The Proof of Concept undertaken by Colt and PCCW Global reduced
inter-carrier settlement time from hundreds of man-hours per month
to less than a minute
LONDON, Mar 14, 2018 - (ACN Newswire) - Colt Technology Services
and PCCW Global, the international operating division of HKT, have
collaborated with Clear, a blockchain start-up company, to
demonstrate that inter-carrier settlement times can be reduced from
hours to minutes by blockchain technology.
The objective of this Proof of Concept (PoC) was to ascertain if
the advantages offered by blockchain technology could be applied to
make inter-carrier settlements more efficient, reliable, and
scalable.
This PoC was specifically focused on the settlement area of
wholesale voice minutes, as the majority of telecom operators have
similar processes for these transactions.
Today, despite the financial importance of these settlements to
wholesale carriers, they still involve manual transactions which
are costly for all parties. In the trial, the application of
blockchain's decentralised, cryptographically enforced, immutable
ledger technology resulted in tens of thousands of call records
being analysed and settled in a few minutes. Using blockchain
technology, hundreds of hours of manual work were reduced to
seconds of automated verification and settlement.
Furthermore, blockchain technology adds an extra layer of security
and trust to transactions in an industry where sensitive and
proprietary information is frequently exchanged, fraud is rife, and
dispute resolution can be lengthy and complex.
Most of today's blockchain technologies lack solutions for
scalability, contract privacy and enterprise grade business logic,
all critical for an industry wide settlement and clearing platform.
However, through the use of proprietary technologies, this PoC
demonstrated the viability of a blockchain-based wholesale trading
system.
Both Colt and PCCW Global are members of the ITW Global Leaders'
Forum (GLF), where discussions on blockchain have featured heavily,
and it was in this forum that the collaboration was cemented. GLF
aims to foster an environment within the telecom industry that
focuses on ubiquity and interoperability among providers. This PoC
was centred around these themes by attempting to understand how a
technology such as blockchain can benefit the sector as a
whole.
Carl Grivner, Chief Executive Officer of Colt, said, "It is our
goal to create a more agile, customer oriented organisation, and
one way in which we are doing this is by exploring the benefits of
disruptive technologies, such as blockchain. Collaborating with
PCCW Global and Clear is ground breaking, as we have demonstrated
how blockchain can transform the way we conduct business in the
telecom industry."
Marc Halbfinger, Chief Executive Officer of PCCW Global and the
Chairman of the GLF, said, "Everyone is talking about blockchain
but the use cases in the telecom industry have been fairly limited
until now. Whilst this deployment is currently only at the PoC
stage, through our collaboration with Colt we are eager to
demonstrate how the many potential uses of blockchain across our
industry can deliver value by improving the ways in which we
interoperate."
Gal Hochberg, Chief Executive Officer of Clear, said, "It is
exciting for any business to create something that has the power to
truly innovate how an entire industry operates. This PoC marks the
beginning of how blockchain is set to revolutionise the telecom
sector."
During two separate demonstrations, one of which took place at the
Pacific Telecommunications Council annual conference in January
2018, the PoC showcased the use of blockchain to positively settle
payments for inter-carrier voice traffic. It reduced what can take
several weeks, and sometimes months, of intense manual labour down
to less than a minute.
"This PoC could also see the beginning of a cryptocurrency model
where, rather than exchanging cash to settle transactions, carriers
could move to a token-based credit environment. If successful, such
a model could be rolled out beyond the carrier community to other
technology service providers," concluded Mr. Grivner.
About Colt
Colt aims to be the leader in enabling customers' digital
transformation through agile and on-demand, high bandwidth
solutions. The Colt IQ Network connects over 800 data centres
across Europe, Asia and North America's largest business hubs, with
over 25,000 on net buildings and growing.
Colt has built its reputation on putting customers first. Customers
include data intensive organisations spanning over 200 cities in
nearly 30 countries. Colt is a recognised innovator and pioneer in
Software Defined Networks (SDN) and Network Function Virtualisation
(NFV). Privately owned, Colt is one of the most financially sound
companies in its industry and able to provide the best customer
experience at a competitive price. For more information, please
visit www.colt.net.
About PCCW Global
PCCW Global is the international operating division of HKT, Hong
Kong's premier telecommunications service provider, which is
majority-owned by PCCW Limited. Covering more than 3,000 cities and
150 countries, the PCCW Global network supports a portfolio of
integrated global communications solutions which include Ethernet,
IP, fiber and satellite transmission solutions, international voice
and VoIPX services, managed network & security services and our
expanding "as-a-service" solutions including OTT video and Unified
Communications.
PCCW Global is headquartered in Hong Kong, and maintains regional
centers in Belgium, China, France, Greece, Japan, Korea, Singapore,
South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the
United States of America. To learn more about PCCW Global, please
visit www.pccwglobal.com.
About HKT
HKT (SEHK: 6823) is Hong Kong's premier telecommunications service
provider and leading operator in fixed-line, broadband and mobile
communication services. It meets the needs of the Hong Kong public
and local and international businesses with a wide range of
services including local telephony, local data and broadband,
international telecommunications, mobile, and other
telecommunications businesses such as customer premises equipment
sales, outsourcing, consulting, and contact centers.
HKT offers a unique quadruple-play experience in Hong Kong
delivering media content on its fixed-line, broadband Internet
access and mobile platforms jointly with its parent company, PCCW
Limited.
HKT also provides a range of innovative and smart living services
beyond connectivity to make the daily lives of customers more
convenient, whether they are at home, in the workplace, or on the
go. For more information, please visit www.hkt.com.
About Clear
Clear builds blockchain-based wholesale services clearing and
settlement platforms for entire industries, and the economies that
support them. Using smart-contracts and state-of-the-art
cryptography, Clear's technology platforms enable enterprises to
transition from current inefficient and manual processes to
real-time trading and clearing on a global scale without
compromise. By partnering with industry leaders, sustainable
supporting economies are created, fostering evolution and
innovation for the benefit of all participants. Clear aims to build
a global infrastructure that allows organizations to leverage the
opportunities and meet the challenges created by digital
transformation, reduce costs and increase coordination and
cooperation. Let's make it Clear. To learn more about Clear, please
visit www.clearx.io.
For further information, please contact:
Nola Pocock
Colt
Tel: +447917714377
Email: nola.pocock@colt.net
Ivan Ho
PCCW Group
Tel: +85228838747
Email: ivan.wy.ho@pccw.com
Roni Shani
Clear
Tel: +1 6467608118
Email: roni@clearx.io
Issued by Colt Technology Services.
Source: Colt
Copyright 2018 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
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