Inter Standard Roaming

Inter Standard Roaming refers to roaming between two standards. This term is now widely used in mobile communnications where especially CDMA customers want to use their phone in areas where there is no CDMA network or there is no roaming agreement in place to support roaming on the used standard. In Europe there is hardly any CDMA network. Most CDMA customers originate from the Americas or the Far East. In order to enable them to roam in Europe Inter Standard Roaming is the solution. The CDMA customers arriving in Europe can register on the available GSM networks.

Since mobile communication technologies have evolved independently across continents, there is significant challenge in achieving seamless roaming across these technologies. Typically, these technologies were implemented in accordance with technological standards laid down by different industry bodies and hence the name.

A number of the standards making industry bodies have come together to define and achieve interoperability between the technologies as a means to achieve inter-standards roaming. This is currently an ongoing effort.

• Mobile Signature Roaming:

Mobile signature Roaming allows an access point to get a Mobile Signature from any end-user, even if the AP and the end-user have not contracted a commercial relationship with the same MSSP. Otherwise, an AP would have to build commercial terms with as many MSSPs as possible, and this might be a cost burden. This means that a Mobile Signature transaction issued by an Application Provider should be able to reach the appropriate MSSP, and this should be transparent for the AP(reference).

• Inter MSC Roaming

Network elements belonging to the same Operator but located in different areas (a typical situation where assignment of local licenses is a common practice)pair depends on the switch and its location.Hence, software changes and a greater processing capability are required, but furthermore this situation could introduce the fairly new concept of roaming on a per MSC basis instead of per Operator basis. But this is actually a burden, so it is avoided.

• Permanent Roaming:

This type of roaming refers to customers who purchase service with a mobile phone operator intending to permanently roaming, or be off-network. This becomes possible because of the increasing popularity and availability of "free roaming" service plan, where there is no cost difference between on and off network usage. The benefits of getting service from a mobile phone operator that isn't local to you can include cheaper rates, or features and phones that aren't available on your local mobile phone operator, or to get to a particular mobile phone operator's network to get free calls to other customers of that mobile phone operator through a free unlimited mobile to mobile feature. To accidentally become a permanent roaming customer does not usually happen. Most mobile phone operators will require the customer's living or billing address be inside their coverage area or less often inside the government issued radio frequency license of the mobile phone operator, this is usually determined by a computer estimate because it is impossible to guarantee coverage. If a potential customer's address is not within the requirements of that mobile phone operator, they will be denied service. In order to permanently roam customers may use a false address and online billing, or a relative or friends address which is in the required area, and a 3rd party billing option.

Most mobile phone operator discourage or prohibit permanent roaming since they must pay per minute rates to the network operator their customer is roaming onto to, while they can not pass that extra cost onto customers ("free roaming").

• Trombone roaming:

Roaming calls within a local tariff area, when at least one of the phones belong outside that area. Usually implemented with trombone routing also known as tromboning

The routing of trombone roaming.