Data service processing method, apparatus, and system in roaming scenario

A data service processing method in a roaming scenario, the method comprising:

• acquiring, by a network side device of a visited network from a home subscriber server of the visited network, after selection by a subscriber of an alternative roaming provider from among multiple alternative roaming providers associated with the visited network, information about the alternative roaming provider selected by the subscriber, wherein the acquired information comprises at least an identifier of the alternative roaming provider, wherein the alternative roaming provider is a roaming service provider in a roaming area, wherein the roaming service provider is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), wherein the identifier of the roaming service provider is a virtual access point name (APN), wherein the virtual APN is different from an actually used APN;
• selecting, by the network side device, a gateway according to the acquired information about the alternative roaming provider;
• performing, by the network side device, data service processing by using the gateway;
• and
• wherein acquiring, by the network side device from the home subscriber server of the visited network, the information about the alternative roaming provider selected by the subscriber comprises:
• receiving, by the network side device, a subscription data insertion message sent by the home subscriber server after the home subscriber server generates the information about the alternative roaming provider selected by the subscriber according to a first mapping relationship provided by a roaming service support system, the first mapping relationship comprising a mapping relationship between a subscriber identifier and the identifier of the alternative roaming provider selected by the subscriber, the subscription data insertion message carrying the information about the alternative roaming provider selected by the subscriber.