Data Roaming - Support Options Per Network

IoT Data roaming is offered by all networks on a "best effort" basis, and no guarantees or SLA's are available from the mobile networks. For general advice, options and tips on IoT roaming, see our article here.

Mobile networks offer different support options when it comes to data roaming. Here is a summary of the enterprise support that  is available from the mobile networks:

Vodacom South Africa

• Support requests must be logged by us via the enterprise support desk. From there a few checks are done, and then escalated to the roaming support team. Only weekday office hours support is offered (no after-hours or weekend support available)
• Typical response times: 8-24 business hours if we do regular follow-ups.
• Roaming support is offered by Vodacom on a "best effort" basis.

MTN South Africa

• Support requests must be logged by us via the enterprise support desk. From there a few checks are done, and then escalated to the roaming support team. Only weekday office hours support is offered (no after-hours or weekend support available)
• Typical response times: 6-12 business hours if we do regular follow-ups.
• Roaming support is offered by MTN on a "best effort" basis.

BICS IoT Roaming

• Support requests must be logged by us via the BICS support desk. Weekday office hours support is offered, as well as after-hours support for P1 incidents (large-scale or whole country outages - not singe SIM support). 
• Typical response times: 3-8 business hours if we do regular follow-ups.

Vodafone IoT Roaming (GDSP)

• Support requests must be logged by us via the Vodafone Global support desk. Weekday office hours support is offered, as well as after-hours support for P1 incidents (large-scale or whole country outages - not singe SIM support). 
• Typical response times: 8-24 business hours if we do regular follow-ups.

If the roaming issue is due to a problem on the roaming country's local network partner, the network will log a support ticket with their partner network. Resolutions times for such issues vary, but can be anything from 8 to 36 hours. The longest local network issue we have experienced took more than 2 weeks to resolve.

An important note on data roaming: We find in practice that data roaming in African countries is not as reliable as local connectivity. You may also find that a SIM attaches to a local network that only supports voice roaming (not data roaming), or that there are localised issues with connectivity (i.e region or entire country offline). Also, some roaming networks only offer 2G/3G (no 4G roaming).  
We can not guarantee any roaming service 100% and can also not provide support on what happens on local networks while roaming. All roaming services are offered on a "best effort" basis by us and our telecoms partners.

Specific countries that have the most roaming-related issues and where roaming quality of service is typically unpredictable: Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola.   

Playbook: Trouble-shooting Data Roaming issues

Individual SIM outage

1) Check VAS provisioning with local network to ensure SIM is enabled for roaming (Local SIMs that roam):

SIM needs to be on the home network (i.e. SA) for VAS provisioning to work. So if the provisioning is requested while the SIM is roaming, it won't be completed successfully.

2) Check that the SIM has airtime (Local SIMs that roam):
Local network SIMs that roam, and that don't blindly bill against an account (post-billed roaming that is not recommended) must have normal airtime available. Check the airtime balance and monitoring rule on SIMcontrol and ensure the SIM has enough airtime available to open a session. We recommend a minimum of R20.

3) Check that data roaming is enabled on the device
Every device type has a different setting that allows it to roam. Ensure this is enabled.

4)Blocked Network Preference Lists (PLMNs):

If a device was unable to connect to a roaming network in the past (due to a local outage or other issue), that network code could have been added by the device to its Blocked Network Preference Lists (PLMNs). This list needs to be flushed/cleared as it might be stopping the device from making a connection attempt.

It is device-specific in how to clear this list. Normal (consumer) handsets need a full reboot, while IoT devices will depend on the specific device firmware. Please get this information from your hardware supplier. This can sometimes be done remotely (via SMS) once the devices are back in South Africa.

5) IoT Device Logs:

To check what errors the device is receiving (when trying to connect while roaming), it is very helpful to look at historic device logs, specifically the GSM logs. This help us to also see how the device itself is behaving and whether it is attempting to connect to a network, and why it is failing.

Country outage

If an entire base or large portion of SIMs are offline in a specific country, its is usually because of a regional local network outage or a networking issue between the SIM's network and the roaming partner network. Once this has been reported to the SIMs' network the issue must be handled and resolved by the two networks' support teams.