World Cup visitors can use GSM service on CDMA handsets 

The GSM Association, the world’s leading wireless industry organisation, has announced the first successful GSM-CDMA inter-standard international roaming. The wireless technology breakthrough was achieved with an unprecedented cooperation between the GSM Association’s Global Roaming Forum (GGRF), Korean CDMA operator Korea Telecom Freetel (KTF) and Bouygues Telecom, which operates the French GSM 1800 network. 

The GGRF is driving inter-standard roaming, and the commercial launch enables KTF to provide roaming services to visiting GSM subscribers from networks with a roaming agreement in place with KTF.

The first of these is Bouygues Telecom. The partnership is pertinent and timely as the French operator’s home country will be defending the FIFA World Cup in this year’s football tournament, hosted in Korea and Japan in the coming months. 

KTF has developed intelligent handsets that accept the visiting GSM SIM card, so all personal information is still available to the roaming client, who also retains his GSM number. With the World Cup kicking off in June, KTF anticipates a potential 100,000 GSM roaming clients during the year. 

Gyusang Jang, vice president of global business for KTF, said: “We would like to extend special thanks to the GGRF for its support and activities in the achievement of international inter-standard roaming. We will continue to actively contribute to the GGRF so that inter-standard roaming can be more broadly spread.” 

Jean-Philippe Aumercier, International Affairs and Roaming Director of Bouygues Telecom, said: “We are delighted to be part of this achievement, and will be working closely with KTF to maximise the potential of this development, and to develop personalised customer care services. We would like to express our thanks to the GGRF and the GSM Association for its dedicated technical support and commercial research, and we look forward to further innovations in 2002.” 

"It is gratifying for the GSM Association that the Global Roaming Forum was 
the catalyst for this wireless industry first," said Rob Conway, CEO the GSM 
Association. "We welcome this positive development - it's good news for our 
members, their consumers and for the industry at large."