SK Telecom Checks Network Ahead of Busan Fireworks Festival, Uses AI to Manage Customer-Perceived Quality

More than 1.2 million expected to gather around Gwangalli Beach on November 7

SK Telecom employees install and inspect mobile base stations ahead of the festival. Provided by SKT.

SK Telecom said on November 5 that it had prepared special measures to maintain network quality at the event venue, where large crowds are expected, ahead of the 21st Busan Fireworks Festival, which will be held around Gwangalli Beach in Busan on November 7.

The company will add a "perceived quality satisfaction rate" metric to its existing AI-based operations system to measure the quality experienced by customers. By combining this with location data analyzed using AI, it plans to manage network quality in detail by event area and service type.

The perceived quality satisfaction rate measures the proportion of time service quality remains above a set threshold while customers use a service. It provides a comprehensive picture of the quality customers experience, including whether webpages and content are delivered smoothly without data loss or transmission delays.

The analysis will also be more precise. SK Telecom will analyze locations where quality has deteriorated using grid-based Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates to pinpoint problem areas. AI will also use location data to determine whether customers are traveling by KTX or subway, or whether they are at home, allowing the company to monitor and manage quality based on the circumstances in which customers actually use services (TPO).

The Busan Fireworks Festival will take place around Gwangalli Beach on November 7 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Attendance is expected to exceed 1.2 million this year, following 1.03 million in 2024 and 1.17 million last year. For this year's festival, SK Telecom plans to manage network quality based on the perceived quality satisfaction rate, taking into account the characteristics of each event area, expected crowd sizes, and the types of services used.

In addition to Gwangalli Beach, SK Telecom will install temporary network facilities, including mobile base stations, in Marine City, where the festival can also be viewed, to prepare for concentrated network traffic. The company will operate an emergency response system from the morning of November 7, the day of the event, until the crowds have dispersed, deploying around 100 people from SK Telecom, SK O&S, and partner companies.

Jo Wook, head of SK Telecom's Eastern Network Division, said, "Since the fireworks festival draws a large crowd to one place, we will add the perceived quality satisfaction rate metric to our existing AI solutions and carefully monitor the actual quality customers experience."

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