5G cross-network roaming is coming! Is there a charge? How to use it?

On May 17, at the 2024 World Telecommunication and Information Society Day Conference held in Ningbo, Zhejiang, China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Radio and Television jointly announced the launch of 5G cross-network roaming commercial promotion.

In May last year, 5G cross-network roaming was the first to be trial-commercialized in Xinjiang. Now, this model will be commercially available. It is reported that after the commercial promotion is launched, the relevant provinces will formulate specific promotion plans to accelerate the landing.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that it will adhere to the principle of moderate advancement, continue to strengthen the construction of network infrastructure, expand the scale of 5G applications, and make 5G networks better serve the operation of society and people's lives.

5G cross-network roaming is an important measure for the information and communication industry in mainland China to deepen the co-construction and sharing of 5G networks, and it is also a new service to improve users' 5G experience. To this end, Li Cheng, senior engineer of the Institute of Technology and Standards of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, who is in charge of the 5G cross-network roaming project, gave relevant interpretations.

1. What is 5G cross-network roaming?

5G cross-network roaming means that when the operator does not have 5G network coverage, users can access the 5G network of other operators and continue to use 5G services. 5G cross-network roaming is mainly suitable for remote areas with a small number of users and low network load. The 5G cross-network roaming carried out by the mainland has improved and enhanced the traditional international roaming scheme, and for the first time, the 5G network roaming scenario with 2G/3G/4G network signals on the home network has been realized. When roaming on 5G networks, users can use services such as voice (including video and emergency call), short message, and data.

What is the significance of 2.5G cross-network roaming?

5G cross-network roaming is an important measure for the information and communication industry to implement the decision and deployment of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China on accelerating the construction of a cyber power, and it is a solid action to promote the high-quality development of the industry. Carrying out 5G cross-network roaming can effectively reduce duplicate investment, improve the overall efficiency of 5G networks, reduce industry development costs, improve 5G network coverage in remote areas, help narrow the digital divide, and inject new momentum into high-quality economic and social development.

3.Do users need to pay extra for 5G cross-network roaming, and do users need to change their cards or numbers to use 5G cross-network roaming services?

In areas where 5G cross-network roaming services are available, users can use 5G cross-network roaming services without changing cards or numbers using mobile phones that support 5G cross-network roaming, without the need to subscribe to additional packages or pay separate fees.

4.Do users need to change their mobile phones to use 5G cross-network roaming services?

In accordance with the relevant requirements of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, all new 5G mobile phones entering the network from November 1, 2023 have supported 5G cross-network roaming, and terminal enterprises are encouraged to upgrade their existing handsets to support 5G cross-network roaming by updating system software. At present, there are a number of mainstream brand mobile phones that support 5G cross-network roaming, and specific information can be consulted with relevant terminal companies.