BICS enables LTE roaming for more than 95 million subscribers through more than 70 providers worldwide

Brussels – Belgium, 7 January 2014: BICS, a global provider of wholesale carrier services, today announced customers using its IP exchange (IPX) platform can access LTE roaming services with over 70 operators, spanning 44 countries. This sets the stage for another year of strong growth for BICS, following the year it established the world’s first live LTE roaming relations between operators in Asia, North America, Europe and Africa, confirming its position as a leading provider of LTE roaming services.  

Demand for LTE roaming is rapidly increasing as operators continue to launch next generation data networks. Almost 250 operators have already launched 4G, covering 92 countries[1], and subscribers now expect to be able to access high speed data wherever they are in the world. LTE roaming requires a brand new series of commercial agreements and technical interconnections supporting an all-new IP signalling infrastructure which is built on IPX to replace the SS7 signalling network.

Using BICS’s market leading IPX platform, including LTE signalling, service providers can exchange any IP traffic (voice, video, messaging and data) bilaterally with any IPX destination, through one single interconnection with an end-to-end management of quality. This simplifies the deployment of LTE roaming services by removing the need to engage in separate agreements with the hundreds of operators who have deployed LTE around the world.

Last year BICS was instrumental in developing LTE roaming internationally over IPX, enabling the first LTE roaming call between Europe and Asia through Swiss provider Swisscom and SK Telecom of South Korea in June. During September, the first roaming relation between Europe, Asia and North America took place using BICS’s IPX platform on the networks of Canadian operator Rogers, Swisscom and SK Telecom. In October, IPX enabled the first LTE roaming call from Africa to Europe between Angolan operator Unitel and Belgian MNO Proximus.

“The demand for LTE roaming services exploded during 2013 and we expect to build on this interest this year as more operators deploy their next generation networks,” said Mikaël Schachne, VP Mobile Data Business, BICS. “Early adopters are already experiencing the benefits of offering a high quality internet roaming experience to subscribers, who now demand seamless 4G connectivity wherever they are in the world.”

Daniel Kurgan, CEO, BICS said: “BICS has been at the forefront of many industry firsts in LTE roaming. Our IPX customers can now utilise 70 networks worldwide and, by opening up roaming relations with many more LTE operators around the world in 2014, BICS will continue to drive forward the availability of high quality data roaming services, cementing its position as a world leader in the international wholesale voice and data markets.”    

In November 2013 BICS was awarded the ‘Best LTE Roaming Product’ award at the LTE North America Awards in Dallas for its IPX platform.