Globe beats rival telcos with LTE roaming function

MANILA, Philippines—Globe Telecom Inc. of the Ayala group has beaten rival mobile networks in offering subscribers roaming services using the next generation of high-speed wireless communication standard.

Subscribers may now enjoy the same high speed Long-Term Evolution (LTE) mobile data services abroad with the help of Globe’s partner operators overseas.

Globe initially partnered with China Mobile Hong Kong Co. Ltd. for the LTE data roaming service and would soon launch the same service with SK Telecom in Korea.

In a statement, Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu said that “the company leverages on our strong partnership with the two carriers to make the LTE data roaming experience seamless for our postpaid subscribers who will be the first to access the superior browsing experience from this service.”

The two operators are the first of many in the pipeline as Globe expands its LTE data roaming coverage.

LTE data plans offer significantly higher connection speeds compared with existing third-generation (3G) platforms for mobile phone users.

“We are also working with IPX providers Sybase, Aicent, Syniverse, Citic, Tata and BICs to allow us to scale up our LTE roaming partnerships with operators from Australia, Singapore, US, Japan, Canada and the Middle East. We look forward to reaching these countries in the coming months,” Cu said.

“We are very pleased to be the first operator to launch the LTE data roaming service with Globe in Hong Kong. We look forward to Globe subscribers traveling in Hong Kong to roam with us and enjoy our superb high-speed 4G LTE network,” China Mobile Hong Kong Co. Ltd. CEO Sean Lee said.

Globe was the first to introduce 4G technology in the Philippines in 2009, with the deployment of its Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) network.

Last year, Globe was also first to launch 4G Evolved High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) network.

Last week, Globe’s chief rival Smart Communications announced similar roaming plans for LTE subscribers.

According to Smart, discussions are now ongoing with Japan’s NTT Docomo, Hong Kong’s Hutchison Telecommunications, South Korea’s KT Corp. and Singapore’s StarHub.

Smart started offering LTE services commercially in the Philippines late last September.

Globe’s own domestic LTE services will officially begin on October 28 as its “Tattoo Black” Internet sticks become commercially available.