Avoid accidental roaming by triggering a network re-attachment procedure

Abstract

There is provided a method of initiating a network re-attachment procedure by a mobile device, the mobile device being attached to a network other than the home network of the mobile device, and wherein location information for the mobile device in said other network is stored in a visitor location register, VLR, in said other network, the method comprising transmitting a first signal between the home network and the mobile device, if the home network and/or the mobile device is aware that the mobile device is in a border cell of the visited network where there may or should be coverage from the home network. This first signal indicates that the network re-attachment procedure can be initiated, since it has been determined that the mobile device is in said border cell, the mobile device, when sending or receiving said first signal starts a timer. Subsequently, the home network transmits a second signal to the VLR of the visited network, which causes the location information relating to the mobile device to be deleted from the VLR. On expiry of a time period sufficient to allow the location imformation to be deleted from the VLR, the mobile device sends a service request to an MSC of the visited network and on rejection of the request to an MSC of the visited network and on rejection of the request (due to the fact that the mobile device is no longer known in the VLR), the mobile device initiates a network re-attachment (and hopefully registers with the home network).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.