Swisscom has signed its first roaming agreements with South Korea’s SK Telecom and Finland’s Elisa, enabling its customers to use high-speed mobile networks while traveling abroad.
From July 17, Swisscom customers with 5G-capable phones will be able to access 5G data services in Finland, and by the end of the month 5G roaming will be available in South Korea.
Both Finland and South Korea are leaders in the rollout of the latest mobile network generation. South Korea already operates more than 62,000 5G base stations and serves nearly 1.64 million active 5G subscribers. Finland is one of the European front-runners alongside Switzerland in 5G adoption. Switzerland launched commercial 5G in April 2019, and Swisscom aims to extend 5G coverage to 90% of the Swiss population by year-end.
Earlier this month, Telecom Italia (TIM) announced plans to expand 5G deployments across major cities and industrial areas, alongside nationwide digital skills initiatives slated to begin after the summer. TIM has already activated 5G services in Rome and Turin and recently added Naples to the list of cities offering commercial 5G services for households and businesses.
Market analysts also forecast rapid growth in 5G handset shipments. Canalys predicts roughly 800 million 5G smartphones will ship in 2023, representing about 51.4% of all smartphone shipments. The firm projects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 179.9% between 2019 and 2023, with vendors shipping nearly 1.9 billion devices by the end of the forecast period.
Picture credit: (c)iStock.com/assalve
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