International Roaming is a service that lets you use your mobile services to send and receive text messages, voice calls, and use the internet while they are visiting another country. International roaming extends the coverage of your operator beyond the limits and lets you use the services using the same number in another country.
International Roaming is enabled by a mutual agreement between the two operators of different countries that lets the customers of either operator to continue using the pre-existing mobile number and services beyond the limits of their own country.
International roaming lets the customer make calls back to the home country, in the country of visit, or in a third country. Customers can also send and receive text messages and browse the internet through their existing mobile number.
For a smartphone to be compatible with international roaming, it must have the frequency bands available in a foreign country. In most countries, the frequency band is 900/1800 MHz but in some other countries, the frequency band is 850/1900 MHz. So, for a phone to work in another country with different frequency bands, it must support one or both of the foreign country’s frequencies otherwise, it won’t work.
International Roaming can be very expensive and can generate expensive bills for customers. Usage of mobile networks outside of the home country can lead to customers receiving huge bills. Roaming isn’t an affordable choice as users can receive pretty huge bills even for just enabling international roaming.
Customers first have to pay their operators a fee and deposit money before International Roaming services are enabled on their number and the activation can take anywhere from 24 hours to 72 hours. Customers also should keep in mind that if their deposited credit is reached or exceeded then your operator may block your connection and you won’t be able to use International Roaming services further unless you ask someone to pay for you so that your services are resumed.
It isn’t an affordable and inexpensive option, rather it is a very expensive option and not suitable for most people. They are good for people who need to be connected all the times but for people on trips and holidays, this isn’t an option that you should opt for.