SK Telecom announced that it has teamed up with Cisco Systems International to develop new solutions for the Internet of Things technology that connects all machines via the Web. The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding at SKT's Seoul headquarters. The new solutions would combine SKT's ThingPlug, an IoT platform that allows different devices and mobile apps to work together, and Cisco's infrastructure application technology Fog Computing that offers real-time data analysis.

They also plan to jointly develop mobile apps and sensors that would be running on the solutions. SKT said the agreement comes in preparation for data traffic surge when the next fifth-generation network service is commercialized by 2020. The company said the new solutions aim to reduce data traffic by processing information real-time rather than sending it to cloud servers that are remotely located.