LIVE FROM DTW 2024, COPENHAGEN: Members of the Global Telco AI Alliance (GTAA) fleshed out details of a JV focussed on developing large language models (LLMs) for telecoms, which is nearing an official launch.

The JV was announced at MWC Barcelona 2024 and is one of the first projects under the GTAA since its formation in July 2023.

Ahead of the launch, executives from founders e&, Singtel, SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom took to the stage here to discuss what they expect from telco-specific LLMs, along with future plans for the alliance, which also counts SoftBank Corp as a member.

Harrison Lung, group CSO at e& (pictured, centre) said the initiative is really designed to “identify and solve telco specific use cases”, employing data generated by the quintet of operators in the various markets they cover.

Referring to e&, he noted it operates in 16 different markets globally, where various languages are spoken and customer bases are diverse.

“The idea is to have the telco LLM asset solve various topics and issues within these markets,” he said.

Going forward, Lung said it planned to extend this asset to new business models, helping other organisations and companies “who are even less advanced and even clueless about AI”.

As a telecom and technology company, he said e& wants to use AI capabilities across its wider assets, for example within streaming service Starzplay and taxi booking app Careem, to create more personalised services for users.

Expansion
Jan Hofmann, head of AI competence centre at Deutsche Telekom (pictured, second from left) opened the door on offering the LLM beyond the footprints of its current members.

SG Chung, chief AI global officer at SK Telecom (pictured, right), also said he expected the alliance to include other telcos and technology partners in the future, adding aggregating efforts would leave operators better placed to improve customer service interactions through AI.