In embodiments, a UE notifies an AP of information about a home operator of the UE; and the AP determines whether the home operator of the UE uses a hotspot virtualization technology on the AP, and if the home operator uses the hotspot virtualization technology on the AP, sends the information about the home operator of the UE as information about the AP access service operator to the UE, so that in a case in which the home operator of the UE and the AP access service operator are different, the UE considers the AP access service operator as the home operator of the UE and therefore preferentially selects a network of the home operator to access a communications network by using the AP.