Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

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Japan KDDI to offer phone with global data roaming


TOKYO (Reuters) - KDDI Corp, Japan's second-largest telecoms operator, unveiled a new mobile phone on Wednesday that would for the first time allow its users to send and receive e-mail while overseas, starting in South Korea.

The new phone comes on the heels of smaller rival Vodafone Holdings KK's efforts to promote its global service in conjunction with British parent Vodafone Group Plc.

KDDI said users would initially only be able to send and receive e-mail or surf the Web in South Korea. But it also plans to establish roaming partners for data in other countries with operators that offer similar networks based on Qualcomm Inc's CDMA2000 1X technology.

The company already has roaming agreements for voice services with operators in 12 countries or regions such as the United States, China, South Korea, Canada and Australia.

The new phone, made by Sanyo Electric Co Ltd, will hit stores in May and include features such as an FM radio tuner, navigation system, digital camera, voice recorder and Japanese-English/English-Japanese dictionary.

South Korea's SK Telecom started offering a similar roaming service to its subscribers while in Japan in February, KDDI said.


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