KDDI Adds US Roaming

TOKYO -- KDDI and Okinawa Cellular are pleased to announce the August 16 addition of international data roaming services to voice roaming services in the United States and Hawaii for users of GLOBAL PASSPORT, the international roaming service offered by KDDI that enables au mobile handsets used in Japan to be used without modification overseas.

This new service is made possible through KDDI's partnership in the United States with Verizon Wireless, and will be available in areas and regions covered by Verizon.

GLOBAL PASSPORT voice roaming services are now available in 22 countries. International data roaming services, with addition of these 2 new service areas, will now be available in 8 countries and territories overall, including South Korea, China, Thailand, Taiwan, Guam, and Saipan.

Customers using A5514SA and A5505SA handsets, manufactured by Sanyo Electric and enabled for data roaming services, will now be able to exchange e-mail and access the Web, in addition to voice-call services currently offered in the United States and Hawaii, simply by updating to the latest PRL (Preferred Roaming List) before traveling. This does not require any prior application.

In addition to the eight territories now covered by the data roaming service, KDDI plans to expand data roaming availability to other countries where voice roaming is already provided. KDDI continues to work to bring more convenience to users of au mobile phones when they travel overseas.

KDDI Corp.