GSMA Speeds Up The Transfer Of Roaming Call Records

The GSMA is recommending that its 700 operator members adopt a new, much more efficient approach to exchanging roaming call records by October 1st, 2008. Working with leading operators and vendors, the GSMA has specified the commercial and technical elements of a globally interoperable system that will enable operators to reduce the time taken to exchange roaming call records from 36 hours after the call was made to four hours or less.

The GSMA’s Near Real-Time Roaming Data Exchange (NRTRDE) initiative is a response to the rapid growth in international travel, which has led to more and more people using their mobile phones away from their home networks. By speeding up the transfer of call records between the operator in the visited country and the subscriber’s home operator, NRTRDE minimises the opportunities for roaming fraud.

Although proprietary NRTRDE systems already exist and are in use by some operators, the GSMA’s initiative will facilitate interoperability between these and new NRTRDE systems and bring benefits to the GSM community by encouraging a much wider deployment of NRTRDE. Leading mobile operators within the GSMA have endorsed the NRTRDE solution and are already beginning to deploy the required systems, demonstrating the momentum behind this approach.

“We have designed NRTRDE to be as compatible as possible with operators’ existing infrastructure to ensure that this system can be implemented and maintained at relatively low cost,” said Alex Sinclair, Chief Technology Officer of the GSMA. “We are confident that most mobile operators worldwide will adopt NRTRDE, which makes the provision of roaming services much more efficient and secure.”

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About the GSM Association:
The GSM Association (GSMA) is the global trade association representing more than 700 GSM mobile phone operators across 218 countries and territories of the world. In addition, more than 200 manufacturers and suppliers support the Association’s initiatives as key partners.

The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value to individual customers and national economies, while creating new business opportunities for operators and their suppliers. The Association’s members serve more than two billion customers – 82% of the world’s mobile phone users.

For more information please contact:
Mark Smith or David Pringle
Email: [email protected]