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| Mobile Network Code | |
|---|---|
| Name | Mobile Network Code |
| Abbreviation | MNC |
| Type | Telecommunication identifier |
| Issued by | International Telecommunication Union |
| Region | Global |
| First issued | 1980s |
Mobile Network Code
The Mobile Network Code is a numerical identifier used in cellular telecommunication systems to distinguish wireless networks operated by carriers such as AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile US, Vodafone Group, and China Mobile. It functions alongside national and international identifiers assigned by bodies like the International Telecommunication Union, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, and national regulators including Federal Communications Commission, Ofcom, and Agence nationale des fréquences. The code is embedded in standards developed by organizations such as 3GPP, GSMA, and 3GPP2 and appears in infrastructure produced by vendors like Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, Samsung Electronics, and Qualcomm.
The Mobile Network Code identifies individual public land mobile networks operated by entities such as Deutsche Telekom, Orange S.A., Telefónica, Telstra, and Rogers Communications. It is used in signaling protocols specified by ITU-T and by radio access technologies defined by 3GPP for LTE (telecommunication), UMTS, GSM, and by 3GPP2 for CDMA2000. The MNC is paired with the Mobile Country Code allocated by the International Telecommunication Union to form a globally unique label recognized by manufacturers like Intel and operators such as Sprint Corporation.
An MNC typically consists of two or three digits formatted according to standards ratified by 3GPP and maintained in public lists by the GSMA. The concatenation of the Mobile Country Code and MNC yields the Public Land Mobile Network identifier used in provisioning systems from vendors like Cisco Systems and Alcatel-Lucent. Elements of the format are referenced in technical documents produced by ITU and procedures overseen by regulators such as Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and Australian Communications and Media Authority.
Assignment of MNCs is coordinated by national numbering authorities such as Ofcom, ANFR (France), Bundesnetzagentur, and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (China), with international oversight from the International Telecommunication Union and industry coordination via the GSMA registry. Disputes and reassignment follow policies aligned with recommendations from ITU-T Study Group 2 and compliance checks by bodies like European Commission when cross-border implications involve carriers including Telia Company or SoftBank Group. Historical allocations trace to early mobile efforts by operators such as Vodafone and AT&T Inc..
Network elements including Home Location Register systems from Ericsson and Huawei use the MNC to route calls and manage subscriber profiles for carriers like Telefónica and MTN Group. The code appears in SIM cards issued by manufacturers such as Gemalto and Giesecke+Devrient and is read by devices from Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics, Xiaomi, and Google during network selection. It also influences roaming agreements between operators such as Orange S.A. and Telefonica, and is referenced in billing systems maintained by vendors like Amdocs and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
The MNC pairs with the Mobile Country Code to form the Public Land Mobile Network identifier; it interacts with the International Mobile Subscriber Identity used by SIM cards and is distinct from the IMSI, the Equipment Identity Register referencing IMEI numbers, and numbering plans like those administered by North American Numbering Plan Administrator and national numbering plans such as those of Japan and Brazil. It is linked in operator databases used by Google services, by mapping systems like OpenCellID, and by emergency frameworks applied by agencies such as FEMA in interoperability scenarios.
Regional registries and national regulators publish lists of assigned MNCs for countries including United States, United Kingdom, China, India, Germany, France, Japan, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, and Canada. Industry directories maintained by the GSMA and datasets used by projects like OpenSignal and CellMapper aggregate these assignments for researchers at institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Imperial College London, and Tsinghua University.
Examples include the MNCs used by AT&T and T-Mobile US within the United States paired with Mobile Country Code 310, the MNC allocations for Vodafone subsidiaries in Europe, and the MNCs assigned to operators like China Unicom and China Mobile under Mobile Country Code 460. Network testing tools from vendors such as Keysight Technologies and Rohde & Schwarz display MNC values during drive tests, while provisioning platforms from Ericsson and Nokia use them to configure core network elements. Common troubleshooting guides from community projects like Stack Overflow and technical fora hosted by GitHub reference MNCs when diagnosing SIM network selection and roaming issues.
Category:Telecommunications identifiers