An Access Point Name (APN) is the name of a gateway between a

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...

, GPRS, 3G and 4G

mobile network A cellular network or mobile network is a communication network where the link to and from end nodes is wireless. The network is distributed over land areas called "cells", each served by at least one fixed-location transceiver (typically thre ...

and another

computer network A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. The computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections are ...

, frequently the public

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. A mobile device making a data connection must be configured with an APN to present to the carrier. The carrier will then examine this identifier to determine what type of network connection should be created, for example: which

IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...

es should be assigned to the wireless device, which security methods should be used, and how, or if, it should be connected to some private customer network. More specifically, the APN identifies the packet data network (PDN) that a mobile data user wants to communicate with. In addition to identifying a PDN, an APN may also be used to define the type of service, (e.g. connection to

Wireless Application Protocol Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network. A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that use the protocol. Introduced in 1999, WAP achieve ...

(WAP) server, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)) that is provided by the PDN. APN is used in 3GPP data access networks, e.g. General Packet Radio Service (GPRS),

evolved packet core System Architecture Evolution (SAE) is the core network architecture of mobile communications protocol group 3GPP's LTE wireless communication standard. SAE is the evolution of the GPRS Core Network, but with a simplified architecture; an all-I ...

(EPC).

Structure of an APN

A structured APN consists of two parts as shown in the accompanying figure. * ''Network Identifier'': Defines the external network to which the Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) is connected. Optionally, it may also include the service requested by the user. This part of the APN is mandatory * ''Operator Identifier'': Defines the specific operator's packet domain network in which the

GGSN The GPRS core network is the central part of the general packet radio service (GPRS) which allows 2G, 3G and WCDMA mobile networks to transmit IP packets to external networks such as the Internet. The GPRS system is an integrated part of the G ...

is located. This part of the APN is optional. The MCC is the

mobile country code The ITU-T Recommendation E.212 defines mobile country codes (MCC) as well as mobile network codes (MNC). Overview The mobile country code consists of three decimal digits and the mobile network code consists of two or three decimal digits (for e ...

and the MNC is the

mobile network code The ITU-T Recommendation E.212 defines mobile country codes (MCC) as well as mobile network codes (MNC). Overview The mobile country code consists of three decimal digits and the mobile network code consists of two or three decimal digits (for e ...

which together uniquely identify a mobile network operator. Examples of APN are: * (Note: This example APN uses a

domain name A domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services and more. As ...

from the DNS which belongs to the operator) * * * * (Note: This APN example does not contain an operator) * (Note: Does not contain an operator, however in practice it is AT&T Mobility's LTE APN) * (Note: No operator, but the APN name clearly identifies

Verizon Wireless Verizon is an American wireless network operator that previously operated as a separate division of Verizon Communications under the name Verizon Wireless. In a 2019 reorganization, Verizon moved the wireless products and services into the div ...

) * (Note: APN name clearly identifies operator Mobitel) * (Note: APN name clearly identifies operator

Jio Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, doing business as Jio, is an Indian telecommunications company and a subsidiary of Jio Platforms, headquartered in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It operates a national LTE network with coverage across all 2 ...

) LTE networks use APN-FQDN format, which differs from the 2G/3G format described above as follows. "apn.epc." is inserted before "mnc", and the ".gprs" at the end becomes ".3gppnetwork.org" etsi.org
Domain Name System Procedures (Page 15 / 5.1.1.1). For example: the 2G/3G internet.mnc012.mcc345.gprs becomes internet.apn.epc.mnc012.mcc345.3gppnetwork.org .

References

External links

* * * {{Cite web, url=http://lteuniversity.com/get_trained/expert_opinion1/b/ozachery/archive/2013/03/12/apn-fqdn-naming-structure.aspx , title=APN-FQDN Naming Structure , last=Zachery , first=Omar , date=12 March 2013 , publisher=Award Solutions , access-date=2016-03-13 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314104553/http://lteuniversity.com/get_trained/expert_opinion1/b/ozachery/archive/2013/03/12/apn-fqdn-naming-structure.aspx , archivedate=14 March 2016 Mobile telecommunications standards 3GPP standards GSM standard