FCC may require mobile data roaming

With some mobile operators making it difficult for people to use data services during roaming on their networks, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is now working to develop a rule that would require them to negotiate reasonable data roaming deals with other operators.

In the letter, Genachowski said the FCC has the authority in accordance with the Communications Act to set rules governing mobile operators for the convenience of end users.

The public record contains "abundant evidence from both national and rural businesses" that a rule is necessary since some operators have been reluctant to negotiate data roaming agreements, he said. The policy is needed "to ensure vibrant competition in the mobile marketplace, to unleash billions of dollars of investment in other words currently sidelined, to create thousands of new jobs and to meet the consumer demand for seamless nationwide coverage, be it for voice or data," he wrote.

The transition to LTE (Long Term Evolution

He as well wrote that the transition to LTE (Long Term Evolution, latest standard in the mobile network technology) networks makes data roaming furthermore important. "As the mobile world moves to LTE (Long Term Evolution, latest standard in the mobile network technology), the Commission's basic bipartisan voice roaming rules will be in jeopardy, as they will no longer ensure automatic voice roaming," he said.

That's because hereafter operators may transmit voice calls using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) over LTE, classifying voice as a data service. Without data roaming, an operator might lose the ability to let its clients use voice services when outside of the operator's coverage area.

Nancy Gohring covers mobile phones and cloud computing for The IDG News Service. Follow Nancy on Twitter at @idgnancy. Nancy's e-mail address is Nancy_Gohring@idg.com