International roaming explained Asia Pacific Contents 1. Mobile roaming explained.......................... 1 2. Mobile roaming in the Asia Pacific.......... 5 3. Price trends................................................ 11 4. Impact of regulation.................................. 12 5. Best practice.............................................. 15 3 1. Mobile roaming explained International mobile roaming The most common international roaming is a service that allows mobile services are: users to continue to use their Voice: Making and receiving calls to mobile phone or other mobile or from home country, visited country device to make and receive or a third country, while abroad voice calls and text messages, SMS: Sending and receiving text browse the internet, and send messages to or from home country, and receive emails, while visiting visited country or a third country, another country. while abroad Email: Reading and replying to Roaming extends the coverage of the emails while abroad home operator’s retail voice and SMS Mobile broadband: Using mobile services, allowing the mobile user to devices or dongles to access the continue using their home operator internet, including to download images, phone number and data services within MP3s, films and software, while abroad another country. The seamless extension of coverage is enabled by a wholesale Applications: Using mobile roaming agreement between a mobile applications while abroad that require user’s home operator and the visited mobile data, such as location-based mobile operator network. The roaming services and language translators. agreement addresses the technical and International mobile roaming is one of a commercial components required to wider range of communications services enable the service. offered to mobile users while travelling abroad. Other services include hotel services, Wi-Fi, national global SIMs cards, multiple SIM card mobile handsets, and local pre-paid SIMs cards. 1 How mobile roaming works When a mobile user is abroad and turns a visited mobile network. The visited their mobile device on, the mobile device network picks up the connection from attempts to communicate with the user’s mobile, recognises whether Initiated call Received call Visited International Home Receiver’s operator transit operator home services operator Figure 1.1 Overview of international roaming technology and operations To explain roaming in more detail, has wholesale roaming agreements with Figure 1.2 the shows commercial and more than one operator in the same visited technical details for international mobile country, which in this case is Visited roaming. The diagram focuses on the Operator A and a second network, Visited international roaming wholesale and Operator B. As a result, Mobile User A retail arrangements, for simplicity. can call home using either visited operator networks, both of which use international The mobile user (Mobile User A) has an transit services to carry the call back to international roaming service with their Mobile User A’s home country. home operator (Home Operator) and is automatically connected to a visited Mobile User A pays a retail price to Home network (Visited Operator A) while Operator for the roaming service and roaming. Mobile User A is automatically does not pay Visited Operator A. Provided granted access to Visited Operator A’s Mobile User B is not also roaming, they will network when arriving in the visited not incur any extra charges to receive a call country by an exchange of a data between from, or to make calls to Mobile User A. Home Operator and Visited Operator Visited Operator A sends transferred A, where Visited Operator A confirms account procedure (TAP) files to a clearing Mobile User A is a roaming customer with house which forwards them to the Home Home Operator. As such, the wholesale Operator. TAP files are used for billing of roaming agreement between Visited calls while roaming. Operator A and Home Operator specifies how this data is to be provided to the Home Operator can then pay Visited visited operator. Home Operator usually Operator A the wholesale charges as per 2 Mobile Mobile User B User A RETAIL it is registeredHome with its system, and The visitedVisited network also requestsVisited service attemptsoperator to identify the user’s home informationoperator from A the homeoperator network B network. If there is a roaming agreement about the user, such as whether the between the home network Clearingand one house phone being used is lost or stolen, and WHOLESALE of the mobile networks in the visited whether the mobile device is authorised Roaming country, the call is routed by theagreement visited for international use. If the phone is network towards an international transit authorised for use, the visited network International network (Figure 1.1). The internationalcarrier creates a temporary subscriber record transit network carrier is responsible for the device and the home network for theRoaming call delivery services to the destinationTraffic flow Revenueupdates flow its subscriberData exchange record on where network. Once this is done, the the device is located so if a call is made to destination network will connect the call. the phone it can be appropriately routed. Mobile Mobile User B User A RETAIL Home Visited Visited operator operator A operator B Clearing house WHOLESALE Roaming agreement International carrier Roaming services Traffic flow Revenue flow Data exchange Figure 1.2 Commercial links required for international mobile roaming call volumes in the TAP file and rates in the the call and handing over the call to Home wholesale roaming agreement. Operator. International Carrier pays Home Operator a termination rate for terminating Visited Operator A pays an international the call in the home country. carrier (International Carrier) for carrying 3 Data roaming With the increasing popularity of feature megabytes (MB), which refers to the phones and smartphones, the use of volume of data transmitted for the mobile data services while roaming is service used. Data traffic volumes can set to continue to grow exponentially. vary significantly depending on the type Mobile data services are typically and use of different data services. measured in kilobytes (KB) or Activity Data traffic use One hour of instant messaging 0.25 – 1 MB One hour of web browsing 1.5 – 25 MB Download 100 emails 1 – 10 MB 100 minutes talk on VoIP video calling Around 50 MB Download one photo 0.05 – 2 MB Download one MP3 3 – 8 MB One software download 70 – 800 MB Download one film 700 – 1500 MB Streaming one hour of video 250 – 500 MB Streaming one hour of audio 50 – 150 MB Figure 1.3: Mobile data traffic volumes1 There are significant differences in the size estimates, as file size depends on the type of data, quality, and file length. For example, high definition and DVD quality streaming consumes greater amounts of mobile data than standard video or audio streaming. 4 2. Mobile roaming in the Asia Pacific The mobile environment is growing prepaid subscriptions.5 Asia Pacific’s in the Asia Pacific region, both in roaming services will continue to subscribers and data traffic. Roaming develop, as the region hosts just services, however, are still being 25 per cent of the world’s global established. Countries within the region roaming market with 42 per cent of are in different stages of economic the world’s population.6 development, with significant differences Roaming use and its relevance as in inflation rates, currency exchanges, a service for mobile users varies labour costs and GDP per capita. GDP significantly across the region. Only per capita in some Asia Pacific countries 10 per cent of the region’s population can be up to 56 times higher than others travelled abroad in 2011 (Figure 2.1), in the region.2 Overall, the average GDP with factors such as greater distances per capita for the region is lower than between countries and less affordable in the developed world and four times travel contributing to this low rate. lower than in Europe.3 Research has shown up to 80 per cent There is varying market maturity across of roaming traffic from the region is the region, with penetration ranging international calls to mobile user’s from four per cent in North Korea to home country.8 226 per cent in Macau.4 On average, mobile penetration is one and a half times less than the European average, with 83 per cent of mobile users using 65% 35% 10% 7% Europe North America Asia Pacific Latin America Figure 2.1 Ratio of international trips to population %, 20117 5 Roaming alternatives Regional challenges The Asia Pacific mobile market is As the Asia Pacific market develops, evolving in different ways to other parts structural and technical barriers must of the world, with new lower-income be addressed. Introducing roaming subscribers and multi-SIM ownership regulation while these obstacles driving the trend. It is also common remain could result in unintended and to see Asia Pacific mobile users using unforeseen consequences that negatively roaming substitutes, such as call impact the industry, mobile users and back services and international call government revenue. There are active forwarding services. Certain substitutes and engaged regional groups working may be more appropriate than others within the region to manage and depending on national market improve roaming services for users. An conditions. intergovernmental organisation, the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT), serves For data roaming, Wi-Fi is generally as the focal organisation for ICT in the regarded as the most common substitute region, covering 38 member countries, in Asia Pacific. Although Wi-Fi coverage four associate members and 130 affiliate in some areas might be limited, it is members. Its roaming working group considered that the main reasons for has been working with regulators and Wi-Fi being unavailable is low market mobile operators to review the roaming demand or regulatory concerns.9 In environment for mobile users, resulting general, countries within the Asia in the recent adoption of guidelines, as Pacific region believe substitutes provide part of its working group report.