PCCW Global and Colt Technology Services have collaborated with blockchain startup Clear to trial using blockchain technology to dramatically reduce inter-carrier settlement times.
The joint proof of concept trial involved using blockchain to more efficiently settle wholesale voice minute settlements. It demonstrated that settlement times can be reduced from hours to just minutes.
During the trial, blockchain's decentralized, encrypted and immutable ledger technology was used to allow for the analysis and settlement of tens of thousands of call records in a few minutes, and reduce hours of manual work to seconds of automated verification and settlement.
As an ancillary benefit, the companies demonstrated that blockchain can add an extra layer of security to the settlement process, reducing the potential for fraud and simplifying the often complex dispute resolution process.
The companies said they also used proprietary technologies to overcome the limitations of most of today's blockchain technologies, that lack solutions for scalability, contract privacy and enterprise grade business logic.
“Everyone is talking about blockchain but the use cases in the telecom industry have been fairly limited until now,” PCCW Global CEO Marc Halbfinger said.
“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.”
Colt CEO Carl Grivner said the proof of concept could also mark the beginning of a new cryptocurrency model for inter-carrier payments.
“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,” he said.