SK Telecom launched its Long Term Evolution international roaming networks in Canada and Switzerland on Thursday in partnership with Rogers and Swisscom.

SK Telecom’s LTE and LTE-A subscribers can now use roaming services in major Canadian cities including Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton.

As most of the LTE and LTE-A handsets to be rolled out from this month will work on the 2.6 GHz bandwidth, the services will be available in a number of countries including Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Switzerland and Canada. The company said it expected the new roaming services to serve as a solid base for expanding its global LTE roaming footprint in Europe and the Americas.

“Since launching the world’s first LTE international roaming in Hong Kong, SK Telecom has continued to make efforts to expand its LTE roaming coverage to allow customers to enjoy seamless LTE service while traveling overseas,” said Kim Young-sup, SK Telecom’s senior vice president and collaboration marketing chief.

“SK Telecom is also in talks with mobile carriers in Japan, China and the U.S. to launch LTE international roaming in those countries.”

Korea’s top two telecom carriers, KT and SK Telecom, have vied for more coverage of LTE international services. KT said the company was also preparing to launch such services in the Americas soon, to add to its current networks in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and Switzerland.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)