Systems, methods and devices for selecting a public land mobile network using coverage enhancement indicators

A user equipment (UE) system for manually selecting a public land mobile network (PLMN) comprising:

• a cellular communication interface configured to communicate using one or more radio access technologies (RATs);
• a processor configured to:
• determine to perform a PLMN search;
• decode system information broadcasted by a set of PLMNs;
• evaluate a radio quality of each PLMN from the set of PLMNs under a normal threshold and an enhanced coverage threshold;
• determine whether each PLMN from the set of PLMNs is available in a normal coverage mode or only in enhanced coverage mode;
• and
• present the set of PLMNs for display including an indicator for each PLMN of whether each PLMN is available in the normal coverage mode or only in the enhanced coverage mode.

A method of selecting a public land mobile network (PLMN), the method comprising:

• performing a PLMN search or cell selection;
• determining the PLMNs from a set of PLMNs identified in the PLMN search that are available in a normal coverage mode or only in an enhanced coverage mode;
• and
• selecting a PLMN from the set of PLMNs based at least in part on a priority from a set of priorities and whether the PLMN is available only in the enhanced coverage mode.