What is Permanent Roaming?

Adam Hayes

COO

LinkedIn

Permanent roaming refers to connecting a device to a country that is not its ‘home’ territory after a designated period, such as three months.

Traditionally, roaming has been used for mobile phones by business travellers or holidaymakers who are not expected to stay in a country for more than a few weeks. IoT roaming enables connectivity in many countries around the world. Most roaming agreements are short-term compared to the lifecycle of an IoT device, which could be well over a decade.

Permanent roaming is known for preventing the success of global IoT deployments. Cellular IoT connectivity providers have historically used roaming to increase their global connectivity levels, but recent restrictions imposed by country regulators or networks can lead to extortionate charges for data usage and removal of devices from the network.

Jump ahead:

• Why is permanent roaming an issue for IoT?
• How do permanent roaming restrictions affect global IoT deployments?
• Countries with permanent roaming restrictions
• How to avoid permanent roaming

Why is permanent roaming an issue for IoT?

Did you know that most devices can only roam for a maximum of 90 days? Long enough for your devices to deploy successfully, but not long enough for devices that might need to operate in the country for years. If they exceed the roaming limit, you risk permanent roaming charges and operators may even block your devices from their networks.

Can your business case survive these unexpected charges or connectivity loss?

In this video, my colleague Paul Marshall, explains why it presents a long-term risk for IoT deployments and can impact the delivery of services. Discover how you can avoid permanent roaming restrictions with our eSIM localisation solution.

Connectivity is fundamentally important to the success of an IoT project. The closer to 100% global connectivity, the better. Your IoT estate should have access to the highest quality of service and connect to the best network available. If connectivity cannot be assured in the country the device will operate in, then the project is in trouble, and will struggle to scale.

In recent years, operators, and regulators in many countries around the world have become increasingly concerned with permanent roaming by IoT devices.

Negative rules and attitudes to permanent roaming are rising.

Today’s IoT issues are coming to light as solutions that rely on roaming as their main mode of connection are now seeing a decrease in coverage. Permanent roaming is effectively prohibited in China, Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the UAE. Any deployments at scale will be prevented through regulatory and/or operator action according to Kaleido Intelligence.

Did you know that Brazil, Turkey, and Nigeria have banned permanent roaming altogether?

Once an operator enforces permanent roaming restrictions, it can lead to devices being blocked and disconnected. This is a major problem for multi-region IoT deployments. And a growing problem too with MNOs limiting permanent roaming in the United States, for example, and operators in other countries are sure to follow.

How do permanent roaming restrictions affect global IoT deployments?

For enterprise organisations with plans to deploy IoT devices across territories, permanent roaming can cause long-term issues, such as:

• Extortionate roaming charges when data allowance is exceeded
• At worst, the device is ‘bricked’ and permanently suspended from the network, leaving IoT devices disconnected
• Negative impact on service availability and reliability
• Threat to Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) devices as 80% of operators do not support Power Saving Mode (PSM) and Extended Discontinuous Reception (eDRX) when devices are roaming
• More countries are putting in tougher permanent roaming measures for IoT

Currently, the following countries have the strictest regulatory restrictions in place to prevent permanent roaming:

Counties where permanent roaming is banned:

Brazil

Turkey

Nigeria

Counties where permanent roaming is effectively prohibited:

	China		Egypt		India
	Saudi Arabia		Singapore		UAE

Countries with hostile operators:

USA

Canada

Australia

How to avoid permanent roaming

Permanent roaming issues can be avoided if devices make local connections rather than roaming onto networks, this can be achieved in two ways:

• by entering into agreements with local mobile network providers

or

• by working with a cellular network localisation partner

Although connectivity providers can achieve this using multi-IMSI and eSIM technology, this solution isn’t always straightforward. For example, many enterprises want their IoT devices in North America to connect to the Verizon network, with its reputation for high quality-of-service. However, devices must be certified before they can connect to the Verizon network and must be switched using a GSMA eUICC-compliant process. Most providers can’t meet these requirements.

Eseye is one provider that can.

Adam Hayes

COO

LinkedIn

Working at the forefront of developments in the telecommunications industry, Adam has both an in-depth knowledge and high-level experience in a range of operational, commercial and financial roles. Adam has a passion for early-stage businesses and has worked alongside the Eseye founders since 2011. Previous roles within telecommunications companies include Mercury, Cable and Wireless, Tele 2 and BlueStar Mobile. Adam’s current responsibilities include understanding and agreeing the commercial and regulatory arrangements with our carrier partners along with the coordination, synchronization and integration of operational and contractual activities. Adam is a Chartered Accountant and holds a degree in Engineering.