Few Things You Should Know About Roaming

By David

If you frequently use a cell phone, you have likely had to deal with your mobile device roaming before. Most cell phone users are familiar with the extra fees associated with it, but not as many know what roaming is or why it occurs. To explain this, we have put together an informational guide so you can know what it is, what it does, and how to avoid it costing you extra.

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What is it?

Roaming is a term that simply means you are receiving your cellular network service through a tower owned by another carrier. Typically, your carrier will charge you an additional fee for all talking, texting, and data use that occurs during this state. As a result, those whose phones frequently roam will find that their monthly bills are considerably higher than those of people who almost never step outside their carrier’s coverage. The reason for these extra fees is that your carrier does not cover the areas you find yourself roaming in with any towers they own. However other networks do cover these areas with their own towers. In order to provide you with more coverage, your carrier worked out a deal with the carrier or carriers who own the towers that cover the area in question. This deal typically involves your carrier paying a monthly fee to rent the use of the tower from the other carrier. However, rather than paying the rent out of what it would cost to maintenance their own towers in the area, they charge the user part of this rent to help mitigate the expense.

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What it does?

Roaming allows a cell phone user to gain access to all of their network’s services even while outside their native coverage area. This is done by utilizing the nearby towers of another company that your carrier is renting in order to allow you to enter a state of roaming. Those towers then communicate back to towers owned by your company.

How to avoid it

Because of the additional fees associated with roaming, many people look for ways to try and avoid it. In some cases, the only real way to avoid it will be to petition your carrier to put up a tower of their own close enough to you, so you do not have to use towers belonging to other carriers. There are, however a couple of alternatives available to some cell phone users.

1. Switch Carriers – Though it may sound a bit extreme, switching to a carrier that provides native service to your area will help you avoid roaming fees associated with using the towers of another company.
2. Avoid Usage Outside Coverage Zones – If you are unable to switch carriers, you can always avoid roaming fees by not using any of your phone’s features while outside your networks native coverage area. This may mean a little inconvenience, but it will result in a lower bill.

Now that you know what roaming is and how to avoid it, you can start saving yourself some money on your phone bill.

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