ASIA : SK Telecom Has Successfully Completed the World's First Test of a Wireless Data Roaming Service

- NATE Service has been connected between the Beijing, Shanghai, Tenjin and Yeongil regions.

- Real-time photo mail, and stock trading services, will be available by October of this year.

"Mr. Kim, a university student, sends a picture of the Great Wall of China taken on the spot, to his friend in Korea. Mr. Ko, a businessman in Beijing, receives a birthday congratulation photo mail sent by his son in Seoul by cellular phone, and feels very happy."

"Mr. Won, a mountain climber, does real-time stock trading via his cellular phone, while on top of Baekdu Mountain. Assistant Manager Park, who is taking a business trip in Shanghai, receives e-mails from Korea via his cellular phone. This is accomplished without the bother of connecting to the Internet."

"Soon you can make voice calls, and enjoy a variety of data services anywhere in China, by using NATE through your original handset and the same number you use in Korea."

On September 30th, SK Telecom announced that the company has successfully completed the world's first Wireless Data Roaming Test between Korea and China. The Wireless Data Service Test has been carried out in Beijing, Shanghai, Tenjin, Yeongil (including Baekdu Mountain), and their neighboring regions.

In this regard, SK Telecom's 011 and 017 subscribers will be able to enjoy voice call automatic roaming, Short Message Service (SMS), Calling Number Identification Service, and many other data services while in China, by October of this year.

In order to offer Data Roaming Service between Korea and China, China Unicom will authenticate SK Telecom subscribers' handsets through its CDMA2000 1x network, and then provide interconnectivity with SK Telecom's NATE, a wireless Internet portal site.

Upon completing the discussion regarding billing principles and a network optimization plan between SK Telecom and China Unicom, 011 and 017 subscribers can enjoy a vast array of NATE information services such as News, weather broadcasting, e-mail, etc. Further, they will be allowed to access interesting content and multimedia services such as Picture Mate, My Bell, games, and Photo Mail, as well as interactive services such as stock trading.

If customers use camera-installed handsets, they can transmit pictures taken in China to Korea via their cellular phones. They can also send and receive pictures with e-mail, by using the 'Photo Mail Service'.

Moreover, customers will be informed of the arrival of e-mail through 'SMS'. Thus, they can check and reply to e-mails via their cellular phones, while on business trips.

If the customers want to use notebook computers to access NATE data services, they can use high-speed wireless data services at the maximum speed of 153.6 Kbps, by connecting notebook computers with their handsets. SK Telecom will also offer such multimedia services as VOD and MOD, by the end of this year.

Byung Keun Park, head of SK Telecom's Customer Planning Division, said, "When the Data Roaming Service is available between Korea and China, SK Telecom customers can conveniently use a wide range of data services in China. In the near future, we will expand the service area to Kwangzou, Chintao, Seunyang and Taren". "SK Telecom plans to furnish Data Roaming Service in two or three countries in addition to china by the end of this year", he added.

The Data Roaming Service rate will likely be fixed at an economical level due to the fact that this service uses the international public Internet network, while the voice roaming service uses the international telephone network.

Any customer who uses a NATE Service-enabled handset, can enjoy this service after setting their handsets to voice automatic roaming mode. For further information, customers can direct an inquiry to the SK Telecom Automatic Roaming Customer Center (1566-2011).

SK Telecom first launched Automatic Roaming Service in the 7 major cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzou, Kwangzou, Kunming, Urumuchi, and Hainandao in China, in May of 2002. In November of 2002, the company expanded its service area to 43 cities including Tenjin, Chintao, Seunchun, and Seunyang. SK Telecom offered the service to an additional 30 cities in May of this year. Today, customers are allowed to use the service in a total of 162 cities in 22 provinces of China.

SK Telecom is Currently providing CDMA Automatic Roaming Service in 10 regions. These are the U.S., China, Japan, Thailand, Canada, Hong Kong, Saipan Island, Australia, New Zealand, and Guam. The company is also offering 'Written Message Automatic Roaming Service' to its customers in 6 regions that include Guam, Saipan Island, Japan, China, Thailand and Hong Kong. At the same time, free SK Telecom Calling Number Identification Service for the company's cellular subscribers is provided in 7 regions that include the U.S, China, Thailand, Guam, Saipan Island, Hong Kong and New Zealand.