MANILA, Philippines—Major Philippine telecommunications company PLDT’s Smart Communications is bringing 5G roaming services to subscribers in South Africa through partner MTN Global Connect.
MTN GlobalConnect is an MTN operating company for pan-African telecommunication wholesale infrastructure services.
It comes as telcos continue to expand roaming agreements for 5G, the next-generation mobile standard that allows users to access ultra-fast internet, in preparation for the recovery of international travel.
“This partnership with Smart for 5G roaming proves MTN’s commitment to provide excellent services to its travelers as restrictions ease with mass vaccinations,” said Arne Casteleyn, general manager for international roaming at MTN GlobalConnect, in a statement on Thursday (Sept. 16).
Aside from South Africa’s MTN, Smart 5G roaming services also recently went live with Taiwan Mobile; Swisscom in Switzerland; Telia Sweden; Telia Norway; Telia Finland; Telia Denmark; Telekom Deutschland in Germany; Hutchison HK in Hong Kong; AWN in Thailand; Vodafone in Romania; and Proximus in Belgium.
The company’s 5G roaming footprint now includes 50 partners across 34 countries.
“This is part of Smart’s commitment to bring our world-class services to anywhere in the world by expanding our 5G roaming coverage in Africa, after our successful rollout with 50 partners in Europe, USA, Middle East, Australia, and Asia,” Ray Arsenal, assistant vice president and head of roaming, said in the same statement.
“Our goal is to enable our global customers with fast data speeds whenever they access our Smart 5G roaming services through our growing list of international telco partners,” he added.