Roaming coverage evaluation

1. A computer readable storage medium including instructions executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform operations comprising:

receiving a roaming handover message including an error code, the roaming handover message identifies a serving cell connected to a home network and a touch point connected to a roaming network;

verifying whether the touch point is accepting roaming handovers by retrieving roaming information from the touch point;

retrieving a signal report from a terminal served by the serving cell in response to determining that the touch point is not accepting roaming handovers;

determining a signal strength difference between a signal of the touch point and a signal of a cell neighboring the touch point; and

mitigating coverage loss due to the touch point not accepting roaming handovers based on the signal strength difference.

2. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the mitigating includes at least one of adjusting an area of coverage of the cell neighboring the touch point or deploying one or more cells to at least a portion of a geographic area served by the touch point.

3. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the mitigating includes adjusting an area of coverage of the cell neighboring the touch point in response to the signal strength difference being greater than or equal to a threshold value.

4. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the mitigating includes deploying one or more cells to at least a portion of a geographic area served by the touch point in response to the signal strength difference being lower than a threshold value.

5. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the verifying includes retrieving roaming information from the touch point through the terminal.

6. The computer readable storage medium of claim 5 , wherein the verifying further includes determining whether the terminal is able to read a Roaming PLMN Identifier from the touch point.

7. The computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein

the operations further comprise periodically retrieving roaming information from the touch point, the roaming information stored in a database; and

the verifying includes retrieving roaming information from the database about the touch point, and applying a machine learning model to the roaming information and the roaming handover message.

8. The computer readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the verifying further includes:

determining whether the terminal is able to read a Roaming PLMN Identifier from the touch point;

labeling the roaming information and the roaming handover message as a training sample based on whether the terminal is able to read the Roaming PLMN Identifier from the touch point; and

training the machine learning model with the training sample.

9. A method comprising:

receiving a roaming handover message including an error code, the roaming handover message identifies a serving cell connected to a home network and a touch point connected to a roaming network;

verifying whether the touch point is accepting roaming handovers by retrieving roaming information from the touch point;

retrieving a signal report from a terminal served by the serving cell in response to determining that the touch point is not accepting roaming handovers;

determining a signal strength difference between a signal of the touch point and a signal of a cell neighboring the touch point; and

mitigating coverage loss due to the touch point not accepting roaming handovers based on the signal strength difference.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the mitigating includes at least one of adjusting an area of coverage of the cell neighboring the touch point or deploying one or more cells to at least a portion of a geographic area served by the touch point.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the mitigating includes adjusting an area of coverage of the cell neighboring the touch point in response to the signal strength difference being greater than or equal to a threshold value.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the mitigating includes deploying one or more cells to at least a portion of a geographic area served by the touch point in response to the signal strength difference being lower than a threshold value.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the verifying includes retrieving roaming information from the touch point through the terminal.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the verifying further includes determining whether the terminal is able to read a Roaming PLMN Identifier from the touch point.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

periodically retrieving roaming information from the touch point, the roaming information stored in a database;

wherein the verifying includes retrieving roaming information from the database about the touch point, and applying a machine learning model to the roaming information and the roaming handover message.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the verifying further includes:

determining whether the terminal is able to read a Roaming PLMN Identifier from the touch point;

labeling the roaming information and the roaming handover message as a training sample based on whether the terminal is able to read the Roaming PLMN Identifier from the touch point; and

training the machine learning model with the training sample.

17. An apparatus comprising:

a controller including circuitry configured to

receive a roaming handover message including an error code, the roaming handover message identifies a serving cell connected to a home network and a touch point connected to a roaming network;

verify whether the touch point is accepting roaming handovers by retrieving roaming information from the touch point;

retrieve a signal report from a terminal served by the serving cell in response to determining that the touch point is not accepting roaming handovers;

determine a signal strength difference between a signal of the touch point and a signal of a cell neighboring the touch point; and

mitigate coverage loss due to the touch point not accepting roaming handovers based on the signal strength difference.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the mitigating includes at least one of adjusting an area of coverage of the cell neighboring the touch point or deploying one or more cells to at least a portion of a geographic area served by the touch point.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the mitigating includes adjusting an area of coverage of the cell neighboring the touch point in response to the signal strength difference being greater than or equal to a threshold value.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the mitigating includes deploying one or more cells to at least a portion of a geographic area served by the touch point in response to the signal strength difference being lower than a threshold value.