Telecom Giants Collaborate on LLMs for Customer Service

SK Telecom, Deutsche Telekom, e& Group, Singtel, and SoftBank have joined forces to establish the Global Telco AI Alliance (GTAA) with the aim of developing Large Language Models (LLMs) customized specifically for the telecommunications industry.

At the inaugural meeting of the alliance, key figures such as SK’s Chairman Chey Tae-won, SKT’s CEO Ryu Young-sang, Deutsche Telekom’s CEO Tim Höttges, DT’s Board Member for Technology & Innovation Claudia Nemat, e& Group’s Group CEO Hatem Dowidar, Singtel Group’s CEO Yuen Kuan Moon, and SoftBank’s CISO Tadashi Iida were present.

The primary focus of the LLMs created by the alliance is to enhance customer interactions for telcos through the utilization of digital assistants and chatbots. These models are being designed to cater to multiple languages including Korean, English, German, Arabic, and Japanese, with provisions for additional languages to be incorporated based on the requirements of the founding members.

Compared to generic LLMs, telco-specific LLMs excel in deciphering user intent. The models are currently undergoing optimization processes where data from telcos’ customer service interactions is being used to fine-tune the models for telco-specific queries.

The targeted training being implemented is geared towards ensuring that the LLMs comprehend the distinct language and demands of telecom operators, thereby setting the stage for improved, personalized, and efficient customer experiences. According to SKT’s CEO Ryu Young-sang, “We as telcos need to develop tailored LLM for the telco industry to make telco operations more efficient, which is a low-hanging fruit. Our ultimate goal is to discover new business models by redefining relationships with customers.”