
The Future Of Blockchain-Analysis On This State-Of-The-Art Technology And Its Importance To Telecom Operators


A F M Imamul Hoq Bappi, Head of Technology, skitto Grameenphone Ltd.
In this article we will see a brief overview, in terms of pros & cons, of the emerging blockchain (underlying core technology of popular bitcoin) along with its prospect in Telecom sector.
Why is it important: Blockchain refers to a unique chain of blocks where each block is responsible for meaningful information and can be used as a technical backbone for many applications. A concept known as distributed ledger. Some properties of blockchain holds the key to groundbreaking revolution such as trust on data source based on decentralized concept, extreme measure on data manipulation, default data redundancy, high authenticity of historic information, getting rid of middleman/aggregator etc.
Key Challenges: It’s important to know at this stage that this technology is still evolving and it’s not matured enough. There are not enough reference applications and it’s not suitable for extreme datasets. There’s lack of expertise in this field across the globe and finally the eco system is also not fully ready yet to connect with existing legacy-based telecom applications. But it’s important to stay up to date with this technology as it could make radical impact for many businesses as well as the telecom sector.
Targeted sectors & Roadmap Plan: Few sectors like finance, agriculture, health, judiciary, e-commerce, supply chain etc. are well positioned as potential candidates to adapt to blockchain technology and set the roadmap in terms of short, mid &long-term goal. Short term goals should be set to create awareness, build the infrastructure, gain the right expertise, establish POC center within 2 years, prioritize the sectors and the then build applications case by case as per mid and long-term goal.
How important it is for Telcom operators : I personally believe that there is no immediate need to jump on this technology by migrating existing applications or building new ones considering there will be no major cost optimization, performance improvement (in some cases latency will be even higher) or USP as of now. But we can start the assessment to replace some aggregators using this in the coming days to get rid of the middleman cost. Roaming clearing house (DCH) could be a potential candidate to start with. Also, some kind of POC in collaboration with government initiatives can take place based upon right cost & technology assessment to build a Telco’s own infrastructure so that they can make immediate impact innear future to get ahead of their competition.
Final thought: For different blockchain applications, keeping the public addresses & private keys would be a big challenge for many 3rd world country citizens. Telecom operators should come forward and take significant steps to develop blockchain based applications in coming days and find right balance along with other cutting-edge technologies like 5G, IoT, ML etc.
Featured Vendors
EDITOR'S PICK
Essential Technology Elements Necessary To Enable...
By Leni Kaufman, VP & CIO, Newport News Shipbuilding
Comparative Data Among Physician Peers
By George Evans, CIO, Singing River Health System
Monitoring Technologies Without Human Intervention
By John Kamin, EVP and CIO, Old National Bancorp
Unlocking the Value of Connected Cars
By Elliot Garbus, VP-IoT Solutions Group & GM-Automotive...
Digital Innovation Giving Rise to New Capabilities
By Gregory Morrison, SVP & CIO, Cox Enterprises
Staying Connected to Organizational Priorities is Vital...
By Alberto Ruocco, CIO, American Electric Power
Comprehensible Distribution of Training and Information...
By Sam Lamonica, CIO & VP Information Systems, Rosendin...
The Current Focus is On Comprehensive Solutions
By Sergey Cherkasov, CIO, PhosAgro
Big Data Analytics and Its Impact on the Supply Chain
By Pascal Becotte, MD-Global Supply Chain Practice for the...
Technology's Impact on Field Services
By Stephen Caulfield, Executive Director, Global Field...
Carmax, the Automobile Business with IT at the Core
By Shamim Mohammad, SVP & CIO, CarMax
The CIO's role in rethinking the scope of EPM for...
By Ronald Seymore, Managing Director, Enterprise Performance...
Driving Insurance Agent Productivity with Mobile and Big...
By Brad Bodell, SVP and CIO, CNO Financial Group, Inc.
Transformative Impact On The IT Landscape
By Jim Whitehurst, CEO, Red Hat
Get Ready for an IT Renaissance: Brought to You by Big...
By Clark Golestani, EVP and CIO, Merck
Four Initiatives Driving ECM Innovation
By Scott Craig, Vice President of Product Marketing, Lexmark...
Technology to Leverage and Enable
By Dave Kipe, SVP, Global Operations, Scholastic Inc.
By Meerah Rajavel, CIO, Forcepoint
AI is the New UI-AI + UX + DesignOps
By Amit Bahree, Executive, Global Technology and Innovation,...
Evolving Role of the CIO - Enabling Business Execution...
By Greg Tacchetti, CIO, State Auto Insurance
Read Also
What It Truly Means For IT Security To Bea Business Enabler
Digital Transformation 2 Requires a CIO v2.x
Leverage ChatGPT the Right Way through Well-Designed Prompts
Water Strategies for Climate Adaption
Policy is a Key Solution to Stopping Packaging Waste
Congestion-Driven Basis Risk, A Challenge for the Development of...
