Zain Group — a leading telecoms provider in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region — has joined the governing council for enterprise-grade distributed ledger platform Hedera Hashgraph. Zain provides mobile voice and data services to over 49.5 million active customers and has a commercial presence in eight countries in the MENA region — including Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Zain’s joining of the council represents a regional first, Hedera’s announcement on June 15 claims. Hadera Hashgraph and its governing members To realize its aim of establishing a more secure internet using public blockchain technology, Hedera Hashgraph’s …
Major South Korean insurance firm KB Insurance plans to implement a blockchain-enabled mobile message delivery system for its clients. According to a June 9 report by industry news outlet Ledger Insights, KB will use the system jointly developed with local telecommunication firm KT Corp starting next month. The service will at first deliver payment and termination notices to auto insurance customers, but the firm plans to expand it to all its customers. The purpose is to reduce mailing costs and non-delivery of notifications. Blockchain ensures the message delivery The new message delivery solution uses blockchain to send insurance policy changes …
Jiang Wei, the chairman of China Telecom Blockchain and Digital Economy Joint Laboratory, explained in an interview published on Chinese news portal, Cebnet, that blockchain technology has significant use cases that could improve the 5G mobile network. According to estimates by China Telecom in 2019, China’s 5G services are expected to have approximately 170 million subscribers by the end of 2020. Wei said that China Telecom expects blockchain to play a crucial role in trusted management, secure interaction, and efficient collaboration among multiple participants of the network and devices. Making 5G more seamless and convenient Wei stated that Blockchain in …
The global coronavirus lockdown has put a strain on Venezuela’s internet, which could logically make crypto participation difficult. As much of the world hunkers down in quarantine, people logically turn to internet-based services for work, as well as a way to pass the time. This mass movement has put significant stress on available data usage capacities in Venezuela, Movistar told Bloomberg for its March 27 article. A daughter company of Telefonica SA, Movistar is the nation’s main telecom provider. Global precautions cause global strain In an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, much of the globe presently …
NEM, one of the oldest peer-to-peer blockchain networks, has partnered with Israeli-Lithuanian telecom startup FIX Network to increase security and data protection for cell phone users and to solve the issue of SIM swapping. FIX Network will implement SYMBOL from NEM’s enterprise-grade blockchain into its existing cellular infrastructure. The goal is to secure the world's eight billion SIM cards from cybercriminals with new privacy, security, management and safety solutions. Phone numbers may end up more important than social security numbers FIX Network’s architecture is designed to allow mobile operators to deliver services such as digital identity management, cryptocurrency wallets, and …
South Korea’s largest telecoms provider, KT Corporation, is boosting a partnership with China Mobile targeting blockchain technology and 5G roaming. As local English-language news outlet The Korea Herald reported on Dec. 5, KT is preparing to debut 5G roaming capabilities in China later this month. KT Corp. eyes B.Link blockchain rollout At the same time, the companies are working on a blockchain system which will allow them to save time and costs when computing roaming charges for mobile users. According to The Korea Herald, the B.Link system is able to “self-analyze roaming data from the two carriers and can process …
Maltese government agency supporting business development, Malta Enterprise, signed a memorandum of understanding with Blockchain-as-a-Service service firm T-Systems, parent company Deutsche Telekom announced on Oct 30. Deutsche Telekom launched the Blockchain Ecosystem (GBE) at the end of last month, as reported by Cointelegraph Germany. Now, the Maltese agency will become T-System’s first partner gaining access to the GBE, which can reportedly be used to track a product’s value chain from raw materials to delivery alongside other tools that can facilitate blockchain development. Malta Digital Innovation Authority to certify T-System’s GBE companies The collaboration also includes a planned tech accelerator called …
California resident Seth Shapiro has filed a lawsuit against wireless service giant AT&T alleging that its employees helped to perpetrate a SIM-swap which resulted in the theft of over $1.8 million in total, including cryptocurrencies. The complaint filed on Oct. 17 claims that Shapiro is “a two-time Emmy Award-winning media and technology expert, author, and adjunct professor at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.” The lawsuit alleges that between May 16 and May 18 AT&T employees transferred access to Shapiro’s mobile phone to outside hackers: “AT&T employees obtained unauthorized access to Mr. Shapiro’s AT&T wireless account, viewed …
Leading communications and technology company Verizon has been awarded a patent for using virtual subscriber identity modules (vSIMs) for customers’ devices. A filing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Sept. 10 details a blockchain encryption technology, wherein a traditional physical SIM card can be replaced with a software SIM version. According to the filing, this ensures more security and the existence of only one copy of the vSIM on one device at a time. The document further explains: “The network device initiates creation of a blockchain including a vSIM certificate for the network services, wherein the vSIM …
SK Securities, a branch of South Korea's largest telecom SK Group, has partnered with a local blockchain firm for a digital real estate beneficiary platform. The securities operator has signed a business agreement with Kasa Korea, a Seoul-based startup developing a digital securities blockchain platform for thereal estate market, Korean news outlet Yonhap News reported on Sept. 4. SK Securities and Kasa Korea agreed to collaborate on a digital platform for distribution of real estate beneficiary securities. Based on real estate securitized beneficiaries issued by real estate trust companies, Kasa Network’s digital property shares will allow investors to trade pieces …
Major phone operator China Telecom has released a white paper on blockchain-powered smartphones in the 5G Era. China Telecom introduced the white paper at the China International Intelligent Industry Expo on Aug. 27, according to a report by local finance news outlet Sina. Existing troubles In the document, China Telecom pointed out the potential benefits of applying blockchain technology to mobile phones, including automation and transaction traceability. According to Sina, China Telecom’s white paper says that people can master their own digital asset in 5G era, while “regardless of data volume, data varieties and data dimensions, data assets will grow …
The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), an organization that aims to establish standards in the blockchain sector, has published a collection of use cases for blockchain in telecommunications. Blockchain solutions for telecoms The EEA shared the announcement with Cointelegraph on Aug. 28. According to the announcement, the new document on blockchain solutions in the telecom industry was created by the EEA Telecom Special Interest Group (SIG). This document is free and open to the public, and reportedly contains information on how blockchain technology can streamline business transactions and internal operations in telecommunications. Additionally, the document purports to show how so-dubbed standards-based …