Imagine if all data services were interoperable in the same way texting is, where everyone could send and receive a message or share applications regardless of which carrier they use. An iPhone user in the United States would be able to send a picture message to someone in China, for instance, or open up a video link via a smartphone.
So far the quest for an inter-carrier peering fabric and service ubiquity has been hampered by technical and business model issues. Many network operators have a patchwork of technologies – whether it’s 2G, 2.5G, 3G or WiMAX (with LTE coming soon). A mix of legacy TDM and advanced IP services persists as well, and globally carriers remain wedded to either GSM or CDMA. Meanwhile, operators are in various stages of IMS deployment, which affects how IP services perform on their networks.
The result is a mixed situation in which operators are forced to craft one-off interconnection agreements for the internetworking of enhanced services, to allow for the heterogeneous nature of the mobile landscape. It’s an expensive and painstaking process, not to mention a technical challenge.
Now, into this welter comes the IPX, short for the IP Packet eXchange Network Transport solution, which is the GSM Association’s answer to the increasing complexity of mobile networks as access technologies evolve. The IPX offers a standardized architecture to be deployed into a peering hub for interconnecting mobile operators of any type as well as fixed-line operators, and content and application service providers. One line in connects an operator to everyone else in the hub; the architecture and the provider’s platforms take care of the QoS, service translation, verification, security and billing.
“It’s a single multiservice interconnect that’s necessary here, versus having to deploy hundreds of interconnects to all of the mobile parties involved,” said Alan Bugos, director of product management at wholesale IP carrier iBasis. It’s a construct that significantly lowers the barrier to entry for global IP peering. And it’s already here: The first commercial IPX services have been launched by Syniverse, a carrier-neutral roaming, collocation and data center provider.
Syniverse hasn’t yet given a status update as to how many operators have signed up, but the need is growing. “With the rise of the mobile lifestyle, today’s wireless subscribers have an increasing demand to take their data and messaging services with them wherever they go,” said Tony Holcombe, president and CEO at Syniverse. “Subscribers’ appetite for mobile data will continue to grow as they adopt more smart phones as well as multi-mode devices.”
The first phase of Syniverse IPX enables operators to provide subscribers with seamless access to their data services, no matter which technology is being used by their roaming partners. Phase two will incorporate support for further advanced capabilities, such as VoIP, video calling and video share, as well as clearing and settlement.
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