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asia roaming fees

Japan, China and South Korea agree to seek lower international roaming fees

High fees are an obstacle to increased use of such services, communications minister Seiko Noda said.

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International roaming enables people to use their mobile phones outside their countries.

The three ministers, meeting in Tokyo, agreed to ask mobile phone carriers in their countries to lower international roaming fees. The trilateral meeting was the sixth of its kind, after the last one held in Malaysia in 2011.

Since the creation of the ICT meeting among the three North East Asian countries in 2000, Korea has been seeking to hold the meeting annually, but Japan and China were not available for unknown reasons due to domestic situations, according to an official at the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT.

They also agreed to cooperate on technology development and standardize frequency bands to launch fifth-generation, or 5G, mobile communications service as soon as possible.

Roaming fees in Asia

Roaming fees in Asia can vary widely depending on the country and mobile operator, but in general, they are often higher than in Europe and the USA. This is partly due to the higher costs of building and maintaining mobile networks in some Asian countries, as well as regulatory factors that may limit competition in some markets.

For example, a study conducted by the European Union in 2018 found that the average roaming charge for data in Asia was €9.01 per GB, compared to €0.94 per GB in the EU. Similarly, the average roaming charge for voice calls in Asia was €1.58 per minute, compared to €0.23 per minute in the EU.

In contrast, roaming fees in the USA are generally lower than in Asia, although they are still higher than in the EU. According to a report by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2019, the average roaming charge for data in the USA was $7.50 per GB, while the average roaming charge for voice calls was $0.20 per minute.

It’s important to note that these figures are just averages and that roaming fees can vary widely depending on your specific mobile operator and plan, as well as the country or region you are visiting. To avoid unexpected charges, it’s always a good idea to check with your mobile operator before traveling and to consider purchasing a local SIM card or using Wi-Fi whenever possible to avoid high roaming fees.

 

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