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Three months ago, Ledger Insights wrote about how the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRIA) is trying to fight spam calls. At that point, Microsoft and Tech Mahindra were working on a blockchain-based Do Not Disturb register. Yesterday, the Economic Times revealed that IBM is also targeting the area.
"We have completed testing concepts and pilot projects with all major telecommunications providers and with TRAI in this space," said Sriram Raghavan, VP of IBM Research. "We anticipate that, as we enter the new year, we will begin to see the blockchain solutions being launched".
Furthermore, the blockchain will record if the consent is respected. The technology will also be used for the transfer of telephone numbers between providers.
In Europe, IBM is working with Telefónica on a proof of concept for the international billing of mobile calls. When users make an international call, call routing determines charges between telephone companies in different regions. The blockchain project helps in the traceability of such information between suppliers. By sharing data, reducing reconciliation costs, helping prevent fraudulent behavior and reducing discrepancies.
Carrier Blockchain Study Group
Telefónica is also part of the Carrier Blockchain Study Group, founded last year by TBCASoft, SoftBank, Sprint and Taiwan's FarEasTone. Since then the consortium has added ten new members including KT Corp. of South Korea.
The group is exploring how the blockchain can be used for digital payments, clearing and settlement, ID authentication and IoT applications.
Softbank, Synchronoss Technologies and TBCASoft also work separately on digital cross carrier payment systems. This would allow customers to make payment to merchants via SMS or the Rich Communication Services (RCS) protocol.
There are many other initiatives around the world. For example, the UK telecoms regulator is exploring the blockchain for managing numbers and porting numbers between carriers.
CBCCom, PCCW Global, Sparkle and Tata Communications are collaborating on a blockchain Proof of Concept (PoC). The PoC is for Bandwidth-on-Demand, which is how telecommunications companies buy bandwidth from one another for international services.
And in China Huawei, ZTE and the major telecommunications providers are collaborating on blockchain projects.
