Vodafone Roams in South Korea

TOKYO -- Vodafone K.K. announces today that starting 7 June 2005 it will offer roaming services on SK Telecom Co., Ltd.'s W-CDMA network for its 3G customers* (1), making it possible for them to use in South Korea the handsets that they normally use at home. The agreement marks the first time for an operator in Japan to offer roaming in South Korea on a W-CDMA network* (2).

Vodafone K.K.'s Global Roaming Service lets customers use Vodafone K.K. 3G handsets* (1) in countries and regions abroad in addition to Japan. Previously, customers traveling to South Korea had to rent dedicated CDMA handsets to roam on local CDMA networks. With the opening of W-CDMA networks in South Korea, however, it is now possible for customers using Vodafone K.K. 3G handsets to take their handsets for use in South Korea, a top-ranking travel destination for Japan residents with over 2.4 million travelers visiting in 2004* (3).

With this new W-CDMA roaming agreement in South Korea, Vodafone K.K. 3G customers will be able to enjoy voice roaming services in 117 countries and regions, and Vodafone live! services in 53 of them as of 7 June 2005. In fiscal 2004, customer usage Vodafone K.K.'s Global Roaming Service was an approximate 850,000 times, more than double the number of the previous year, which was an approximate 390,000 times in fiscal 2003.

Vodafone K.K. will continue to expand its roaming network overseas to offer richer global communications to customers.

*(1) Vodafone 902/802/702 series handsets, excluding the 802N. Service area in South Korea is limited to within Seoul.
*(2) As of 30 May 2005, according to Vodafone K.K.
*(3) According to 2004 data from the Japan National Tourist Organization (JNTO).

Vodafone K.K.