Cellular communication today provides a very wide range of opportunities. Roaming is one of the most important services for a modern person. If you are interested in the question of what is roaming, then we can say that its essence is that you can use the same mobile phone when traveling long distances where your network does not work. This gives the opportunity to the subscriber to call from different countries and cities, as well as receive calls from subscribers located hundreds of kilometers away. All modern telecommunication networks provide opportunities to make such calls, and most operators provide their subscribers with roaming services.
In general terms, what is roaming, has already been said, now it is worth saying what conditions exist for its organization. For this, it is necessary that cellular networks work in the same standard. At the moment, there are several standards for cellular communications, and operators must work in the same standard, for example, CDMA or GSM. Communication switching centers of this particular standard were connected via special communication channels designed to determine the current location of the subscriber.
It turns out that roaming is possible only subject to the established conditions:
- the availability of an appropriate standard for mobile communications in the required region, compatible with the standard of the company providing you access to the cellular network;
- the presence of certain organizational and economic agreements regarding subscription roaming services;
- the presence of the necessary communication channels designed to ensure the transmission of sound or other information between subscribers located in the roaming zone of the respective systems.
What is roaming and how does it work
While the subscriber is moving from one network to another, the switching center of another network requests data from the original network, of course, if the subscriber has approved authority, and then registers. The data on the location of the subscriber is constantly updated in the switching center of the first network, and calls arriving there are forwarded automatically to the network where the subscriber is at a particular moment.
In general, roaming can be one of three types:
- manual view implies the usual exchange to a mobile phone connected to the cellular system of a particular operator;
- semi-automatic implies a situation when a subscriber preliminary notifies his operator that he will be in a certain region where he will need this service;
- automatic implies providing the subscriber with the opportunity to get in touch anywhere, that is, the client freely makes calls while roaming.
By categories, this service can be divided into intranet, national and international. The first service implies the opportunity for a client to communicate anywhere in the country, and the second two imply the possibility of moving a person with a mobile phone around the world, even where there are no representative offices of his mobile operator. This is possible thanks to a contract between your home communications provider and other companies. The advantage of roaming is the ability to make calls, both to other mobile phones and to regular home phones, regardless of location.
How to connect roaming?
Usually this is done with a personal visit to any office or center of the mobile operator whose services you are currently using. To do this, you must have with you an identity card, on the basis of which you entered into an agreement with the company.
Now you should understand what roaming is, as well as what advantages it provides.