LG Uplus is introducing an overseas free-call service, "ixi-O Roaming Call," in Japan. The company plans to expand the service to about 100 countries, including Southeast Asia, China and Europe, in the second half of the year.
LG Uplus said Friday that it is launching the ixi-O Roaming Call service for users of its AI calling app "ixi-O," allowing them to make voice calls overseas without the burden of international call charges.
ixi-O Roaming Call is designed to let customers who have subscribed to a U+ roaming plan or are connected to a Wi-Fi environment make calls without concern to family, acquaintances and business contacts in Korea while staying abroad. According to the company, no separate international call charges apply, which reduces the burden of voice calls during overseas travel or business trips.
Telecom users tend to refrain from making ordinary voice calls overseas due to uncertainty over charges and how to use the service. In a qualitative survey and customer experience analysis conducted early this year among customers who had used roaming services within the past year, LG Uplus repeatedly found opinions such as "I rarely use regular calls because I worry the fees will be expensive" and "I wish I could make calls right away, just like in Korea, without any separate setup." In response, LG Uplus designed ixi-O Roaming Call with a focus on providing a calling environment similar to that in Korea while abroad. The service will first begin in Japan and then be sequentially expanded during the second half of the year to Southeast Asia, China and Europe, where demand among Korean users is high.
Because call quality can vary depending on the network environment in each country, LG Uplus also conducted advance quality checks in cooperation with overseas carriers. "ixi-O Roaming Call is a service designed so that customers can continue the calling experience they use in Korea even while abroad," said Choi Yoon-ho, head of LG Uplus's AI Business Group. "We will continue to advance AI-based calling services, including the roaming environment, so that customers can make calls without burden and use services safely anywhere, at home or abroad."
