Mobile data communication. Bill shock prevention and roaming regulation
| Author | Irena Malolli |
| Position | University of Tirana |
| Pages | 33-42 |
Vo
l.
5
N
o
.
3
N
ovember
,
201
9
ISS
N 2410-391
8
A
cces on
l
ine at www.ii
p
cc
l
.or
g
33
A
cademic Journal o
f
Business,
A
dministration, Law and Social Sciences
II
PCCL Publishin
g
, Graz-
A
ustria
M
o
b
i
l
e
d
a
t
a
c
o
mm
u
n
i
c
a
t
io
n
Bill shock prevention and roamin
g
re
g
ulatio
n
P
h
D
(
C.
)
Irena Ma
l
o
ll
i
U
niversity o
f
Tirana
Ab
str
a
ct
T
he mobile data communication is
g
rowin
g
fast includin
g
the mobile data international
r
oamin
g
. The usa
g
e o
f
smart devices, the demand to be connected in online activities increases
the usage of data from end user perspective. The users experience in data communication is
e
volving and changing.
E
specially in roaming data communications, the users are
f
acing more
a
nd more o en the phenomenon of bill shock.
I
t is mainly due to the fact that the roaming
p
rices are not well communicated to the end user.
I
t is hard for the user to distinguish how
the tari s are composed either from the home network or from the host network provider.
T
his article will analyze the situation with user experience and user behavior and how we
can improve or prevent the bill shock experience in data usage especially in roaming in a
combination of measures from regulatory perspective, network operators and users. The
a
rticle is
f
ocused on international mobile roaming, the technical and regulatory measures to
p
revent bill shock experience by analyzing the roaming regulation in
E
urope
U
nion, and in
We
st
e
rn B
a
lk
a
ns
fo
c
u
s
e
d
o
n
A
lb
a
n
ia
n c
a
s
e.
Ke
y
words
:
r
oaming regulations, mobile data, RL
A
H, bill shock prevention.
I
ntr
odu
ct
io
n
I
nternational mobile roaming is a service that allows mobile users to continue to use
t
h
eir mo
b
i
l
e
ph
one or ot
h
er mo
b
i
l
e
d
evice to ma
k
e an
d
receive voice ca
ll
s an
d
text
messages,
b
rowse t
h
e internet, an
d
sen
d
an
d
receive emai
l
s, w
h
i
l
e visiting anot
h
er
c
ountr
y
.
T
he market
f
or roaming services reall
y
began in 1998 when mobile network o
p
erators
(MN
O
s) started to charge su
pp
lementar
y
tari
s
f
or international voice calling. The
fi
rst mobile roaming agreement was signed in 1992 between Voda
f
one
U
K and Telecom
Fin
l
an
d
(
Blackman C., For
g
e S.
“
Roaming,
O
ne year a
er implementation”, November 201
8
)
.
A
t the beginning o
f
international mobile roaming the most common services were
voice calls, which is related with making and receiving calls to or
f
rom home countr
y
,
visited countr
y
or a third countr
y
and SMS service, sending and receiving messages
w
hen
y
ou where abroad. Develo
p
ments o
f
technolog
y
in the mobile market,
f
rom
o
ne generation to another one, from 2G to 3G, 4G/LTE, to 5G networks, as well as
the introduction, and increased usage o
f
smart devices, mobile a
pp
lications lead to
h
igh data tra
c in mobile communications. Toda
y
the international mobile roaming
i
s used not onl
y
f
or voice and SMS services, but
f
or data communication in mobile
b
roadband
f
or sendin
g
and receivin
g
emails, download ima
g
es, music,
fi
lms and
so
ware, a
pp
lications etc.
Re
f
erring to Te
cient re
p
ort, “
I
ndustr
y
A
nal
y
sis#32019“, the data usage
p
er S
I
M user
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