National roaming allows a mobile customer to make and receive calls, send and receive data, or access other services in areas of the country where his mobile network provider has not (yet) built out its network. National roaming can be based on commercial agreements or be imposed as an obligation.

Cullen International's latest research benchmarks the regulation of national roaming in Europe, including the technologies involved, if there is a legal obligation to offer national roaming, and price regulation. Our research shows that operators in half of European countries offer national roaming. In many cases, roaming is offered on a commercial basis. An obligation to offer national roaming may be imposed by a spectrum licence, a SMP obligation, or may be among the conditions set to approve a merger between operators.