Bonn, Germany – October 20, 2022 – At the recent Global Carrier Awards, the Best Blockchain/Security Innovation winner was an alliance of four partners: Colt Technology Services, Console Connect, Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier, and Vodafone Business. They triumphed with their creation of a groundbreaking blockchain-based open network for automated inventory and billing settlement of telco data services.
A common problem in the industry involves the many inter-operator agreements necessary for telcos to function globally. They require coordinating with different departments and processes, from sales, ordering, operations and billing to settlement. Many of these measures are handled manually, often leading to mistakes, lengthy settlement processes and even fraud.
Through the use of blockchain, buyer and seller fixed-line data service inventories can be matched, and billing settlement automated. In this way, there is an unalterable single source of truth that makes real-time transactions transparent and indisputable.
“Already, the participating carriers have experienced the benefits of 100% on-time payments, zero post-invoicing disputes and 80% faster pre-invoicing dispute resolution,” said Bertold Frech, VP International Strategy, Marketing & Steering, Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier.
The newly developed blockchain solution was intended from the start to be open, and therefore other operators are encouraged to participate. This is why, added Paul Gampe, CTO at Console Connect, “we worked with industry bodies such as the Global Leaders Forum (GLF), GSMA, MEF, TM Forum, and CBAN to drive standardization and adoption.”
In addition to simplifying inter-carrier operations, boosting customer relationships is an added aim of the network. Eduardo Perez, Sr. Lead, Strategy & Innovation at Colt, said, “In addition to easing inter-carrier dealings, we want to deliver the best experience for our end users, which is exactly what this innovation supports.”
Chris Fleck, Senior Manager Sales Ops and Transformation at Vodafone Business, added, “This is an exciting step in blockchain technology within our industry. Although initially focused on telco interoperability the opportunities for blockchain go much further. We expect this new technology to innovate other areas including cloud, edge and IoT.”
With this new industry standard for commercial settlement, the partners expect many providers will understand the time and cost-saving potential and soon join the network.
