Vodafone Portugal and Vodafone Spain on carried out the world’s first 5G connection in roaming mobility on a route between Tui (Spain) and Valença (Portugal), with Spanish cities Coruña and Vigo benefiting from this technology until the summer.

The 5G connection, which Ericsson as its technological partner, was carried out during a trip of around 7 km between Tui and Valença do Minho, with two professional video game players – including Portuguese player Ricardo ‘Fox’ Pacheco – played with Vodafone’s mobile network without any connection interruptions during the journey.

BICS was the first to launch 5 G intercontinental roaming and enabled Europe’s first 5G roaming service in 2019. Reinforcing its leadership position, at MWC Shanghai this year BICS announced the addition of borderless 5G capabilities to its SIM for Things.

BICS has launched 5G data roaming services between the Austrian operator, Three Austria, and Swiss telecommunications company, Sunrise UPC, leveraging its 5G global IPX network.

BICS said the development is a “major advancement” in the roll-out of global 5 G roaming within Europe, adding that download speeds will be “multiples times faster” than those of previous 4G roaming.

Frederic Salmon, CCO of BICS said: “By enhancing 5G inter-operator connectivity, BICS is fully supporting mobile operators in their post-Covid growth strategies through new technology rollouts.

“5G deployment is ready for a return to growth. 5G roll-outs are advancing at a faster rate than seen with previous mobile connectivity generations. Leveraging our unrivalled global IPX network reach, BICS can help operators harness the power of new 5G use cases across the consumer and enterprise markets, by providing borderless, next-generation connectivity for data-hungry subscribers, companies and devices.”

Current Availability and Future Expansion

Currently, many major telecom providers have 5G roaming agreements covering significant travel hubs, especially in Europe, parts of Asia, and North America. Coverage is often strongest in urban and business-centric areas. Expansion continues as more networks and destinations are added, with a focus on providing seamless 5G roaming experiences as the technology matures.