South Korean 3G Roaming Expanded

South Korea's SK Telecom has announced the launch of its WCDMA Automatic Roaming Service in Italy and France. Like the existing CDMA Automatic Roaming service, SK Telecom subscribers traveling to these countries can now send and receive WCDMA cellular calls while using the same number and handset (SCH-W120) they used in Korea. SK Telecom's video telephony roaming service is currently available in France. This service will also be introduced into Italy by the end of this year.

Last June SK Telecom launched a commercial WCDMA Automatic Roaming Service (including a video telephony roaming service) in Japan in a joint effort with Vodafone. The company also released the same service in Hong Kong last July, and in Singapore last August. The company is steadily expanding this commercial service area into countries in which a number of Korean travelers and businesspersons visit.

By the end of this year, SK Telecom plans to introduce a commercial WCDMA Automatic Roaming Service in Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands.

SK Telecom is currently offering the commercial WCDMA service in Seoul, and plans to stretch the service coverage to the metropolitan area and major cities by the end of this year. The company also plans to extend the service area to 84 cities nationwide by the second half of 2006. The number of SK Telecom's Automatic Roaming Service users reached 560,000 in 2003, and 1.12 million in 2004. The number is expected to greatly increase every year, as it has already reached 1.7 million so far this year."

Posted to the site on 28th November 2005