SKT launches ‘world’s first’ 5G roaming service

 After South Korea became the first country to launch commercial services of the 5G wireless network in April, the country’s biggest mobile carrier has taken it a step further by working with a Swiss counterpart to launch international roaming service on the platform.

SK Telecom announced Tuesday that it will launch “the world’s first” 5G roaming service with Switzerland’s biggest mobile carrier, Swisscom. Those visiting Switzerland will be able to use the service as of Tuesday midnight (Seoul time) via Samsung’s 5G-based smartphone Galaxy S10 5G.

According to the telecom firm, until now no mobile carrier has offered international roaming service using the 5G network.

SKT official tries 5G international roaming service at Swisscom building in Switzerland.SKT

“Unlike the 4G Long Term Evolution network’s roaming service, 5G-based roaming service has never been available in any (other) country,” SKT said in a press release. “It is because only a few countries have launched 5G commercial (services), and each carrier uses different frequencies.”

Switzerland was the first European country to launch 5G commercial services in April and has a highly dense wireless network. According to UK network research firm Open Signal, its 5G network is faster than Korea’s.

Swisscom is the country’s biggest telecom company, with about half the population subscribing to its mobile services. It previously worked with SKT to begin 4G-based roaming services in 2013.

(jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)