SK Telecom launches service to block unwanted roaming connections

SK Telecom will launch a free add-on service that blocks customers from connecting to roaming networks in countries they have not authorized.

The company announced Thursday the release of "T Roaming Safe Country," a free supplementary service for its subscribers.

T Roaming Safe Country checks whether roaming is permitted in a given country the moment a customer first attempts to connect to a foreign mobile network. If roaming has not been authorized for that country, the connection is blocked, reducing the risk of unintended charges or fraudulent use.

SK Telecom said it strengthened its security framework by adding a customer-controlled roaming permission feature on top of its existing Fraud Detection System, which monitors and blocks abnormal authentication attempts in real time.

The service comes in two versions — automatic and manual — to suit different usage patterns.

The automatic mode requires no advance country setup before each trip abroad. When a customer attempts to connect to a foreign network, the system analyzes factors such as whether the customer visited an airport before departure and the details of the foreign network connection, then determines whether the roaming attempt reflects a legitimate trip. If so, the connection is allowed.

The manual mode lets customers designate specific countries where they want roaming to be available. Roaming works only in pre-selected countries, and if no countries are registered, all overseas roaming connections are blocked.

The automatic mode suits customers who travel frequently for business or visit multiple countries, while the manual mode works better for those who regularly return to the same destination. Customers can sign up through the T World website, the T World app or the T Roaming customer center.

"On top of our always-on security system that detects and blocks anomalies in real time, we have launched T Roaming Safe Country to filter out roaming connections that customers never wanted," said Yoon Jae-woong, head of SK Telecom's Product & Brand division. "We will continue to expand customer-focused safety services so that our customers can use telecommunications services without worry, whether at home or abroad."

Meanwhile, SK Telecom extended through year-end a "T Roaming Data Add-on" promotion it launched in September for customers traveling overseas. The promotion offers up to 16 gigabytes of additional data to subscribers on its Baro plan. At the time of the extension announcement, cumulative users of the company's family roaming service had surpassed 5.05 million.