LG U+ Targets the Travel Platform Market Beyond Roaming Services [Korea-Japan Telecoms 1]
IT DAILY ·
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A 500 yen coupon payment through an LG U+ and KDDI partnership roaming pass was actually confirmed at a Lawson convenience store in Tokyo.
LG U+ ran a pilot service with Japan's KDDI from June through the end of August and offered local partnership benefits such as Don Quijote and Lawson.
Ahead of its official launch in October, LG U+ has joined the WanderJoy Travel Alliance and is pushing a global membership system that lets travelers use local benefits while traveling abroad.
In August, a real-world example of the local discount benefit from the LG U+ and KDDI partnership was confirmed at a Lawson convenience store in Tokyo, Japan. While paying for a drink at a Lawson store in central Tokyo, the customer presented a 500 yen coupon on a smartphone instead of paying in cash, and the transaction was completed. The coupon was worth 500 yen (about KRW 4,300).
The coupon is part of the benefits included in the LG U+ and KDDI partnership roaming pass. The roaming pass offers benefits such as taxis, shopping, and day tours. Photos were taken and provided by Seong Won-young.
Based on these benefits, LG U+ aims to expand beyond a roaming-centered service into one centered on travel experiences. To that end, LG U+ has joined the global telecom consortium 'WanderJoy Travel Alliance.' The membership announcement date is the 30th.
WanderJoy Travel Alliance is a global telecom collaboration platform for sharing benefits owned by telecom operators by country, and only one operator per country can join. LG U+ has now joined as a new member.
WanderJoy Travel Alliance includes KDDI in Japan, Singtel in Singapore, HKT in Hong Kong, AIS in Thailand, Taiwan Mobile in Taiwan, Globe in the Philippines, Telkomsel in Indonesia, and Optus in Australia. These member countries account for about 60% of the countries visited by LG U+ customers.
LG U+ plans to analyze travel patterns based on customer data and operational experience, and to jointly develop benefits with local partners. Through this, it aims to expand its Korea-centered membership services overseas and build a global membership system that allows customers to use shopping, tourism, transportation, and other benefits provided by local telecom operators while traveling abroad.
The service is scheduled for an official launch in October. Nine telecom operators will participate in a structure that lets members exchange benefits across operators on a single platform, and benefits can be used within each operator's app. LG U+ customers can use the related benefits in the app they use, U+ ONE.
Before that, LG U+ operated a pilot service with Japanese telecom operator KDDI from June through the end of August ahead of the official launch. The pilot service targeted roaming pass subscribers who applied during the pilot period, and local partnership benefits in Japan were offered to them on a trial basis. The trial benefits included Don Quijote discount coupons, Lawson convenience store discounts, GO taxi discounts, Fuji Mountain one-day tour benefits, and Newoman shopping mall discount coupons.
A case of a Korean tourist visiting Don Quijote in Tokyo and making a purchase using a discount coupon was also introduced. The discount condition at Don Quijote was purchases of 1万円 (about KRW 86,000) or more, with a maximum discount of 10%. The photo credit goes to Seong Won-young.
LG U+'s pilot service was run by delivering partnership benefits via MMS, and customers used coupons through the URL sent by LG U+. Over three months, coupon downloads exceeded 10,000, and 9 out of 10 customers who downloaded coupons were found to have actually used the Don Quijote and Lawson discounts.
At Don Quijote, a frequent shopping destination for Korean tourists, purchases were made using discount coupons. The discount condition was purchases of 1万円 (about KRW 86,000) or more, and the discount rate was up to 10%. By age group, customers in their 40s accounted for the largest share at 34.8%, followed by those in their 30s at 24.8%, those in their 50s at 18.6%, and those in their 20s at 15.7%.
However, customer feedback confirmed that when delivered via MMS, it was difficult to find the coupon again at the moment of use. LG U+ plans to launch the official service by reflecting the usage data and customer feedback collected during the pilot operation.
Ahead of the official launch in October, LG U+ unveiled the benefit-service lineup by major country. In Japan (KDDI), it will offer GO taxi and Don Quijote; in Singapore (Singtel), Grab and Sentosa Resort; and in Thailand (AIS), Grab and Thai hand massage benefits. In Hong Kong (HKT), the lineup includes Ez Taxi and Watsons, while in Taiwan (Taiwan Mobile) it includes Taichung Bakery and KKDAY activities, and in the Philippines (Globe) it includes Jollibee and Klook benefits.
The LG U+ officials quoted in the discussion included Im Hye-kyung, who oversees rate plans and products; Choi Pyeong-gyu, head of the roaming product team; and Ryu Byeong-cheol, head of the loyalty marketing team. In the Q&A with them, the need to install a separate app was raised as a question.
LG U+ said that no separate app installation is needed. LG U+ customers will continue using the existing U+ ONE, and when the official service launches in October, 'WanderJoy' will be displayed on the U+ ONE app's launch screen.
The first launch-screen UI will differ by country, but after a travel destination is selected, the screen will be configured as the same UI on the WanderJoy platform. The WanderJoy platform provides a function that guides users to locally available coupons, and LG U+ said it aims to offer the service with a focus on convenience so that it can be used without separate learning.
As overseas travel continues to rise, overseas data usage methods are rapidly diversifying from telecom roaming-centered services to digital-based services such as eSIM. According to Consumer Insight's '2026 First-Half Mobile Telecommunications Planning Survey,' the eSIM usage rate rose 8 percentage points (p) in one year, from 28% in the first half of 2025 to 36% in the first half of 2026. The eSIM usage rate in the first half of 2026 surpassed the telecom roaming usage rate for the first time.
With these changes, customer service experience during overseas stays is emerging as a key competitive factor, replacing the network quality and pricing competition that had been the main drivers in the existing market. LG U+ joined the 'WanderJoy Travel Alliance' as a new strategy to expand customer touchpoints with global operators.
During the service preparation process, language issues arising from cooperation among 9 telecom operators emerged as a challenge. Accordingly, translation processing and mutual review procedures were carried out.
In terms of design, each country's customers were made able to use the WanderJoy platform in their own language. However, rather than standardizing all app screens at once, the app's entry screen was configured differently by country.
Instead, after selecting a travel destination, the WanderJoy platform screen was unified. Local service benefits were made available through a coupon barcode method.
Going forward, the company plans to expand domestic benefits for the growing number of foreign tourists. To this end, it is discussing matters with various partners, and LG U+ will build a partner ecosystem in the K-beauty, K-fashion, and K-mobility fields centered on areas frequently visited by foreign travelers. The timing of the specific partner lineup announcement will be the official launch in October, and LG U+ said it sees a mutually beneficial partnership environment as a new opportunity to introduce domestic brands to global customers and create new growth opportunities.
Source: IT DAILY · Seong Won-young
Original: https://www.itdaily.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=241285
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Source: IT DAILY
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