Roaming

Roaming is a wireless telecommunication term typically used with mobile devices (like mobile phones). It refers to the mobile phone being used outside the range of its home network and connects to another available cell network. Roaming is a wireless telecommunication term typically used with mobile devices (like mobile phones). It refers to the mobile phone being used outside the range of its home network and connects to another available cell network. In more technical terms, roaming refers to the ability for a cellular customer to automatically make and receive voice calls, send and receive data, or access other services, including home data services, when travelling outside the geographical coverage area of the home network, by means of using a visited network. For example: should a subscriber travel beyond their cell phone company's transmitter range, their cell phone would automatically hop onto another phone company's service, if available. The process is supported by the Telecommunication processes of mobility management, authentication, authorization and accounting billing procedures (known as AAA or 'triple A'). Roaming is divided into 'SIM-based roaming' and 'username/password-based roaming', whereby the technical term 'roaming' also encompasses roaming between networks of different network standards, e.g. WLAN (wireless local area network) or GSM. Device equipment and functionality, such as SIM card capability, antenna and network interfaces, and power management, determine the access possibilities.