Roaming

General information

As defined by the standards relating to GSM or CDMA (standards ETSI, 3GPP, 3GPP2) in the mobile networks, the roaming - or “French itinérance” - described the ability to be able to call or be called whatever its geographical position.

In practice, the roaming more generally indicates the capacity of the customers to be reached at their telephone services mobile (voice or data) since visited networks, or, said more simply, starting from a network or foreign country.

This faculty is possible owing to the fact that mobile network GSM at every moment stores an information on the zone of localization of the mobile subscriber.

By abuse language, the Roaming term indicates international Roaming today (see below).

For a network of the type Wi-Fi, this term is used to evoke the fact of a change of cell or network (level 2 or 3) while remaining in communication (voice or data). In this case it acts in fact more Handover that of a roaming.

Several concepts and types of Roaming

Several levels of Roaming are possible.

Regional Roaming

The subscriber has the right of roamer only on a given area, for example, the Gironde or the Midday-Pyrenees area.

In the first times of the network GSM, certain mobile operators would have envisaged to propose offers restricted with an area. With the success of the GSM and the fall of the costs of the mobile, this type of offer disappeared.

Though in the countries of great extension geographical and consisted of several " états" (the USA, Russia, India, China, etc…), this kind of Roaming can exist but is in extreme cases of the concept between Roaming Régional and Roaming National.

National Roaming

In French, the " Roaming National" can result in " Itinérance Nationale". The subscriber can roamer or to locate itself of an mobile operator to another in the same country.

The " Roaming National" is not very widespread in France. However, the ARCEP (Regulatory agency of the Electronic communications and the Stations) forced the three French operators to join to cover badly covered zones which one names “White areas”. These last constitute the single case of " Roaming National" in France. Concretely, the national roaming in the white areas makes it possible subscribers Orange France to use network SFR where Orange France does not offer a cover or defect and poured.

Another exception is the case of the operators 3G having a license UMTS (operators 3G) not having a license of operator GSM. In this case, for reasons of honest competition imposed by the national regulator, an agreement of geographically limited National Roaming and in time is found between the operator 3G and one of operators GSM of the country. Typically, it was the case for the subsidiary companies Hutchinson 3G in the United Kingdom (" 3" : The Three-U.K.) and in Italy (" 3" : Tre-Italia).

International Roaming

The subscriber can go roamer on an operator of a foreign country.

Although inaccurate, it became of everyday usage to reduce the " term; Roaming " with the international roaming .

international Roaming

To allow the subscribers of an mobile operator to pass in all transparency of a communication network without wire to another, the two mobile operators make an agreement on several levels: - contractual, - commercial, - financier, - technique, - etc… All the mobile telephone operators make from the agreements of this type of one country to the other to allow their customers to be in continuity of service where which they are. The agreement is always bilateral to allow the subscribers of each operator of going roamer on the network of the other operator.

The bilateral agreement is then separable in 2 parts, roaming in and roaming out .

Roaming In or Inbound Roaming:

The operator has accommodates the subscribers of the operator B.

The roaming in consists for an operator given to invoice the other operators for whom the subscribers would have used his network (example for the French operator: a German subscriber visiting France and using its mobile phone).

Roaming Out or Outbound Roaming:

The subscribers of the operator has are accommodated by the operator B.

The roaming out consists for an operator given to receive documents in proof of communication and to invoice its subscribers consequently (example for the French operator: a French subscriber who would use his mobile phone in Germany).

This service was historically very expensive for the ultimate consumers, this is why the European authorities decided to regulate the price of them since the 30 September 2007, by imposing " the eurotarif": tariffs ceilings for the incoming calls (0,24 cts/min) and outgoing (0,49 cts/min) in Europe. The tariffs of roaming remain however more expensive than the local calls. Today the only alternative to the roaming is the multi-country offer of the operator Transatel who allows to telephone the local tariff with only one subscription, in France, Belgium, with the Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Documentary references

Organizations of standardization

site of the ETSI, European Telecommunications Institute Standards: http://www.etsi.org/
Direct access with the publications of the ETSI: http://pda.etsi.org/pda/queryform.asp
Site of the GSM Association: http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/index.shtml

External bond

an alternative to the roaming: Transatel & Eurotarif

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