IoT-specific permanent roaming agreements
A standard roaming agreement is an agreement between two or more telecommunications service providers that allows their customers to temporarily use each other’s network infrastructure when they travel outside of their home network coverage area. This means that when a subscriber of one network travels to an area where their home network does not provide coverage, they can still make and receive calls, send and receive text messages, and use data services by using the network of another service provider.
On the other hand, an IoT connectivity roaming agreement is a specialised roaming agreement that specifically addresses the needs of IoT (Internet of Things) devices. IoT devices are often deployed outside of their home network, in remote or hard-to-reach locations and require reliable and continuous connectivity to function properly.
Therefore, IoT connectivity roaming agreements typically include provisions for seamless connectivity, security, and billing between different network operators, allowing IoT devices to remain connected even when they move between coverage areas and permanently reside within a roamed network.
Some of the key differences between a standard roaming agreement and an IoT connectivity roaming agreement include:
Technical requirements
IoT devices often have different technical requirements and behaviours than consumer smartphones or other mobile devices. An IoT connectivity roaming agreement may require specific technical specifications for devices to ensure reliable connectivity across different networks and continued access on a permeant basis.
Security & Permanent Roaming
IoT devices are often used in critical applications, such as healthcare, transportation, and energy where reliability and longevity of network access is critical.
A specific IoT connectivity roaming agreement includes dedicated provisions for IoT and M2M use cases, ensuring the roaming footprint is reliable and supported by the visited network on a permanent basis.
Billing
IoT devices have several different traffic profiles depending on the end use case, and billing between operators can prove challenging to find a model that suits all services. IoT agreements include specific provisions for billing to ensure all types of IoT services can be supported and billed between the different network operators, this may be a combination of volume-based, bundled pricing, tiered pricing models or access fees.
Operating your IoT business on a specific IoT-based roaming agreement provides a level of longevity and predictability for billing of IoT services, compared to operating IoT services via consumer device-based agreement.
OV’s IoT-specific permanent roaming agreements provide global coverage for IoT devices, making it possible for devices to operate seamlessly across different regions and countries. This is especially important for businesses that operate on a global scale and need to monitor their assets or collect data from different parts of the world. With OV’s Global IoT connectivity, businesses can ensure that their devices are always connected, regardless of their location.
