Radar: Roaming in a post-Covid world

In terms of financials, roaming was a remarkably steady line of business prior to 2020. However, revenues were inevitably exposed to the curtailment of international travel as a result of border restrictions and closures once lockdowns came into force in the first half of 2020. This report gauges the nature and extent of the downturn over the last 12 months and its lasting impact, following a recent survey of roaming professionals, which included network operators, MVNOs and other specialists.

Macro-economic conditions aside, technology development plays a key role in how any mobile market moves forward. In this context, roaming is no different. We address four areas in this analysis: 2G/3G decommissioning, VoLTE roaming, 5G roaming and cross-border IoT. The report also looks at the emergence of roaming hubs and how eSIM is likely to become an embedded part of roaming services.