Orange and Other Telephone Operators to Test a Blockchain Platform
Blockchain technology has so much to offer to our convenience from increased privacy, security, cost-efficiency, and faster results. But in the recent past, there have been several issues in the telecom industry due to the inability to implement better roaming automation works. But it seems all of this might come to a sweet end as, 4 of the world’s biggest telecom providers Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile US, Telephonic, and Orange along with GSMA are jointly testing a new Blockchain solution.
As a leader in Blockchain mobile app development, we are excited to cover up this major development in the world of Blockchain. So without further ado, let’s understand what this development is and how it will greatly affect everyone.
All these major telecom operators are collectively working on developing an automated roaming management solution. The production-ready solution was designed initially by the Deutsche Telekom Labs and Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier. Moreover, it has been developed by Hyper ledger fabric which is an open-source Blockchain solution.
For this, a trial is being carried out under the GSM Association, an industry group that comprises of 750 global mobile carrier networks. This new technology will develop a solution that will simplify the current complex roaming protocols. As of now, they require operators to develop, sign and implement the inter-operation roaming agreements on a one to one basis thus resulting in delay and inconvenience. However, the Blockchain giants believe that if successful this platform could be used to effectively resolve inter-operator settlements in a much more efficient and fast way.
Current Roaming Issues and How Blockchain Solves Them
Thanks to the company’s expertise at Blockchain and IoT technology, the roaming issue can be drastically solved. The use of tokens in Blockchain technology allows other operators to generate, sign and implement inter-operator roaming discount agreements. This minimizes the chances of disagreements to a large extent.
Now, this roaming solution was the need of the hour because many a time the agreed-upon terms could tamper easily but since the technology is based on Blockchain and IoT there is a minimal chance of such occurrence. Also with automation in the roaming workflow, there would be increased trust between operators resulting in easier settlement of disputes if any.
This was indeed required as an inter-operator workflow in roaming had been the same for the past 20 years. In the future, it is anticipated that with services like NB-IoT, LTE-M and VOLTE the complexity in settling agreements may get tougher and the same was said by Rolf Nafziger, Senior Vice President of Deutsche Telekom.
He told that this Blockchain solution is the start of automating sections of their current workflow. It will surely put them in a position to handle the additional complexity while increasing the overall efficiency.As per him, there are plans to open source the code which will result in easy access to the code by the industry. As a mobile app development company, we think outsourcing has always helped in improving the solution. Moreover, with time the workflow will only get better, convenient and smooth.
Our Approach to Solve Wholesale roaming and interconnect billing and charging for Mobile Operators
In our opinion Blockchain is very vital in improving wholesale roaming and interconnect billing works. Allowing customers to roam and interconnect on one other’s network requires a lot of interaction among operators and the current process of storing CDRs followed by clearing and resettling is a costly process. Even after settling the reconciliation, there is an increased mistrust on abusing the tolerance margin.
But we believe the dedicated work by leading operators can surely solve the issue to some extent. Using Smart Contracts can be used to enforce roaming partner agreements to full force. This will require the parties to use cryptocurrencies or tokens to settle the issue over a private Blockchain. Using APIs to communicate in the Blockchain can bring so much convenience as it would help in seamless reconciliation between operators. The same approach can also be used between an operator and its existing customers.
Conclusion
We hope this solution will bring ease to the operators and its customers across the globe. Using Blockchain and possibly IoT in the future can result in some seriously advance solutions which will erase the trust and confidentiality and efficiency issues to a higher level.
Do you need help with your Blockchain Idea? Let us know about it. Being a leader in Blockchain Industry, we have already catered to various industries with our smart mobile app development work and would be happy to help you out with a free consultation from our experts.
Summary:
As per a report world’s 4 major operators Deutsche Telekom, T Mobile US, Telefonica and Orange are working on a Blockchain-based pilot project. The trial is aimed at streamlining the roaming management system which often results in violation from various operators. Moreover, automating this will solve the pertaining issues in no time and will also remove the need to individually formulate, sign and implement inter-operator roaming agreements.
The use of smart contracts can surely enforce roaming partner agreements with much more conviction. Incorporating Application Programming Interfaces or APIs can result in seamless reconciliation between operators. In all, implementing the new Blockchain solution will only increase the feasibility and trust between operators and their customers. Moreover, it will eliminate the major delays in reconciliation.
We expect uses and operators will find a more efficient and resourceful solution after this trial gets over. Blockchain technology has so much more to give to our convenience. After all, it’s up to us how efficiently we apply changes to our advantage.
