Orange Partners with Korea’s SK Telecom for commercial 5G roaming service launch

Orange Romania and Orange Wholesale International have partnered with SK Telecom, to launch roaming for 5G as part of both companies’ common objective to roll out international connectivity for 5G mobile subscribers.

SK Telecom is Korea’s largest wireless carrier and a leading 5G service provider. Since the launch of the world’s first 5G roaming service last year, SK Telecom has made continuous efforts to improve customer satisfaction in its 5G roaming services.

The 5G-ready Orange IPX network is able to handle roaming bandwidth requirements, which are 3-times the current demands of 4G/LTE roaming. Orange’s global IPX network can already support mobile operators with high speed, worldwide 5G connectivity and low latency. 5G Roaming completes a wide range of innovative IPX services from Orange, including Voice over LTE (VoLTE) Roaming and an extensive collection of IPX Value-Added Services.

With recent network investments totalling €17billion, Orange is committed to working with businesses to develop their full potential through enriched connectivity and future uses of 5G. Orange strategy is to continuously improve its mobile networks in order to bring innovative and responsible digital applications and offer customers an optimal experience.

Demand for mobile connectivity is surging, due to the rise in ultra-high-definition video, streaming services, virtual or augmented reality, etc. The content and services of the future will require ever more bandwidth and higher speeds. More than three-quarters of mobile data will be video, and that is set to increase five-fold by 2025: 5G data delivery is already starting to rise and it is predicted that in five years, almost half of all mobile data will be delivered to users via 5G.^[i]

5G is a technological leap that is bringing significant transformations to business models for all companies and in all sectors of activity. Orange is supporting companies in their anticipation of application needs and is fully mobilised to support them by developing solutions to meet their needs, and invites MNOs to connect in either Standalone or Non-Standalone mode.

The 5G era brings expectations of faster, better and stronger across a wide range of industries and applications. It promises better coverage and shorter latency whilst being more environmentally friendly. The launch of a 5G roaming service between Europe and Asia allows subscribers from both Orange and SK Telecom to enjoy a new generation of mobile data services and opens up huge potential for future uses enabled by developing 5G capabilities, including IoT and Real-Time services.

Emmanuel Rochas, Chief Executive Officer of Wholesale International at Orange said, “Orange Wholesale International is thrilled to be in partnership with SK Telecom and to be working alongside its colleagues from Orange Romania. Thanks to the innovative qualities of our network, we are able to guarantee the international transit aspect of this collaboration which is so important for achieving the vast potential that 5G offers partners and end-users.”

Han Myung-jin, Vice President and Head of MNO Marketing Group of SK Telecom said, “We are pleased to partner with Orange to expand our 5G roaming coverage in Europe. Our efforts will continue to provide high-quality 5G roaming services to our customers.”

Dorin Odiațiu, Public Affairs, Partnerships and Wholesale Director at Orange Romania said, “Less than a year after the launch of 5G in Romania, a premiere in the Orange Group, Orange Romania extended the service availability beyond the national borders, offering to its clients the best connectivity experience also abroad, through 5G roaming service. We are happy to have a 5G roaming partnership with SK Telecom and will continue our efforts to make available 5G roaming services in a larger footprint worldwide.”

With a global presence as a mobile network operator in 26 countries, Orange is an established leader in the provision of worldwide roaming services, and will continue to work together with SK Telecom to ensure that the growing needs of roaming customers in the Europe and Asia regions are met.