Roaming has long been the fallback for global IoT connectivity—used not because it’s ideal, but because alternatives were limited. As deployments expand across borders, many providers still depend on roaming to bridge coverage gaps and accelerate rollout. 

But that approach comes with significant drawbacks. Roaming introduces challenges that directly impact the performance, cost, and compliance of IoT deployments—issues that only grow more complex as your footprint scales. 

The Problem with Roaming for Global IoT 

Traditional connectivity was not designed for IoT. Roaming was built for short-term consumer travel, not for connected devices that need persistent, long-term service across borders. This mismatch creates significant challenges for global IoT deployments. 

Permanent Roaming Restrictions are a Growing Threat 

As IoT deployments have grown, many countries have introduced rules limiting how long devices can stay connected via roaming. These restrictions are designed to protect local infrastructure and enforce compliance with domestic telecom rules. Some countries, like Brazil,Turkey, and China, have introduced outright bans on permanent roaming. Others, particularly in the Middle East, require all cellular connectivity to be delivered by licensed local providers—effectively excluding non-domestic roaming SIMs. And in places like the U.S., Canada, and Australia, roaming access is left up to each individual carrier’s discretion. In practice, this means a device may be disconnected after an extended period of roaming, in some cases as soon as 30 to 45 days—with no guarantee it will be able to reconnect. 

Roaming Impacts Performance and Power Efficiency 

When a device roams, its data often travels back through the provider’s home network before reaching the internet—a process known as home routing. This indirect path increases latency and creates performance bottlenecks. That latency forces devices to stay active longer, consume more power, and retry more often. Over time, this degrades both efficiency and user experience. Even low-power applications like asset tracking or smart metering can suffer. Reduced battery life translates into more frequent replacements, higher maintenance costs, and lost ROI. 

Roaming SIMs Don’t Scale Operationally 

Managing global IoT deployments with roaming SIMs is operationally complex. Roaming agreements can change, network steering is out of your control, and diagnosing issues across different carriers is slow and inconsistent. In many cases, devices are deployed in remote or inaccessible locations. When connectivity fails, resolving the issue may require manual SIM swaps or on-site intervention—a costly and time-consuming process that simply doesn’t scale. A recent report by Kaleido Intelligence revealed a staggering 95 percent of respondents believe that roaming SIMs are inadequate for global IoT connectivity. In fact, 86 percent stated that roaming SIMs do not meet the requirements of more complex deployments, especially when it comes to performance and data privacy regulations. 

High Roaming Costs 

Roaming costs vary by country, carrier, and agreement—and they’re rarely predictable. Even with IoT-specific roaming bundles, pricing structures can change unexpectedly, making it hard to maintain cost control at scale. For deployments with high data usage or thousands of connected devices, one pricing shift can cause a significant jump in operating costs. And if you’re relying on physical SIMs, switching to a new provider becomes logistically complex and expensive. 

Roaming Limits Your Control Over Security 

With roaming-based connectivity, you rely on third-party networks you don’t control. This often means limited visibility into how data is handled or secured—a major concern for deployments in sensitive or regulated environments. Security standards can vary between host networks, and without control at the network or SIM level, it’s harder to detect anomalies, investigate issues, or enforce consistent protections. 

The Velocity IoT Approach: Smarter Global Connectivity 

Velocity IoT helps businesses deploy and scale connected devices globally while overcoming challenges related to performance, compliance, and operational complexity. Our solution is built on a distributed core network with 40+ Points of Presence (PoPs) and strategically located packet gateways—enabling local data breakout, stronger compliance, and improved performance across regions. 

We use a hybrid connectivity model that combines local access with roaming fallback when appropriate. This ensures maximum uptime and flexibility, especially in regions with evolving regulations or limited infrastructure. 

Built for Consistent Performance Across Borders 

Devices connect through local breakout points via local core networks. This reduces latency, improves uptime, and ensures compliance in markets with strict roaming policies like Turkey, Brazil, and parts of the Middle East. 

Data Sovereignty and Regulatory Alignment 

By keeping data local when required, our architecture supports compliance with data sovereignty laws and privacy regulations such as GDPR. This is especially critical when operating in restricted markets like the EU or China.