app to choose which network slice and data network path to use based on app identification information.

Myoung Yoojae, Senior Vice President of KT Enterprise Service Division, stated, "Even when using a personal smartphone for work, the company's security policies and network segregation can be maintained, enabling employees to perform work without requiring a separate work device. Currently, we are conducting final functionality verification on commercial smartphones in partnership with Samsung Electronics and Google."

The types of 5G work network services are also being diversified. In addition to the “hub-type 5G work network” currently operational at locations such as the Gyeonggi Provincial Government, KT has launched a new “5G Work Network Rental Egg” service, which reduces up-front device acquisition costs and management burdens for clients.

The 5G work network directly links KT's wireless network and clients’ internal networks through dedicated lines, creating a closed network from the device to the internal system and providing an end-to-end (E2E) secure communication channel. There is no need to route through a virtual private network (VPN). The rental Egg service, unlike the existing model where clients purchased Egg devices, allows devices to be rented for a monthly fee, maintaining the convenience of the hub-type service while reducing the administrative burden on clients of managing device inventory and failures. KT offers integrated support—covering everything from activation to device operation and incident response.

In response to the era of artificial intelligence transformation (AX) and quantum computing, KT is developing next-generation B2B network technologies such as post-quantum cryptography (PQC), AI-RAN, autonomous AI security, and AI edge computing. The company aims to proactively address future security threats and build ultra-low latency, high-reliability infrastructure for physical AI applications.

KT is pursuing a phased transition by developing a hybrid approach that combines existing encryption systems with PQC. The AI-RAN technology has already begun demonstrations in manufacturing and port environments as part of the "Hyper-AI Network" project. KT plans to validate the technology further by integrating it with physical AI application services such as industrial painting and transport robots. The company is also establishing systems for “autonomous AI security,” in which AI detects and automatically isolates abnormal signs such as DDoS attacks or device hijacking, and building AI edge-connected systems that utilize over 3,500 telecommunications facilities nationwide as AI computing hubs.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.