LG has announced that two of its handsets, the LG-KM560 and LG-KP330, have been selected to spearhead the GSM Association's (GSMA) Horizon Phone initiative.

These LG handsets are the first 3G models that can automatically roam in 220 countries, as they support all three WCDMA bands (850, 1900 and 2100MHz) as well as conventional GSM bands.

With other handsets it is not possible to roam across regions that use different frequencies, as mobile phones typically only support one or two bands.

The GSMA created the Horizon Phone initiative to provide a range of multi-frequency mobile broadband handsets that will meet the needs of customers around the world, while promoting more widespread adoption of the 850MHz frequency.

This competition is the first phase in the initiative and the LG-KM560 and LG-KP330 were selected by a panel of experts from six leading operators including Telstra, Telenor, Rogers Wireless, Telefonica Movile, Cable & Wireless International, and Entel PCS, according to the GSMA.

LG will initially make the LG-KM560 and LG-KP330 available through the six operators and others that helped select the phones, in the second half of 2008. It will later introduce the handsets across Europe, Asia and Latin America.