IPX to Provide Secure and Reliable Next Generation Services

BARCELONA, Spain, February 12/PRNewswire/ Following successful trials run by the GSMA Association international carriers are preparing to rollout the first commercial IPX services. When IPX is fully established, it will enable mobile operators and other service providers to exchange Internet Protocol-based traffic, including both person-to-person communications and content, securely and with a guaranteed quality of service.

Open to any company willing to adopt the necessary technical and commercial principles, the IPX is a private global IP backbone designed specifically to provide guaranteed levels of quality of service and security.

"The open Internet is a wonderful thing, but when it comes to providing a guaranteed quality of service, particularly for time-critical services, there
is still a long way to go," said Alex Sinclair, Chief Technology Officer of the GSMA, the global trade association for the mobile industry. "By contrast,
IPX should guarantee reliable and secure carriage of traffic between networks because each party involved in transmitting the data offers a pre-defined service-level agreement."

In the IPX network, a high level of quality will be maintained because each party in the transmission chain will have a consistent and enforceable contract, which will make them responsible for the performance and the service they provide. IPX networks have been designed to ensure a high level of security and to provide protection from spam and interference by remaining separate from the Internet and providing full traceability.

The GSMA completed the IPX specifications in 2006 and the first phase of trials of packet voice services over IPX-enabled networks ran from April 2007 to the end of that year. The trials demonstrated that IPX networks can deliver high-quality, low latency and secure services. Further trials will be completed in the second quarter of 2008.

The development of the IPX enjoys broad support from the industry. Fixed operators, mobile operators and carriers participating in existing or planned trials include Belgacom ICS, BT, Cable&Wireless, DTAC, Elisa, France Telecom/Orange, iBasis, Mobilkom, Proximus, T-Com, T-Mobile, Telecom Italia, Telecom Italia Sparkle, Telefonica/O2, Telefonica IWS, Telekom Austria, Telenor, Telenor Global Services, TeliaSonera, TeliaSonera International Carrier, Telus, Telecom New Zealand, Telecom New Zealand internationalI, Vipnet, Vodafone and Teleglobe/VSNL.