CDMA roaming without call disconnect?

[xenophon]

Is it technically possible for switching between roaming/native networks to maintain a voice phone call? Probably very complicated but is it still possible?

I think it would be huge for all the CDMA carriers to invest in making this work, especially now that roaming is generally free with all the carriers.

A better solution may be to just change the PRL table that shows all cell sites are part of native network. The carriers should sort out interchanging network charges on the backend, rather than at the handset.

Thoughts?

[Quint101]

Wirelessly posted (Q's Mobile Device: Opera/8.01 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/3.0.6306/1558; en; U; ssr))

I thought that it was possible, but the carriers chose not to implement it. That would be neat, but how will the billing be applied? I like real time updates. If the roaming usage is updated in realtime or within a few hours, I'd be all for it.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Quint101

Wirelessly posted (Q's Mobile Device: Opera/8.01 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/3.0.6306/1558; en; U; ssr))

I thought that it was possible, but the carriers chose not to implement it. That would be neat, but how will the billing be applied? I like real time updates. If the roaming usage is updated in realtime or within a few hours, I'd be all for it.

Yes, going into roam without call disconnect certainly is possible, but it needs work with trunk lines, etc. set up between the two carriers switches, and all this fun stuff, and it would be a hard handoff I think.

Roaming billing has been much more smooth than it was a year or two ago. My roaming minutes now reflect within hours or days on #MIN, where before they would not show up until my bill came.

[Quint101]

Wow... my roaming minutes don't show until the bill arrives

[TelcomJunkie]

In terms of billing, it all depends on who you roam on to and what agreements they have specifically in that market. There were areas where last year, I didn't get the roaming calls posted until two months later. Luckily it's gotten better.

Speaking of the handoff, it's possible if that market has implemented it with the other local carriers. The only places I've actually seen it work were places were not only were the carriers working together but both the roaming partner and the home network were the same platform. Either both Nortel, Lucent or Motorola. Not that it should make a difference since interworking signaling is the same, but it looks like it may be simpler for them to implement.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by Quint101

Wow... my roaming minutes don't show until the bill arrives

What carrier do you roam on?
When I roamed on ALLTEL last about 1.5 months ago my usage showed up very fast, definitely before the bill came out. When I roamed on UBET ( a small PCS carrier) usage did not post until the bill came out, but that is most likely due to their timing in billing Verizon for the minutes I used.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by TelcomJunkie

In terms of billing, it all depends on who you roam on to and what agreements they have specifically in that market. There were areas where last year, I didn't get the roaming calls posted until two months later. Luckily it's gotten better.

Speaking of the handoff, it's possible if that market has implemented it with the other local carriers. The only places I've actually seen it work were places were not only were the carriers working together but both the roaming partner and the home network were the same platform. Either both Nortel, Lucent or Motorola. Not that it should make a difference since interworking signaling is the same, but it looks like it may be simpler for them to implement.

Interesting. Thank you for your input and perspective on this, TelecomJunkie. May I ask what provider you roamed on for the billing to take this long?

[TelcomJunkie]

Originally Posted by Andy

Interesting. Thank you for your input and perspective on this, TelecomJunkie. May I ask what provider you roamed on for the billing to take this long?

I've got absolutely no idea what carrier it was, it only showed up as roaming in Ohio on my bill. Which equated back to a business trip I had taken two billing periods earlier.

[Quint101]

Originally Posted by Andy

What carrier do you roam on?
When I roamed on ALLTEL last about 1.5 months ago my usage showed up very fast, definitely before the bill came out. When I roamed on UBET ( a small PCS carrier) usage did not post until the bill came out, but that is most likely due to their timing in billing Verizon for the minutes I used.

I roam on Sprint, Alltel, and Cingular (no longer since my phone is all digital). Now that I think about it, it may depend on when I make the roaming calls... the ones that are made close to cycle date don't make it in time.

When I send/receive TXT messages while roaming, the usage gets updated within hours, but the minutes on #646 don't seem to update.

[xenophon]

Back to topic, this thread is about being able to maintain a voice call when swithing between roaming/native networks mid-call, not about who you roam on or billing.

[hillbilly44]

Originally Posted by xenophon

Back to topic, this thread is about being able to maintain a voice call when swithing between roaming/native networks mid-call, not about who you roam on or billing.

xenophon; Yes it is possible with any network as long as the technologies are compatiable (CDMA to CDMA or GSM to GSM). However, companies prefer you drop before you make a call on the roaming network (you have to register on the VLR). The main reason is they don't want to share revenue. Trunking between switches and frequency planning would have to be done to make it work.

[coalminer]

I know about 2 weeks ago I was driving down I 79 in PA and got a call a few miles before I hit the WV border, and I ended up talking for about 30 minutes, so that call made the hand off from Verizon to USCC. Now in that case, both were the B side cellular providers.

Where I live in Warren, we have a PCS system and I can drive to Cleveland where Verizon has the A side cellular, and it will make that handoff, but it wont make the handoff from Cleveland to Warren, go figure. I know that going from the Warren PCS system to the PA B side wont work either, found that out on that trip also, it held onto sid 73 until the call dropped and then had full signal on sid 32, but no handoff there.

[Fullstrength]

I think that phone should just work, calls should hand off between carriers, and everything should work between carriers. Its 2007, not 1994.

[tower master]

Originally Posted by hillbilly44

However, companies prefer you drop before you make a call on the roaming network (you have to register on the VLR) :

That's exactly it. The carrier providing the roaming coverage wants to be able to bill per the second you switch. You may not see this on your bill if you have free roaming, but someone has to pay for it. Also, let's face it, not all wireless providers are willing to work together nicely to make non-interrupted seemless roaming handoffs possible. I used to have that problem when I worked for the pink T, at the point we switched over to Iowa wireless (western Illinois). Hardest of handoffs, no matter what we did to fix it. God, I hated having the performance guys call me weekly to discuss it. What a pain.