30th May 2006 - SK Telecom announced the launching of a WCDMA Automatic Roaming service in Germany's major cities such as Frankfurt, Hannover and Leipzig. This was accomplished through a joint effort with O2 and E-Plus, which are mobile service providers in Germany.

This WCDMA Automatic Roaming service recently opened in Germany is the third in Europe, and it follows service openings in Italy and France. To date, SK Telecom is offering the service in a total of seven countries jointly with ten local service providers. SK Telecom subscribers traveling to these countries can now send and receive WCDMA cellular calls while using the same number and handset they used in Korea. This service also allows for video telephony roaming.

Service rates range from KRW2,444 to KRW2,826 per minute when users make international voice calls to Korea. If they make video calls to Korea, KRW5,829 per minute will be charged. When making local calls, voice call rates range from KRW1,322 to KRW1,567, and the video call rate is KRW3,153 per minute. When receiving calls from Korea, voice call rates range from KRW366 to KRW402, and KRW 3,720 per minute will be charged for video calls (based on the 1 Euro= KRW1,260). SK Telecom plans to stretch its service area to Asia (the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia), as well as to the area in Europe that includes England, Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark.

The number of SK Telecom's Automatic Roaming service users reached about 2 million in 2005. The number is expected to exceed 2.65 million in 2006, as the number of overseas travelers is expected to grow during the summer vacation and the 2006 World Cup Soccer Games in Germany.

Back to News Reports