SNET DG, FRANCE TELECOM JOIN FOR ROAMING

New England-based signaling and database provider SNET Diversified Group signed two international roaming agreements last week with France Telecom that widen the field for GSM roaming providers.

With connectivity already in place, the two companies are finalizing their testing, and forging agreements with other signaling hub providers and wireless operators that will allow the transport and termination of mobile traffic worldwide.

France Telecom will use its SS7 conversion platform to convert signaling messages, based on the American National Standards Institute standard, that are delivered by SNET DG to an International Telecommunications Union format for termination in Europe and other international destinations. France Telecom will do the reverse conversion for calls destined for the U.S. and Canada.

“This is our first opportunity to grow our product internationally,” said Paul Brady, director of product development and marketing at SNET DG.

France Telecom provides SS7 signaling conversion for 15 major GSM operators worldwide. The agreement with SNET DG allows the exchange of GSM roaming traffic between 480 GSM operators in more than 170 countries.

“[SNET DG] has a reputation for quality and a good robust network. And they have the interconnection with operators we are interested in,” said Raul Danny Vargas, vice president of marketing, Americas, at France Telecom Networks and Carriers.

Vargas said working with SNET DG allows them a more direct path to end users and eliminates several steps previously required for exchanging messages with other carriers.

Brady said the demand for international GSM roaming is strong today, and this agreement is intended to meet that demand. “It also is to prepare for what we consider a large growing business,” Brady said.

Research firm TeleCompetition's 2003 International Mobile Roaming Report predicted minutes of use will increase from 25 billion in 2004 to 41.5 billion by 2008. But declining prices will slash revenue from $19.8 billion to $13.4 billion for the same period.

“Although there's not going to be a huge cushion because of declining prices, the volumes will continue to increase,” said Terry Young, vice president and principal analyst for TeleCompetition.