Authentication

From CDGWiki

Authentication

Process used to verify the authenticity of mobile devices. There are two levels of authentication that may be employed:

• Access authentication – used for both voice and data services to authenticate a mobile device attempting to access a serving network. To perform access authentication for CDMA/1xRTT, CAVE-based authentication is used; for 1xEV-DO, A12 authentication is used.
• Data authentication – used by various data network entities to authenticate a mobile device attempting to establish a packet data session. This occurs after access authentication has been completed and applies to any packet data session.

While roaming is possible without authentication, many carriers will not roam with operators unless they support authentication.