LG Uplus said on Saturday it launched its overseas free calling service, 'ixi-O (ixio) roaming call', starting in Japan, and will expand the service to 100 countries in the second half of the year.

Ixio roaming call is a service that lets users of the ixio AI calling app make voice calls on a U+ roaming plan or over Wi-Fi without the burden of international call charges. LG Uplus said it planned the service to reduce the cost of calls incurred while travelling overseas or on business trips and to provide a calling environment similar to that in South Korea.

LG Uplus said an analysis of a survey of customers who used roaming services in the past year found a clear tendency overseas to refrain from voice calls and instead use messenger calls, due to cost burdens and uncertainty over use.

Ixio roaming call will expand its service coverage to about 100 countries globally in the second half of the year, starting with Japan. LG Uplus said it will expand the service in stages while checking service stability, focusing on regions with high demand among South Korean users such as Southeast Asia, China and Europe, taking into account differences in network environments by country.

LG Uplus said it conducted quality checks with overseas telecom operators to launch the service. It said it conducted prior verification to secure stable call quality even in roaming environments and to ensure ixio's key functions operate smoothly.

Choi Yoon-ho (최윤호), head of LG Uplus' AI Business Group and an executive director, said, "We will continue to advance AI-based calling services so that customers can make calls without burden and use services safely anywhere at home and abroad, including in roaming environments."