Roaming occurs when a cellular subscriber leaves their provider's coverage area and connects to a visited network to maintain voice and data service. The mobile station and the visited network exchange authentication data with the home network to authorize access and route traffic. Carriers negotiate mutual agreements to handle the billing and technical handoffs required to keep devices connected across different geographic regions.
We need to check the billing records to see exactly when his handset started to roam onto the partner network in Canada.
Roaming relies on the IMSI stored on the SIM card, which identifies the home network to any foreign tower the device pings.
Also heard as
- Roaming
Related terms
Mobile station
The complete set of user equipment required to communicate with a cellular network.
IMSI
A unique 15-digit number embedded on a SIM card that identifies a specific cellular subscriber to the network.
Coverage
The geographic area where a wireless network provides a usable signal to client devices.