The Korean carrier SK Telecom said yesterday that it has deployed virtualized IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) components from Samsung Electronics for its LTE network, and that it will exploit more network functions virtualization (NFV) as it evolves toward 5G.

Specifically, SK Telecom has deployed Samsung's virtual call session control function (vCSCF), which is responsible for VoLTE-related processes including call setup, emergency-call routing, and billing and policy controls.

The virtualized IMS deployment follows a project in August when SK Telecom deployed Samsung's virtual evolved packet core (vEPC) technology. Both the vIMS and vEPC are part of Samsung’s AdaptiV Core product line.

The use of NFV will give SK Telecom the same functionality as its existing, proprietary IMS and EPC hardware but on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) servers. The functions run in the form of virtual machines on a hypervisor, and they can dynamically take computing, memory, and storage resources from a shared pool as needed.

Samsung and SK Telecom also recently announced a proof of concept (PoC) for software defined networking (SDN) technology, scheduled for later this year in the operator’s core network.

In July, SK Telecom and Ericsson said they were teaming up to develop network slicing for the 5G core, a project which would ensconce an element of SDN inside the mobile network.