Steering of roaming PLMN list update and management

A user equipment device (UE), comprising:

• at least one antenna;
• at least one radio, wherein the at least one radio is configured to perform cellular communication using at least one radio access technology (RAT);
• and
• one or more processors coupled to the at least one radio, wherein the one or more processors and the at least one radio are configured to perform voice and/or data communications;
• wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the UE to:
• receive, from a network, a steering of roaming (SoR) container, wherein the SoR container includes a list of operator preferred public land mobile networks (OPLMNs), and wherein the OPLMNs within the list are associated with a plurality of mobile country codes (MCCs);
• compare the list of OPLMNs included in the SoR container to a prior list of OPLMNs;
• replace OPLMNs in the prior list of OPLMNs that have an MCC corresponding to an MCC of the plurality of MCCs included in the list of OPLMNs;
• and
• treat, in response to losing a signal to a cell on a visited PLMN (VPLMN), PLMNs in an SoR aborted list as a lower priority than PLMNs stored in a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) of the UE on a memory of the UE.

A non-transitory computer readable memory medium storing program instructions executable by processing circuitry to cause a user equipment device (UE) to:

• store, while in manual mode of operation, a public land mobile network (PLMN) identity in a steering of roaming (SoR) aborted list;
• attempt to obtain service on a higher priority PLMN;
• and
• treat, in response to losing a signal to a cell on a visited PLMN (VPLMN), PLMNs in an SoR aborted list as a lower priority than PLMNs stored in a universal subscriber identity module (USIM) of the UE on a memory of the UE.