Handheld electronic device including preferred network selection, and associated method

A method of establishing a prioritized list of networks to be used by a handheld electronic device including a Subscriber Identify Module (SIM) card having a preferred network list pre-stored thereon, in roaming situations, the method comprising:

• enabling a manual entry of one or more networks into said handheld electronic device, each of said one or more networks having network information relating to said one or more networks;
• adding one or more of said manually entered networks to a preferred network list comprising one or more preferred networks;
• assigning a priority value to each of said one or more preferred networks;
• and
• saving said preferred network list on the SIM card in a location distinct from said pre-stored preferred network list;
• wherein said one or more preferred networks are utilized in a priority order that is based on said priority value assigned to each of said one or more preferred networks for performing wireless communications, instead of said pre-stored preferred network list on the SIM, when said handheld electronic device is in a roaming situation.