International Roaming

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › International Roaming

munchkin

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#5509 3-Nov-2005 18:36

Heregoes, I'm off to North America for two months from the beginning of December and I would like to know if I can use the phone I am taking with me on the Verizon and Telus networks, as several places that I am going to not have access to the Sprint or Bell networks.

I have spoken to many people about this at Telecom (both at dealerships and at the 0800 492-120 helpdesk) and I have recieved conflicting answers almost everytime, with some people at the other end of the helpdesk number not even knowing if I would be able to roam in Canada - which is listed on their website as being with Bell Mobility (and having worked on previous occasions).

Short of changing the PRL (which I can do, just not easily), is this a possibility?

Thanks in advance :)

NealR

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#23349 16-Nov-2005 11:53

Telecom NZ have roaming agreements with US companies Sprint and Verizon as well as Canadian companies Tellus, Sasktel and Bell Mobility. This means you can use your phone on all of these networks. You should not need to update your PRL to roam onto these networks but it is always worth doing in case any major network changes have occured in these countries.

Changing your PRL to aquire networks that Telecom does not have roaming agreements with will not enable you to roam onto these networks.

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cokemaster

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#23354 16-Nov-2005 15:52

Jama_bob: ....

Jama_bob - any relation to the geekzone user Jama?

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NealR

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#23355 16-Nov-2005 15:55

Two different people.

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cokemaster

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#23356 16-Nov-2005 15:59

Ah. Just wondering if Jama had a name change

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munchkin

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#23461 17-Nov-2005 20:28

From the Telecom website, there is no mention of Verizon, Telus or Sasktel - the Telecom roaming page mentions that roaming in the USA is with Sprint, and roaming in Canada is with Bell Mobility, MTS or Aliant.

Please tell me where you found this information out, as I can't seem to find it anywhere. (Even on Google, this topic is the top result).

I know that Verizon have a roaming agreement with Telecom for Verizon customers who travel here but I can't find any information about this agreement going both ways (eg: for Telecom NZ customers roaming on the Verizon network).

Also, the PRL is a list of bands and channels in order of preference which the phone uses when it attempts to locate and connect to a cell system, such as when you first turn the phone on. I know that the phone can detect networks etc. that are not listed within the PRL, but from what I unsderstand, the phone will try to find a system listed within the PRL before it connects to one which isn't on it.
One would have thought that by changing the PRL to a list that consisted of all foreign *in the sense of preferred partners* channels etc, that the phone would be able to access them rather than your home networks preferred partner towers.

Granted here, I probably also have to change the SID and some other settings too.

*confused*

NealR

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#23596 21-Nov-2005 08:54

You will just need to trust me that my information is accurate.

You will find that over the next few months that the Telecom website will be updated. What the final format will be and whether all partner networks with Telecom will be mentioned... I don't know.

Obtaining service on another network requires more than just aquiring the network from a radio perspective. The local switch needs to determine who you are and what services you are allowed to have. To do this the local switch needs to communicate with the home network. If there is no commerical agreement between the local switch network and the home network then you will not be able to register as a valid subscriber and you will be denied service.

Hope this helps.

The comments I write on this forum do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer and as such cannot be taken as official statements of my employer.