SoftBank, Sprint, Far EasTone and TBCASoft Launch Blockchain Consortium for Telecom Carriers
2017年9月8日 - 09:00AM
ビジネスワイヤ(英語)
Companies succeed in demonstrating
cross-carrier payment platform system
Japan-based SoftBank Corp. (“SoftBank”), U.S.-based
Sprint Corporation (“Sprint”), Taiwan-based Far EasTone
Telecommunications Co., Ltd. (“Far EasTone”) and U.S.-based
TBCASoft, Inc. (“TBCASoft”) today announced the launch of a
new blockchain consortium, the Carrier Blockchain Study Group
(“CBSG”). In the future, more telecom carriers will be
invited to participate in the CBSG on a global scale. SoftBank,
Sprint and TBCASoft also succeeded in demonstrating a cross-carrier
payment platform system that uses TBCASoft’s innovative blockchain
technology.
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CBSG Consortium System Architecture
(Photo: Business Wire)
In February 2017, SoftBank, Sprint and TBCASoft agreed to aim to
cooperate in jointly developing blockchain technology for telecom
carriers, and commenced a technical trial that connects TBCASoft’s
blockchain platform to telecom carriers’ systems. With Far EasTone
newly joining this association, it since developed into a
consortium that aims to build a next-generation global
cross-carrier blockchain platform and ecosystem. CBSG will promote
research and development for the platform with the aim of providing
users various services such as secured clearing and settlement,
personal authentication, IoT applications, and other services in
the future.
SoftBank, Sprint and TBCASoft succeeded in demonstrating
cross-carrier top-ups*1, mobile wallet*2 roaming, international
remittances and IoT payment on a cross-carrier payment platform
system using TBCASoft’s blockchain technology that can be
integrated with telecom carriers’ existing systems. TBCASoft’s
technology enables a highly secure and versatile global blockchain
platform system that can be operated 24/7 at low cost. TBCASoft
will be introduced at Sprint’s booth at Mobile World Congress
Americas, held from September 12 to 14 in San Francisco.
The project connects carriers’ telecommunication backend
systems. The system eliminates late transactions or transaction
failures between telecom carriers. Not only can the system
significantly improve existing business operations, but more
importantly it also enables various business opportunities for
telecom carriers.
“TBCASoft is developing a cross-carrier distributed ledger
network consisting of telecom carrier hosted servers running the
TBCASoft blockchain platform. We aim to work with global telecom
carriers to build a very secure and high-performance blockchain
system where disruptive services can be ubiquitously provided to
billions of telecom carrier subscribers worldwide.” said Ling Wu,
Founder & CEO of TBCASoft, Inc.
“TBCASoft has a sophisticated layered system architecture,
SoftBank can successfully integrate our Business Support System and
Mobile App servers with TBCASoft blockchain platform in a short
period of time at a reasonable cost. SoftBank is satisfied with
confirming the implementation and system performance of the
TBCASoft’s blockchain platform on which value transfer service led
by telecom carriers will be operated.” said Mr. Takeshi Fukuizumi,
Vice President of SoftBank Corp.
“CBSG is leading the telecommunication industry’s understanding
and development of blockchain technology. The disruptive potential
of blockchain on a global scale will be fully realized when
carriers work together and leverage the new platform and
ecosystem,” said Doug Garland, Sprint Vice President of Innovation
and Partnerships.
“Mobile payment has a huge demand in Asian market, including
Taiwan. The TBCASoft blockchain platform provides the solution to
reshape the competition in this new business territory by having
carriers work together on a distributed ledger system. More
importantly, through CBSG Consortium, carriers can join together to
fully exploit the potential of blockchain technology for providing
global services.” said Mike Lee, Executive Vice President of Far
EasTone.
CBSG will soon be inviting global telecom carriers to
participate and soon define the requirements of the cross-carrier
blockchain platform. The consortium will also function as a working
group for telecom carrier members to resolve issues related to
technology, business and the regulations of various
jurisdictions.
*1 Recharging of a pre-paid phone account
*2 A digital wallet that users can make payment transaction on a
mobile device. Users can make payments in merchant stores and
settlement through their wallet.
About SoftBank Corp.
SoftBank Corp., a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp. (TOKYO:
9984), provides mobile communication, fixed-line communication and
Internet connection services to customers in Japan. Leveraging
synergies with other companies in the SoftBank Group, SoftBank
Corp. aims to transform lifestyles through IT and expand into other
business areas including IoT, robotics and energy. To learn more,
please visit www.softbank.jp/en/corp/group/sbm/.
About Sprint
Sprint (NYSE: S) is a communications services company that
creates more and better ways to connect its customers to the things
they care about most. Sprint served 53.7 million connections as of
June 30, 2017, and is widely recognized for developing, engineering
and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless
4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading
no-contract brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and
Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk
capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Sprint has
been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North
America for the past five years. You can learn more and visit
Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and
www.twitter.com/sprint.
About Far EasTone
Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) is a leading company in
Taiwan that provides telecommunications and digital application
services. FET honors “Trustworthy, Agile, Innovative,
Collaborative” as its core values. Since its inception in 1997, FET
has continued to introduce new products and services utilizing
access technologies, including 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, and the first
telecom operator in Taiwan to start operating 4.5G/LTE on 2,600MHz
band. FET proceeds the pursuit of customer satisfaction and
strengthens vertical integration of the ICT industry and secure
enterprise cloud services for the business community. More
information on http://www.fetnet.net.
About TBCASoft, Inc.
TBCASoft, Inc. is a US-based start-up company developing a
consortium-based blockchain platform specifically for
telecommunication industry. TBCASoft is teaming up with the top
global telecommunication leaders to build the most secure, robust,
and scalable cross-carrier blockchain platform to serve the needs
of the future in the mobilized world. The platform connects global
mobile carriers to create a boundaryless ecosystem providing
unified trust to billions of mobile users worldwide. TBCASoft is
building this trust to change the world. To learn more, please
visit www.tbcasoft.com.
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SoftBank Corp.Makiko Ariyama, +81.3.6889.2301Corporate
Communications (Japan)sbpr@softbank.co.jporSprint CorporationLisa
Belot, +1.913.315.5730Lisa.Belot@sprint.comorTBCASoft, Inc.
(USA)marketing@tbcasoft.comorFar EasTone Telecommunications Co.,
Ltd.pr@fareastone.com.tw