SK Telecom rolls out world's 1st 5G roaming service in Europe
A SK Telecom employee tests the firm's 5G roaming service in Switzerland in this photo provided by the company, Tuesday. / Courtesy of SK Telecom
By Jun Ji-hye
SK Telecom (SKT) will begin the world's first fifth-generation (5G) roaming service in Switzerland, Wednesday, in partnership with a local mobile carrier, the company said Tuesday.
The nation's top mobile carrier said users of the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and SKT's 5G subscriber plan will be able to connect to Swisscom's 5G networks when visiting Switzerland after a software upgrade on their smartphones.
The telecom company plans to provide a software upgrade to LG V50 ThinQ users soon so their mobile phones can connect to 5G networks in the European country, the firm said. It will continue to expand the number of countries where its subscribers can use 5G roaming services.
Swisscom is the No. 1 mobile carrier in Switzerland with 6 million subscribers. The company began its 5G service April 17 and currently offers the service in 110 cities including Zurich, Geneva and Bern.
The two companies signed a strategic partnership in May and have carried out various tests to commercialize 5G roaming services.
SKT subscribers will be able to use high-quality data-heavy services such as video streaming as well as AR and VR content through the roaming service in Switzerland, the company said.
“SK Telecom has proved its roaming technology by rolling out the world's first roaming service,” an SKT official said. “We will continue to work to ensure more customers can use faster 5G roaming services.”
LG Uplus said, also on Tuesday, it will begin its roaming service in Finland, Friday, in partnership with Elisa, the top telecom company there.
LG V50 ThinQ owners with LG Uplus' 5G plan will be able to use connect to 5G when visiting Finland, it said.
Meanwhile, KT said it has secured relevant technology to begin international 5G roaming services, noting that it will launch the service within the year.