KDDI Announces GLOBAL PASSPORT Services to Taiwan
KDDI and Okinawa Cellular Telephone is pleased to announce that in collaboration with Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communications Inc. (APBW), GLOBAL PASSPORT, the global roaming service that enables customers to use their mobile phones overseas will be launched in Taiwan. With this launch of the service in Taiwan, GLOBAL PASSPORT will now cover 12 countries and regions, and approximately 73% of Japanese overseas travelers will be able to take the advantage of the roaming service.
GLOBAL PASSPORT does not require users to fill in special applications or pay optional fees. Users of au services can bring their au handsets overseas and continue to use the number they use in Japan.
Currently, GLOBAL PASSPORT is being provided with nine operators, namely SK Telekom (Korea), Hutchison Telecom (Hong Kong), Verizon Wireless (USA including Hawaiian islands), Guam Cell (Guam and Saipan Islands), Telstra (Australia), Telus Mobility (Canada), Telecom Mobile (New Zealand), China Unicom (China), and CAT (Thailand).
GLOBAL PASSPORT is underway together with CDMA operators in other countries, and going forward, KDDI will expand the coverage area of au handsets overseas further.
Details are as follows.
1. Service Description
Service area
Major cities including Taipei, Hshinchu, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Hwalien, and Taitung.
Communications fees (per minute)
Calls within Taiwan: 70 yen
Calls within Taiwan: 260 yen
International calls from Taiwan to Japan: 330 yen
International calls to destinations other than Japan: 260 yen
Calls to handsets that support GLOBAL PASSPORT: 180 yen
2. Overview of APBW
Company name: Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communications Inc
Representative: CEO Dr. Chungming An
Location: Taipei
Number of employees: Approximately 560 (as of September 2003)
About KDDI Corporation
KDDI Corporation was established in 1984 and is currently the second largest telecommunications company in Japan, providing a comprehensive range of voice, data, IP and mobile services to both business customers and consumers. After merging with KDD and IDO in October, 2000, KDDI serves over 15 million long-distance subscribers, 1.4 million internet subscribers, 13 million mobile subscribers, and 5 million PHS subscribers. KDDI has 34,000 km of highly reliable domestic network infrastructure, in addition to optical submarine cable systems such as TPC-5, Japan-US CN and China-US CN. KDDI also works to develop advanced technology in the areas of radio & mobile, lightwave, multimedia, and Internet communications. The KDDI Group consists of approx 100 companies covering a wide variety of telecommunications-related businesses such as engineering, facility hosting, submarine cable construction, and R&D.For further information, please visit the KDDI Corporation home page at: www.kddi.com/english/index.html