The world of communications is evolving. With Number Portability implementation and the transition from voice-centric, circuit-switched communication to a flexible IP environment (which supports Next Generation rich voice and data services), service providers face challenges interconnecting their networks. Nevertheless, there are also exciting opportunities: Services like Packet Voice, MMS, Mobile IM and IMS create new revenue but can’t realise their full potential unless subscribers can reach each other worldwide.
It’s a complex situation. That’s why identifying addressing and routing information based on telephone numbers is becoming an essential pre-requisite for cost effective interconnect.
Number Portability (NP)
Number Portability (NP) has already been implemented in more than 50 countries – over 250 million telephone numbers have been ported and over 2.3 billion numbers worldwide now have porting potential. With India, China and Russia planning to launch NP by the end of 2012, these numbers are set to grow by 50%.
NP benefits subscribers – but it creates serious challenges for the industry. Traffic can be routed to the wrong service provider, which can lead to costly inefficiencies. Carriers and Hubs don’t always have access to in-country NP data, so the originators don’t always know which carrier/hub to choose – which means traffic and revenue can be lost when traffic is offered to entities without the appropriate interconnect agreements.
To avoid these problems, carriers typically acquire NP data from several sources and manage the ongoing data. However, this requires bespoke content interfaces, technologies and arrangements which are usually prohibitively expensive.
The solution to these issues is an NP lookup solution. Obtaining efficient access to NP data reduces lost traffic (revenue leakage) and suboptimal routing (revenue wastage) which obviously benefits the end user.
NGN Service Migration
As you know, service providers are moving to IP services. Voice-over IP is now widely adopted, while mobile operators are now moving their core operations to RCS and LTE services. New IP based networks are currently deployed as individual islands rather than seamlessly interconnected end-to-end IP clouds. With thousands of service providers exchanging IP traffic, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to effectively deliver IP traffic by using next hop routing techniques. Not to mention the fact that most users are still operating the old technology – which complicates the decision about which interconnect technology to use.
All of this means that the migration to IP will take many years – during this time, the industry will need the capacity to detect which customers are using IP services or risk delivering traffic in the wrong format. In addition, conversions between different formats are difficult and costly. That’s why strategies to convert only where necessary and in optimum locations are vital for customer satisfaction and the economics of network interconnect. The capacity to detect the technology of the destination number via lookup services will create a seamless transition to IP services.
The Solution – Number Resolution
PathFinder Number Resolution is based on operators and carriers looking up information about numbers before taking routing decisions. Using this technique, customers determine the true destination for the traffic, the capabilities of the end subscriber and the routing addresses associated with those capabilities – resulting in informed technical and commercial routing decisions.
- Enables Next Generation routing for Next Generation services
- Interconnects NGN networks reliably and effectively
- Solves Number Portability
- Saves money on interconnect using ENUM through optimised routing
- Increases traffic delivery success rates and improves the bottom line
- Enables advanced service for interconnecting networks
GSMA Activity in Number Resolution:
Following the success of the 2008 pilot programme, PathFinder has continued to gain momentum. This market-leading initiative is a GSMA-managed service, operated by Neustar and offered to mobile network operators, fixed-line operators, international carriers, hubs, application providers and content providers. It enables interconnect routing of voice, SMS, MMS and Next Generation services.
Helping Service Providers
GSMA is working hard to help service providers improve their interconnect business for legacy and Next Generation services. PathFinder simply helps to get information about a telephone number at each Tier and then send it back to the requesting party.
Above all, GSMA Carrier ENUM allows operators to publish addressing information to carriers, hubs and interconnect partners. The information is supplied in response to queries, enabling calls, messages, content and other types of communication sessions.
How to Become a Customer
Joining us is easy… Just ask us for more information and we’ll send you a documentation package containing service description, query guide, services agreement and policy document. Of course, our support team is always available to assist with any queries and help you throughout the integration process.
