Customers are increasingly using OTTs such as WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram to make voice, video, or conference calls compared to before. It has impacted the traditional roaming revenues earned by Operators. Customers prefer OTT apps for making calls especially during international roaming or long-distance communications. This is a very significant change in the traditional telecommunication industry.

With the seamless convenience of communicating over WiFi or Public networks during roaming, Subscribers are less dependent on roaming packs provided by their Operators. To avoid paying high roaming charges, they are using OTT apps to stay connected without incurring any significant costs.

Certainly, it’s acting as a big disruption to the telecom revenues earned via Roaming services. On one hand, operators are unable to cut back on their expenditure for maintaining the roaming infrastructure due to regulatory mandates and the obligation to uphold roaming agreements between operators. On the other hand, they are experiencing a significant decline in revenue generated from roaming services.

So, you might be thinking there is no end to this misery and roaming agreements have turned into liabilities for the operators! However, there is a glimmer of hope amidst this gloom.

In this article, we’ll delve into how 5G and IoT are revitalizing roaming agreements, bringing them back to relevance for operators.

Let’s begin with the basics of Roaming and its architecture 

Roaming feature allows Operators to extend their services to users who are outside their home network coverage area. By partnering with other operators, Subscribers can access voice, data, and other mobile services while traveling or outside their home network. Roaming agreements facilitate seamless connectivity and enhance the user experience.

Roaming agreements and connectivity of signaling and bearer between the Operators are required to enable this feature. Connectivity can be direct between the Operators (e.g. between neighboring countries) or it can be via an International Hub (e.g. between countries that are geographically far away).

Operators usually maintain Roaming agreements with more than one Roaming Operator. It allows reliability as well as robustness in the Roaming Connectivity offered to their Home Subscribers.

Home Subscriber activates the International Roaming pack based on the Region/Country of Visit. Roaming pack gets activated in the Subscriber’s package.

Home Subscriber moves to the Roaming Country and switches ON the Mobile. Subscriber chooses either of the two options to register to the Network of Roaming Operators; choose the mobile network automatically or choose an operator manually from the list.

The Roaming Operator checks the identity of the Subscriber before it latches it on the Network. It verifies with the Home Operator, whether the Foreign Subscriber has subscribed to Roaming services or not.

Roaming Operator checks with the Home Subscriber’s HLR or HSS using the Subscriber’s IMSI and downloads the profile in its Visiting Register (E.g. VLR of the Roaming Operator).

From the Subscriber’s Subscription Profile, it knows which Mobile Services are to be allowed in its Network. The Visiting Network updates the Home Operator’s HLS/HSS with the current roaming location of UE.

As the UE is latched on the Roaming Network, the Subscriber can start consuming the Voice & Supplementary Services using the resources of the Visiting Network.

For Data, GRX (GPRS Roaming Exchange) /IPX (IP Exchange) backbone comes into the picture.

This backbone enables the IP Connectivity between the Roaming Partners and allows IP data routing. Operators also utilize GRX/IPX connectivity for negotiating SLAs as per the required QoS during Roaming operations.

Other infrastructure related to Voice Service Connectivity (of Signaling and Bearer) remains intact for 2G/3G Operators.

4G and 5G are IP-based networks. So, the UE or Subscribers need to have the IP Connectivity throughout the time they are latched on the Networks. The IP Connectivity can be obtained either from Home Network or Visiting Network.

How Roaming agreements are regaining relevance in the 5G and IoT era

As you have understood the basics of Roaming, lets understand how Roaming agreements are regaining relevance in the 5G and IoT era.

For totality, I will be including Interconnect agreements as well wherever applicable.

• Roaming agreements play a crucial role in ensuring seamless 5G connectivity and interoperability between different Operators and across international borders to deliver ultra-high speeds, low latency, and massive device connectivity to offer wide range of new applications and services.
• Roaming agreements will enable subscribers to seamlessly access advanced services like AR, VR, UHD Video streaming, etc. while traveling, without compromising on quality or performance.
• Interconnect and Roaming agreements will be essential for enabling end-to-end Network Slicing across different Operator networks, ensuring consistent service delivery of specific use cases.
• With Edge computing, 5G networks bring processing power closer to the end-users for handling low-latency applications and services. Roaming and Interconnect agreements will facilitate the interoperability of edge computing resources across different Operators. It will allow more efficient and scalable deployment of edge-based services.
• Roaming agreements will allow IoT devices to maintain global connectivity across different Operator networks and geographies by ensuring uninterrupted data flow and reliable service delivery like fleet management, remote monitoring, etc.
• Roaming/Interconnect agreements will facilitate the interoperability of diverse devices from various manufacturers and service providers and enable seamless integration and data exchange across different IoT platforms and networks.
• Many 5G and IoT applications demand stringent requirements for QoS, reliability, and security. Roaming/Interconnect agreements will enable Operators to establish SLAs with each other to ensure consistent service delivery and adherence to agreed-upon performance metrics.
• Roaming agreements ensure access to emergency services and communication with local authorities even when Subscribers are outside their home network coverage area.
• Subscribers rely on roaming/interconnect agreements to ensure continuous connectivity and access voice and data services through partner networks in the event of no or low 5G coverage.
• In the events of high demand or limited coverage in certain areas, roaming/interconnect agreements allow Operators to manage network resources more efficiently by offloading traffic to partner networks. It helps in optimizing the 5G network performance and user experience.
• With the increased bandwidth demands of 5G services, data roaming agreements can help Operators monetize their 5G investments and generate revenue from roaming subscribers.
• 5G network is expected to drive massive growth in Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications. These devices and applications often rely solely on mobile connectivity and cannot use WiFi or OTTs. Roaming/Interconnect agreements ensure uninterrupted connectivity for M2M services across different networks.

Along with the above, there are certain obvious reasons to have roaming agreements in place –

• WiFi hotspots may not be universally available or reliable everywhere, especially in remote areas. Whereas roaming provides continuous coverage.
• Public WiFi networks can pose security risks. Mobile data networks are generally more secure for sensitive communications.
• It can be inconvenient to constantly search for and connect to WiFi hotspots compared to having seamless mobile data connectivity through roaming.

Operators are likely to continue to offer roaming as a service, although they may need to adapt pricing models to compete with WiFi and OTTs.

In summary, as 5G networks continue to evolve and become more complex, roaming agreements are facilitating the integration of diverse technologies and enabling new business models and revenue streams for Operators in the rapidly evolving digital era.

Reference: Roaming in a 5G Network