Almost a year after establishing the first-ever intercontinental 5G standalone (SA) roaming connection between two live networks in Europe and the Middle East, international connectivity and 5G enabler BICS has established the first-ever intercontinental 5G standalone (SA) roaming connection between two live networks in Europe and the Middle East with Kuwait Telecommunications Company. 5G SA roaming connectivity is now available. (stc) and Thailand’s largest mobile phone company AIS.
Stc strives to provide innovative services and platforms to its customers and enable digital transformation in the Middle East. The partnership with BICS provides direct connectivity with AIS SEPP (Security Edge Proxy) and a full-service 5G SA service hub to Kuwait carriers.
The successful connection has enabled AIS and stc Kuwait to offer international 5G standalone roaming connectivity using the 5G mobile core network to transmit data, texts, and calls. Until now, his 5G connections in the region used non-standalone (NSA) 5G technology and were routed as 4G/LTE traffic in the core network. This means that previous connections do not support 5G innovation use cases because they do not provide network slicing, real-time critical communications, or scalability.
For roaming connections, BICS provides an additional layer of security on top of the SEPP protection established by carriers, going beyond standard requirements. All traffic will be sent from the carrier’s SEPP through BICS’ 5G SA service hub. While carriers already had security protection in place with SEPP firewalls, BICS now provides data analytics, business intelligence, quality monitoring, and a strong anti-fraud layer for 5G roaming traffic exchanged between carriers around the world. We’ve added it so we can scale it up.
BICS has achieved a number of 5G standalone firsts, including the first-ever connection of its kind in an experimental environment in 2021 and the first-ever global 5G SA roaming connection between the Middle East and Europe in 2022. I am claiming. With this new first, BICS has enabled: We are further pushing the boundaries of 5G SA, testing new 5G SA service hub models, and opening the door for carriers to innovate and expand their roaming agreements.
“5G is the biggest overhaul of mobile technology in a generation, bringing a range of benefits to users and businesses. However, 5G’s true potential will only be realized through global adoption of 5G standalone. ” said Michael Chachne, Vice President of Communications at BICS.
“At BICS, we believe in the power of communications, which is why we are working to build the foundations that will accelerate the deployment of 5G SA roaming around the world. We are committed to working together to strengthen these foundations and make 5G SA roaming a reality. The more we do that, the sooner carriers like AIS and STC Kuwait, businesses and end users alike can unlock their potential.”
Saran Faroprakhan, Head of Mobile and Consumer Products at AIS, added: “For 5G to work for businesses and consumers, it needs to be scalable and secure. The success of this roaming connectivity represents a major advance on both counts and will benefit our customers and the broader industry. Bringing the next generation of his 5G.”
Mohamed N. Al-Nusif, Chief Executive Officer of STC’s Solutions Division, said: “This latest achievement brings global 5G SA even closer to reality, providing carriers not only with the technical preparation but also with a set of secure quality assurance services to protect them.”Consumers in the 5G era and predict future revenues for carriers. ”
