A guide to developing a national emergency roaming framework

(Extract, to access the full ITU report, click here)

Introduction

In recent years, the frequency and intensity of natural hazards, such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and wildfires have increased significantly, causing disasters that leave communities and entire countries devastated. These events often result in loss of life, destruction of livelihoods, and severe damage to critical infrastructure, with the telecommunication sector often being the hardest hit. Damage to mobile network systems, such as base stations, transmission facilities, and power supplies, can leave large areas without connectivity, delaying emergency communications, hampering response efforts and putting lives at risk.

Mobile connectivity is a critical component of public safety and disaster response. The national emergency roaming framework seeks to address these challenges by proposing a regulatory and operational structure that helps governments put in place temporary roaming agreements between mobile network operators (MNOs). These agreements allow subscribers of impacted networks to access voice, SMS, and data services on other operator networks without additional cost, ensuring continuity of communications and supporting disaster response and recovery. Emergency roaming service agreements are essential for ensuring continuity of mobile services during network outages, disasters, or emergencies, supporting public safety, coordination among stakeholders and first responders, as well as in the recovery phase.

This guide, intended for regulatory authorities and mobile network operators (MNOs), covers the design, implementation, and management of a regulatory framework for emergency roaming service agreements^[1] when mobile network operators seek to establish emergency roaming services. It provides model regulatory provisions that can serve as a basis for developing a national emergency roaming framework. The proposed provisions can be adapted to existing national regulations and adopted by telecommunication regulatory authorities as appropriate. The guide also serves as a reference for MNOs seeking to establish bilateral agreements for emergency roaming services. It includes a model set of articles outlining the principal legal, regulatory and operational provisions that should be considered when establishing and implementing a national emergency roaming framework.

Emergency roaming agreements are designed to:

• Ensure continuity of mobile services (voice, SMS, data) during network outages caused by emergencies by allowing subscribers from a failed or damaged network to temporarily roam on other operator networks.

• Enable MNOs to increase the resilience of their mobile network without deploying significant and costly infrastructure.

• Promote resilience, redundancy, and rapid recovery in national telecommunication infrastructure.

• Protect public safety by ensuring subscriber access to emergency services (e.g., 911, 112) when their home network services are unavailable.

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Draft regulation to develop a national emergency roaming framework by national telecommunication regulatory authorities

[National (telecom) Regulatory Authority]

[Resolution number]

[Date]

Regulatory framework for developing a national emergency roaming framework.

The [national regulatory authority], in the discharge of its statutory functions under the [Telecommunications Act (the Act)], hereby issues the following:

Article 1. Short title

This Resolution may be cited as the national emergency roaming framework.

Article 2. Objective

The objective of this emergency roaming framework is to establish key definitions, principles, and operational context for emergency roaming service agreements between mobile network operators (MNOs) and how such agreements should be negotiated, implemented and executed.

Article 3. Definitions

• Critical network failure: An unplanned mobile network outage that significantly disrupts mobile services due to disasters arising from natural (e.g., floods, storms, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.) or human-made hazards (e.g., terrorism, accidents, cyber-attacks, etc.).

• Emergency roaming: The temporary provision of domestic voice, text, and data services on another MNO network during the entirety, or part of, a critical network failure.

• Triggering event: A critical network failure that activates the emergency roaming protocol.

• Triggering event declaration: A formal notification by an MNO that it is experiencing or expects to experience a critical network failure and wishes to invoke emergency roaming.

• Home network (alternatively referred to as receiving party / originating network): The impaired MNO network due to a critical network failure and subscribers who require emergency roaming.

• Host network (alternatively referred to as responding party / visited network): The MNO that provides emergency roaming services to affected subscribers of the impaired MNO (home network).

• Emergency roaming area: The geographical area affected by the critical network failure, i.e., where an MNO network is not able to offer services to its subscribers.

Article 4. Emergency roaming obligation

An emergency roaming obligation is a regulatory requirement that obliges mobile network operators to allow users to access other national networks during emergencies, ensuring uninterrupted communication when the home network is unavailable.

Mobile network operators are required to establish emergency roaming service agreements in accordance with the definitions and principles of this emergency roaming framework.

Article 5. Mobile virtual network operator subscribers

Emergency roaming shall apply, on a non-discriminatory basis, to all subscribers of a home network, including subscribers of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) hosted on that network.

Article 6. Principles

6.1 Good faith

• MNOs must negotiate, implement, and execute emergency roaming service agreements in good faith. All parties are expected to act with transparency, fairness, and a shared commitment to public safety and service continuity.

6.2 Geographic overlapping coverage

• MNOs are required to establish emergency roaming service agreements where their network coverage areas overlap, in whole or in part.

6.3 Activation and termination of emergency roaming

• A home network shall request emergency roaming as soon as it experiences a triggering event.

• A host network operator shall provide emergency roaming upon request by a home network operator whenever technically feasible.

• Activation of emergency roaming must occur across all radio base stations of the host network in the emergency roaming area no later than two (2) hours after the triggering event declaration has been provided.

• When initiating a triggering event declaration, the home network must provide the host network and the [name of the regulatory authority] with the following information to the best of its knowledge as soon as practicable:

a. Description of the critical network failure.

b. Geographic scope of the emergency roaming area.

c. Estimated duration of the disruption.

d. Impacted network nodes.

e. Estimated number of affected subscribers.

f. Estimated traffic volume to be re-routed.

g. Identification of any other MNO providing emergency roaming.

• Emergency roaming must be terminated as soon as reasonably possible once the home network restores services, based on the principle of best efforts.

6.4 Network capacity and traffic management

• The host network is not obligated to augment or expand its existing network capacity to accommodate emergency roaming.

• The provision of emergency roaming service by the host network operator is required only to the extent that such service can be accommodated by existing network capacity and does not materially degrade the host network subscriber services.

• The host network may:

– implement traffic management practices;

– restrict bandwidth-intensive services (e.g., video streaming, large file transfers);

– decline or withdraw some or all of the emergency roaming services if:

o the host network is experiencing critical network failure;

o anticipates or experiences significant service degradation due to an increase in traffic volumes;

o security or capacity concerns arise.

• If emergency roaming is declined or withdrawn, the host network must provide arguments for such refusal to the home network and [the regulatory authority] within 24 hours of the triggering event declaration. The host network should provide advance notice of emergency roaming withdrawal where possible.

• If the host network implements traffic management practices, it must disclose the practices to the home network and [the regulatory authority] within 24 hours of implementation.

• The home network may take all reasonable actions to prioritize network access to its own subscribers in the emergency roaming area.

6.5 Traffic prioritization for emergency calls and disaster management and humanitarian relief

• Host networks in the emergency roaming area must prioritize critical communications from agencies responsible for disaster management and humanitarian relief (e.g., public protection, emergency services, search and rescue, and disaster response) as well as emergency calls (e.g., 911, 112) over all other communications, and above host network subscriber services.

6.6 Pricing

• For emergency roaming, the host network may charge only for direct operating costs associated with the infrastructure used to provide voice, SMS, emergency calls or other services (e.g., data) as determined by the host network traffic management. The host network may not profit from emergency roaming.

• Under no circumstances may emergency roaming generate additional costs for the subscriber.

• The host network shall clearly inform end users that:

– emergency roaming is limited to essential services (voice, SMS, emergency alerts, etc.);

– data services may be restricted to preserve network capacity; and

– no additional charges will apply for use of these services.

6.7 Annual testing

• In accordance with emergency roaming service agreements, MNOs are required to conduct annual tests of their emergency roaming capabilities and associated coordination processes. These tests should consider diverse network environments (e.g., GSM, UMTS, LTE, 5G networks, varying frequency bands and network configurations, etc.) and a wide range of potential scenarios (e.g., earthquake, tsunamis, hurricane, cyberattack, or single-network failures).

• Such exercises help to ensure interoperability and facilitate seamless automatic attachment of user devices across networks during emergency roaming events.

6.8 Final report

• Home and host networks are required to submit final reports independently to [the Regulatory Authority] detailing the timing, duration, and effectiveness of the emergency roaming implementation during a critical network failure.

• Reports should include as much as detail as possible and be submitted within 60 days after the home network has been restored to normal operating conditions and emergency roaming has ended.

6.9 Disputes

• Any disagreements between the MNOs regarding the negotiation, implementation, or execution of an emergency roaming service agreement, must be resolved by the [name of the Regulatory Authority] in accordance with the established framework.

6.10 Timeline

• All MNOs must implement emergency roaming service agreements within 12 months once the emergency roaming framework enters into force.

6.11 Exceptions

[The national telecommunication regulatory authority may specify exceptions to Article 4 if some mobile network operators are too small to comply with the emergency roaming requirement].

1. Emergency roaming service agreements are pre-established and legally binding arrangements between mobile network operators which, where applicable, are mandated or endorsed by the national telecommunication regulatory authority, and which enable temporary domestic roaming access for subscribers of one operator on the network of another operator during declared emergencies or major service disruptions, to ensure continuity of essential communications and access to emergency services. ↑