Colt and PCCW Global expand their blockchain trial

Colt Technology Services and PCCW Global, the international operating division of HKT, Hong Kong's premier telecommunications service provider, have further progressed their blockchain Proof of Concept (PoC).

Additional members of the ITW Global Leaders' Forum (GLF) are also getting involved in the initiative.

Colt and PCCW Global, in conjunction with blockchain startup Clear, revealed in March that the businesses had undertaken a trial that demonstrated how the inter-carrier settlement of wholesale international services, could be automated through the use of blockchain.

Colt CEO Carl Grivner says, "We were optimistic by the success of the initial trial, but utilising live data was an important next step to prove the use case for blockchain technology in our industry.

"Not only did the second iteration of the PoC do what was intended, accurately match and settle wholesale traffic independently with live information, but it also signals the future of telecoms, whereby previously intensive manual practices can be securely automated to allow businesses such as Colt to invest resources into driving both our and our customer's businesses forward.

By using blockchain technology, the PoC was able to reduce this labour intensive process from hours to minutes.

The initial PoC used historical data as a test of the technology and its use case for the sector.

Now, the parties have taken the trial a step further by ingesting actual live data feeds into the ledger, enabling traffic to be automatically verified and settled between carriers.

While the original two carriers are now using live data to verify and settle traffic, other members of the GLF have also seized the opportunity to get involved in the initiative, with the aim is to soon expand the bilateral testing between Colt and PCCW Global to encompass a multilateral series of relationships among the wholesale telecommunications industry as a whole.

Fellow GLF members now getting involved include; BT, HGC Global Communications, Telefonica and Telstra.

HGC CEO Andrew Kwok says, "This expanded trial which now includes HGC, shows the momentous initiative of the GLF led blockchain work stream.

"This initiative eventually if positive, would certainly demonstrate a new business relationship among global carriers and reshape our business practice in the industry.