Intra Circle Roaming: Vodafone - Idea Cellular

Intra Circle Roaming
Vodafone Idea Cellular
Soc Classification level 1 Nokia Siemens Networks
ICR / vithomas / 30-JUL-2008
Concept
Benefits to Operator
Intra Circle Roaming

Intra Circle Roaming is a service which enables a mobile station of a given public land mobile network (PLMN) to obtain services from another PLMN in the same country on a location area basis, with automatic return to the home PLMN when this is possible.
LA3
Concept
Home PLMN
The main functional property of the Intra Circle Roaming feature in the network subsystem is that it can prevent location updates in certain areas (groups of location areas) by subscribers from other networks, while allowing it in other parts of the network.
X
LA1 LA2 LA4
Benefits for the operator
Benefits to Operator
Intra Circle Roaming is often implemented by the rules and conditions set by the National Regulatory body (TRAI). However, there are many benefits an operator can gain from implementing Intra Circle Roaming in GSM 900/1800 networks. The benefits include: larger coverage area faster network roll-out cost savings. The Intra Circle Roaming feature allows the operator to differentiate, in the operator's national network, between one area where roaming from neighboring networks is allowed, and another where it is denied.
Initial Stage
Initially when a new Operator (VFE) tries to expand the network the scenario could be as should below
LA1 = Roaming Not Allowed LA2 = Roaming Allowed

LA2 LA2 LA1 LA1 LA2
LA2 LA2 Serving Operator LA2 LA2 LA2 Vodafone
Intermediate Stage
Consider that LA1 is the Original LAC of this area Initially the Serving Operator creates a LA2 which is a replica of LA1 but allows Intra Circle Roaming He adds all the BTS which requires Intra Circle Roaming into this LAC LA2 All the other BTS are still with LA1 which does not support Intra Circle Roaming After a period of time ( say 3 months) , when the coverage increases then the cell and reduced from LAC LA2 and added onto LAC LA1 as shown in the figure below LA1 = Roaming Not Allowed LA2 = Roaming Allowed
LA2 LA1 LA2 LA1 LA2 LA1 LA2 LA2
LA2 Serving Operator LA2 LA1 LA2
LA1
Vodafone
LA1
Final Stage
Till a day when the riding network has full coverage and Intra Circle Roaming is not required Then the dummy LAC LA2 which was created is deleted
LA1
LA1
LA1 Serving Operator
LA1
LA1
LA1
LA1
LA1
Vodafone
LA1
LA1
Scenarios
Scenario I : New Entrant Scenario II: Two incumbent Operators Scenario III: Scattered Network, difficult Terrain Scenario IV: Region of common coverage
Scenario I New Entrant (Example :: Idea in Chennai and VFE in MP)

Situation Very Less Radio Coverage in the Region for new operator Coverage Area is a part of common coverage Solution Intra Circle Roaming is an ideal solution for faster rollout The new Entrant slowly build up the network while its subscribers enjoy complete coverage of the region from day One

Vodafone LA1 Idea LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1
LA1
LA1
LA1 LA1
Scenario II Two Incumbent Operators (Maharashtra & AP)

Situation All Densely Populated regions are areas of Common Coverage There are certain scantly populated regions where Vodafone has Coverage There are certain scantly populated regions where IDEA has Coverage Solution Intra Circle Roaming is an ideal solution for providing complete coverage in the region without major investment Based on the traffic profile each operator can decide whether to put a site or not Long term CAPEX and OPEX savings

Vodafone only Coverage Area LA1 Idea only Coverage Area LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 Common coverage Area
LA1
LA1
LA1 LA1
Scenario III: Scattered Network Difficult Terrain

(Konkan region, Bihar, East India)
Situation All Densely Populated areas are area of Common Coverage There are certain scantly populated regions where Vodafone has Coverage but is scattered across region There are certain scantly populated regions where Operator 2 has Coverage but is scattered across region Solution Intra Circle Roaming is an ideal solution for CAPEX and OPEX saving only Since the areas are scattered, the regions where a site is not planned to come up in a years time has to be considered for Intra Circle Roaming Ideal solution for difficult terrain where there are small towns in valleys , dense vegetations, desert etc
LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1
Soc Classification level 11 Nokia Siemens Networks ICR / vithomas / 30-JUL-2008
Operator 2 covered towns Vodafone covered small town
Common coverage Area
Scenario IV: Region of Common Coverage

Situation Both Operators have same region of coverage but there are coverage holes due to many factors like tall buildings, site has no power etc Congestion is pretty high due to more number of subscribers but has no solution to de-congest Solution Intra Circle Roaming could be a solution but its not recommended for Serving operator as the signaling load could be very high On top if Intra PLMN handover is defined then CDR re-conciliation would be very complex task
LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1 LA1
Common coverage Area
Location updating
In a case where the mobile station's PLMN information is defined as "home country and visitor PLMN, the national roaming checkings apply. "National Roaming Allowed" parameter is checked in this case and it contains a list of allowed Mobile Network Codes (MNCs) per each location area. If the MNC of the MS appears in the list, the location update is accepted; if not, the location update is rejected because of the Intra Circle Roaming restriction. The Intra Circle Roaming restriction indication to the MS depends on the MS's supported GSM specification phase. This is because the GSM Phase 1 specification did not include Intra Circle Roaming definitions. The MS indicates its phase in the MS_classmarks revision level field. If the revision level indicates Phase 1 behaviour, the cause 'location area not allowed' is returned to the MS; if it indicates Phase 2, the returned cause is 'national roaming not allowed in this location area'. If the location updating is rejected with the cause National Roaming not allowed', the MS starts the initial access procedure. However, since the cause 'location area not allowed' has not been intended to be used in this context, some of the Phase 1 mobile stations may also behave in an unpredictable way. It is therefore recommended that the behaviour of different mobile stations is checked by the operator before taking this feature into use. The handling of user information in the network depends on the update status of the subscriber in the VLR at the moment when the location updating of the MS was rejected. There are two different cases: MS known to the VLR This is a case in which Intra Circle Roaming was still allowed at the time when the previous location updating occurred. Later, when location updating is attempted again, it is not allowed any more, and Intra Circle Roaming restriction thus applies. In this case the user status in the VLR is defined so that the originated attempts are not allowed. MS not known in the VLR In this case the user information is not retrieved from the HLR.
CALL Handling
(a) Voice Calls terminating to VFE Customers roaming on Operators Mobile Network will be handled in the same manner as terminating calls to international Roaming Customers Specifically, the interrogating VFEs GMSC will obtain through VFEs home location register the Mobile Subscriber Roaming Number (MSRN) provided by Operators visiting MSC. MSRN ranges are part of the geographic number ranges and will be routed accordingly. (b) Voice Calls originated by VFE mobile Customers roaming on Operators GSM Network will be handled in the same manner as Calls originated by Operator Customers. This includes Calls made to VFEs Customers which will be routed to VFEs GMSC regardless of whether or not the Called Party is roaming on Operators Mobile Network at the time of the Call. (c) Standard roaming signaling protocols will apply, namely for Location Update, Mobile Originating Calls (MOC), Mobile Terminating Calls (MTC) and supplementary services. (d) In the case of prepaid roaming VFE customers, Intelligent Network (IN) signaling based on CAMEL V2 (Customized Application Mobile Enhanced Logic Version 2) will be adopted based on the relevant triggering mechanism (e) In the case of a VFE Customer with a Call in progress moving out of VFEs coverage area, the Call will not be handed over to Operator and will be dropped. (If handover is required its inter PLMN handover where the boundaries have to be defined with neighbors which is difficult)
GPRS
For GPRS roaming when the subscriber is roaming in a serving network, the Location update is made with the SGSN.
PLMN 1 Data Network Gb/Fr BSS Gb/IP SGSN BG GRX NSS Flexi ISN Internet
Gr
USER DATA PATH BG Gb/Fr BSS Gb/IP SGSN Flexi ISN PLMN 2 Data network
SS7 network
Subs from PLMN1
Gr
NSS
Prepaid
Prepaid subscribers are treated the same way like the postpaid subscribers, but the call handling is different as the IDP is directly sent from the VPLMN to the SCP, based on the GT updated while making location update. Triggering mechanisms for Roaming prepaid Customers The following are the trigger mechanisms for Roaming prepaid Customers Voice CAMEL Phase 2. SCP GT is passed During Insert Subscriber Data (LOC UPD) SMS If CAP3 is used for roaming, then the charging is online and hence not much of an issue This is a scenario for balance hold before delivery, VFE specific scenario needs to be checked MMS If offline charging is in use then the mechanism for roaming needs to be checked. It could have impact on roaming scenarios
Soc Classification level 16 Nokia Siemens Networks ICR / vithomas / 30-JUL-2008
Dropped calls Scenario
Using Visitor Roaming Capability, VFE anticipates that active Calls will be dropped when a VFE mobile Customer transits the roaming boundary as per the following conditions:
(a) there will not be seamless Call Roaming

(b) the Call drop will occur when VFI mobile Customers move from VFI covered areas to an IDEA-only covered area (c) the Call will not drop when VFI mobile Customers move from IDEA-only covered area to VFI covered area.
Note:: In this ex VFE = RIDER & IDEA = SERVING Network
Other Issues
Vodafone/IDEA Logo Display As the dependency is on the handset, Network Broadcast would be done as usual International Roaming This feature has no impact on National or International Roaming. However exclusive bi-lateral agreements of each network will not be binding for serving network, and the IR / NR customer may be deprived of services Access to Short Code Services When VFI mobile Customers are roaming onto the Operator Mobile Network they should be able to continue using the VFI dialing plan as per the attached short code services. In particular, there will be access to the VFI short code services (e.g. Voicemail, pre-pay recharge services) using the same dialing format for the attached short code services as when the MS is directly connected to the VFI network. Short CodesUsage111 123 ** USSD codes need not be agreed as it points to HLR directly but the information needs to be shared
Billing
Customer billing PROTOCOLS FOR INTRA CIRCLE ROAMING
(a) Operator will be responsible for generating the CDRs for Intra Circle Roaming Calls. (b) The Parties agree to interchange of billing data using TAP3 protocols. The frequency within which TAP files are exchanged is to be agreed between Parties, but in any event must not be more than once every 24 hour period. For Prepaid its real time charging hence no issues
Trial Scenario
Identify a Cell Site which does not have coverage for IDEA
MSS Side

Create new LAC XYZ which allows Roaming Add Cell ID not having IDEA coverage into this LAC Create Roaming definitions Create Digit Analysis for IDEA Open GT for SCP Configurations for CAMEL Roaming follow process of IR 24 Change the LAC of this site to new LAC XYZ Add the Neighbors considering this change in LAC Change the RAC of this site to RAC ABC
RF Side
IN Side IDEA
Create this PLMN in SCP and prepare the tariff table entries
SGSN side
Create entry for this RAC and allow roaming for IDEA GGSN & Firewall configurations required for V-SGSN
Identified Candidates for Trial

Maharashtra Where there is VFE coverage but no IDEA coverage
Site ID 5346 836 BSC Name BSC49BEED BSC49BEED DISTRICT Bid Bid Town Name Dongarkinhi Therla rep SiteName Dongarkinhi Therla rep New Town/Existing New New Cluster Aurangabad Aurangabad Owner Vodafone Vodafone Date of Commisioning 29-May-08 15-Feb-08
Share of Responsibilities
(a) Operator will be responsible for the following aspects of the Intra Circle Roaming Service: (Provider ) Radio network elements including the BTS (Base Transceiver Station) and BSC (Base Station Controller) Network Quality of Service VMSC (Visited Mobile Switching Centre) and VLR (Visitor Location Register)
Lawful call interception, including where a warrant for call interception is served on VFE, in which case Operator is to provide call interception services upon being notified by VFE that VFE has been served a warrant requiring call interception; and in accordance with the same procedures that Operator would apply if the warrant was directly served on it Generation of CDRs for end user billing; and Inter-operator billing
(b) VFE will be responsible for the following issues related to the Intra Circle Roaming Service: (Rider) Billing and collection of charges from its Customers Customer service, provisioning, complaint and fraud handling Network Quality of service HLR (Home Location Register) Authentication Prepaid system Voice mail system SIM card management MNC (Mobile Network Code) IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) MSISDN (Mobile Station ISDN)
Some known Issues

Increase in the inter VLR Location update due to the increased number of LAC for serving operator Frequent call drops at boundary locations Problems of abnormal behaviour of GSM Phase 1 only supported handsets Restriction of certain services while in VPLMN Development on IN Platforms for seamless support of services Modifications in Mediation systems to consider the tariff plan while customer is roaming in VPLMN Miscommunication of subscriber figures from the Serving Operator Misuse of IN services in VPLMN Difficulty in offline charging of VAS services (GPRS / SMS / Content) Difficulty in fraud management
Conclusion
Although there are few third party solutions available in market, but LAC based roaming has be the most effective rollout feature which has been deployed world wide in many projects with promising results. References can be provided on request, as its customer specific.
FAQ
1) Limited Roaming Allow Voice & Data calls Where we do not have coverage. Coverage will increase with time. This is the feature of LAC based roaming explained in section 3,4,5 2) In a common coverage area Subscriber to remain on Home Network. They should not be able to latch on to partner network. Also included in the feature 3) Granularity Cell Level Explained in section 3.3 4) VF Logo to be displayed while customer is roaming. This the responsibility of the Serving operator 5) Type of Customer, Local, National Roamer & International Roaming For National and International roaming, the agreement will not be applicable in the Roaming LAC For eg >> If VF UK has International roaming agreement with VF India, but no roaming agreement with IDEA, then in such cases VF customers will be able to use this service in Regions where IDEA is providing Intra Circle Roaming for VFI Similarly National Roaming customer of VFI which does not have tie ups with IDEA will not be able to use this service 6) VAS short codes & VAS Applications to be supported when roaming These short codes have to be shared with the serving operator, generally the operator accepts the short codes upto 10, USSD codes may not be defined but has to shared as a part of information only 7) Business Logic applied in the home network should be applicable in VPLMN.eg post paid credit limit, Scenarios which are applicable in Roaming will be applicable, but the exchange of TAP files has to happen at a faster rate as compared to International Roaming, All billing requirements and fraud management mechanism has to be agreed with the serving operator
FAQ Impact to customer 8) Minimal

The customer will have similar experiences like in roaming scenarios, VAS services which are not applicable in roaming will not work here as well. But more VAS services can be provided after thorough testing with the serving operator 9) Impact on Network. When VF is a Riding Network, then there will be minimal impact. If VFI is a serving operator then in such scenarios, there is load on the network. Especially signaling load will increase if the LACs and cell groupings are not planned with respect to the movement of the home subscribers 10) Billing system should support Inter PLMN LAC based roaming Generally Inter PLMN handover is avoided to reduce the problems related to billing, as the CDR is generated in both networks for call which is generated in one network but terminated in the other 11) IOT with other Vendor. IOT is required is required for VAS and Prepaid services only, if the network is already compliant with IR 21, IR 32 etc then IOT for voice services are not mandatory 12) Possibility of including a third intra-circle roaming partner. For a riding network it can select 2 or 3 operators based on the coverage in a rural region, but for a serving network its recommended to have not more than one operator to avoid the signaling load on MSS / HLR 13) Minimal Dependency on roaming partner. Billing information, Fraud management , Lawful Interception the riding network has to rely on the serving operator 14) All regulatory requirements need to be made eg, call routing ,IUC, spectrum issues related to capacity The serving operator generally has issues related to NLD , ILD traffic and these calls have to be routed back to the HPLMN. If its agreed in the initial stages then it will go on as in case of the national roaming scenario 15) No charge on IC calls when roaming. The serving operator will charge for all calls, it has to be taken care in the Mediation Dept and SCP to handle such scenarios
Network ID
(a) When VFI mobile Customers are roaming on the Operator Mobile Network, the mobile device of the VFI mobile Customer will display the following: (i) on a mobile device with a 2 line display, the name of the Operator Network as defined by the mobile device (e.g. Operator) on the upper line and display VF India on the lower line; and (ii) on a mobile device with a 1 line display, the mobile device will display Vodafone-Operator (b) Operator must not send a welcome SMS or MMS to a VFI mobile Customer that is roaming on the Operator Mobile Network (This has to be intimated to the Serving Operator in advance, as the tapping server would be sending sms to any in-roamer, this requires some development at the VAS vendor end)
Network ID
Should Network ID be displayed? Benefits:: Subscriber is aware that he is roaming and hence able to report problems when roaming in X-Operator Network VF customers can detect easily if the X-Operator is using features like eMLPP to provide better service to his own subscribers Eg>> In UAE the TRA has defined toll-free numbers for subscribers of Riding network to report problems when roaming in the network of the Serving Operator. Whenever the customers report problems like congestions or services not allowed, they immediately report the problem on the Toll Free number Disadvantages:: Subscriber is always aware that he is riding on X-Operators Network People staying in boundary locations will experience call drops and they will have more chances of churning to the serving operator Note :: The feature in use on the NSN side is called Network Identity and Time Zone, this is similar the feature used by other vendors as well. The feature sends the Network Identity to the MS but its upto the handset to display the broadcast name, generally most of the handsets below s60 series or the ones older than 3 years tend to take the Network name from its handset list and thus over-riding the information coming from the Network broadcast

Intra Circle Roaming: Vodafone - Idea Cellular

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Intra Circle Roaming: Vodafone - Idea Cellular

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Intra Circle Roaming

Vodafone Idea Cellular

Soc Classification level 1 Nokia Siemens Networks

ICR / vithomas / 30-JUL-2008

Soc Classification level 2 Nokia Siemens Networks

ICR / vithomas / 30-JUL-2008