Nexign is Pioneering the Global Digital DLT-Based Marketplace Catalyst Project

Saint Petersburg, Russia, July 28, 2020 — Nexign (a part of ICS Holding LLC), a leading Business Support System (BSS) and Internet of Things (IoT) solutions provider, today announced that it is pioneering a TM Forum Catalyst project entitled Vertical industry telcos: A federated DLT-based marketplace. The project will be presented at the TM Forum Catalyst Digital Showcase on July 30, 2020. This is the first Catalyst project driven by vendors and Champion CSPs of Russian origin, and will allow Nexign to create new business opportunities for its customers, helping them increase capacity and reduce expenses.

This project is part of TM Forum’s renowned proof-of-concept Catalyst programme, which focuses on co-creating innovative solutions to important industry challenges. Nexign has joined forces with Champion CSPs such as Orange, BT Group PLC (formerly British Telecom) and Rostelecom and vendors such as Nokia, IOTA and Argus to create a collaborative solution that helps telecom operators manage their digital assets better and gain new business opportunities from up-to-date BSS solutions. Notably, this is the first ever Catalyst project that is driven by and involves companies of Russian origin: two vendors (Nexign and Argus) and an integrated provider of digital services and solutions (Rostelecom).

“Nexign has been a TM Forum member since 2007, and we have always seen TM Forum as a strategic platform for our product development and thought leadership efforts. We aim to help CSPs unlock new revenue streams by creating solutions based on innovative business ideas and modern technology stacks. Our goals align with TM Forum’s vision on how to drive the evolution of the telecom industry and help CSPs and vendors work together effectively. Participation in the Catalyst programme is a significant milestone for us. We believe that, together with the TM Forum community, the project Champions and other parties, we can level up the global marketplace solution,” says Alexey Vedin, Director of Network Monetisation Products at Nexign.

The “Vertical industry telcos: A federated DLT-based marketplace” project aims to build an ecosystem for dynamic resource sharing between Digital Service Providers (DSPs). As collaboration and partnerships will be the key to successful 5G monetisation, this global marketplace will be a secure foundation for more transparent and dynamic interaction between CSPs of various profiles.  

Nexign and other team members have agreed to collaborate on developing industry standards for access to blockchain-based telco marketplaces, which give Digital Service Providers (DSPs) the chance to sell globally. These standards will facilitate additional interoperability by creating interfaces from existing BSS/OSS solutions to emerging exchange platforms. Ultimately, Nexign’s global digital DLT-based marketplace Catalyst project will enable DSPs to directly and securely transact with each other and b2b2x customers and introduce various digital services on global marketplaces without the risk of cannibalising the current revenue models and subscriber base.

“One of the use cases for our joint Catalyst project is the eSIM-based travel products, which allow CSPs to leverage big data to find subscribers who are travelling and offer them services in their current location without roaming charges. We expect CSPs’ potential revenue from leveraging eSIM technology to skyrocket once eSIMs are legal and in common use across Russia. This is partly because more than 40% of new devices being produced worldwide have eSIM chips, and the number of eSIM devices on the market is set to double year-on-year. Predictions like this suggest that eSIM product ecosystems are going to be playing an increasingly important role in telecom providers’ operations. We are pleased to be involved in a project, which tackles some of the key challenges faced by providers and all their customer segments,” comments Aleksey Chernetsov, Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Director at Rostelecom.

“Catalyst projects showcase the power of collaboration, bringing together a wide range of companies, industries and ecosystems not only in telecom but also in IoT, smart cities, smart energy, industrial manufacturing and more,” concludes John Gillam, Chief Digital Officer at TM Forum. “Championed by the world’s largest service providers, Catalyst projects accelerate innovation, prove the application of new technologies, validate standards and make many other valuable contributions to our industry.”

The results of the project “Vertical industry telcos: A federated DLT-based marketplace” will be unveiled during the TM Forum Catalyst Digital Showcase on July 30, 2020. For more information and to register for the webinar, please visit the official page.