INTERNATIONAL

ROAMING

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INTERNATIONAL ROAMING

A. Roaming Agreements

B. Roaming Agreements‟ Lifecycle

C. Roaming Management Tasks

D. Outsourcing

E. Overview of Roaming Lifecycle

F. The Roaming Process

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A. ROAMING AGREEMENTS

AA.19 : SMS Interworking Agreement

AA.40 : MMS Interworking Agreement

AA.43 : WLAN Roaming Agreement

AA.60 : Interworking Template

AA.70 : MMS Hubbing Agreement

AA.71 : SMS Hubbing Agreement3

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B. ROAMING AGREEMENTS’ LIFECYCLE

Make a strategy

Establishing and Negotiate a Roaming Agreement

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Steps before Launching an Agreement

Monitoring and Maintenance

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1. STRATEGY

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2. NEGOTIATE

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3. TEST & IMPLEMENT

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4. TADIG (TCC)

5. Set common Launche date

6. Sign Official Launch Letter (CLL)

7. Inform the Relevant Departements in your

company

Billing Departement

IT & Engineering Department

Marketing Departement

8. Allocate resources to launch the roaming

partner (IREG)

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9. Usually tasks of the Roaming Coordinator

Update AA.14 and IR21 (IREG) and distribute to

roaming partners

Distribute updates from roaming partners

10. Check :

That the terms of the agreement are respected

That the TAP records are sent on time (TADIG and

EDCH)

That roaming works by having network tests done

(both IREG teams)

That roaming partners are following the GSMA rules

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C. ROAMING MANAGEMENT TASKS

1. Internal Interfaces

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2. External Interfaces

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C. ROAMING MANAGEMENT TASKS

D. OUTSOURCING

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E. OVERVIEW OF ROAMING LIFECYCLE

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F. THE ROAMING PROCESS

Involve different departments

Different people with different interests and priorities

Activities depends on one another

The flow can stop if departments are not aligned

This will generate internal conflicts and bottlenecks15

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1. NEGOCIATION

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Common Bottlenecks

Prioritization

Attractiveness of the Operator

„Not quantity but quality‟ Concept

Lots of useless deviations

Time / resources restriction on both sides

Cost of implementing each Roaming Agreement

Fraud Prevention Procedures in place

No structure or strategy to negotiate IOTs

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How to avoid Bottlenecks

Avoid unnecessary deviations

Calls and face-to-face meetings, not only e-mails

Clear strategy including plan “B” for each country

Identify and present your company‟s selling points

Consider other agreement‟s solutions: Hub, NE, etc…

Make sure necessary security features are offered

Be flexible on negotiations (IRA and IOTs)

Consider to hire external assistance with the

negotiations – outsourcing

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2. TEST PREPARATION

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Common Bottelenecks

Lack of priority

Delays in activating SIM cards

Location Update or GPRS attach failure

Signalling implementation delays

Wrong data implementation in VLR or HLR in

HPLMN, also with International carrier

Resource constraints

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How to avoid Bottlenecks

Have a formal procedure mapped on how to

distribute information and do the configuration

Re-check the RP data as per latest IR21

Have a SLA with Signaling Provider

Have experienced personnel for troubleshooting

Acknowledge reception of SIMs ASAP and ask RP to

activate them

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3. IREG

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Common Bottlenecks

Resource constraints

Calls not being completed

Poor voice quality; echo, back ground noise, delay in

transmission

Lack of priority (internal and external)

Different time zones making more difficult to

schedule a date for common tests and troubleshooting

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How to avoid Bottlenecks

Buy premium termination from a reliable carrier

Your RP shall do the same, bypass result in pour QoS

Employ experienced IREG specialists

Share SLAs and goals with IREG team

Make sure you get the prioritization of your RP

Consider to require external assistance / outsource

Consider to use automatic testing solutions

Have a clear internal process

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4. TADIG

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Common Bottlenecks

Resource constraints

Lack of prioritization

Billing system errors

Discrepancies between CDRs and IREG Docs (time,

duration, volume, etc …)

Delay in receiving test TAP files (TD) from Roaming

Partner

File rejected

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How to avoid Bottlenecks

Share SLAs and goals with TADIG team

Make sure IREG testers get the time / duration

directly from the switches and not from their own

watches

Make sure you get the prioritization of your RP

Consider to require external assistance / outsource

Use TTT

Have a clear internal process

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5. COMMERCIAL LAUNCH DATE

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Common Bottlenecks

Fail to notify DCH about commercial launch date

Fail to notify internal departments

Delays with commercial launch generated by

unnecessary internal processes

Delay in receiving CLL countersigned

Internal debts not ready for commercial operation

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How to avoid Bottlenecks

Have clear internal processes

Make sure all the launch activities are done (tariffs,

customer care, billing system, etc …)

Try to cut down unnecessary & lengthy approval (red

tape) processes

Have all the necessary info prepared in advance

Accept CLL by fax and email

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6. ON-GOING ACTIVITIES

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Common Bottlenecks

Technical issues

Service disruptions / TAP flow failure

Financial issues

Non payments

Lack of resources or lack of knowledge

Slow implementation of agreements

Relationship issues

Work not being done

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How to avoid Bottlenecks

Implement clear processes and workflow including

owner ship, deadlines, etc…

Define Key Processes to be monitored

Share goals with all the teams involved

Have a clear leader

Be aware of Roaming industry trends

Consider to hire external assistance and join a Hub

Have right team, motivated

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7. WORKING ENVIRONMENTS

The operation of a Roaming service involves

many departments

One department clearly depends on the other to

reach its targets

It is very important to create and maintain a

good working environment for all the debts.

Involved

Relationship problems are common when

priorities are different

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THANKS !

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