Mobile RoamConnect

BT One for Communications

A unified roaming service offering your customers enhanced mobile connection around the world.

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As the world shrinks, your mobile services must expandYour customers travel to the ends of the earth for business and pleasure – and they expect their mobile phones to work every-where they go.

BT enables you to provide the global mobile connection today’s expanding marketplace demands. We offer a managed service that evolves with the requirements of your organisation and your cus-tomers.

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BT enables you to offer a more complete mobile communications infrastructure service to your customers. We can:

• Maximise your roaming revenue potential by enabling you to offer your customers a mobile communication package with a truly global reach.

• Increase your revenue through our customer tailored charging structure either pay-per-message or a flat monthly fee, enabling more effective cost management and simplifying the billing process on your side.

• Enable you to offer your customers enhanced service management and planning by utilizing BT’s proven track record and capabilities.

• Support you in building a long-term relationship with your roaming partners by providing tailored, scalable technology able to evolve with their needs.

• Help you provide a one-stop-shop for all your customers’ mobile roaming requirements through our comprehensive service.

BT equips you for enhanced roaming

Be confident in the service you provide your customers. Through our comprehensive package, you will be able to offer them:

• Robust communications relay: secure and resilient transit points.

• Versatile connections: direct 64 kbit/s access to mobile communications, or indirect connections via a third-party operator.

• SMS filtering: protection from unwanted messages.

• 24/7 support: comprehensive technical assistance provided by our advanced UK network operations centre.

• Proactive monitoring: additional peace of mind and consistently enhanced operations through our automated link assessments.

• ITU-T/ANSI translation: seamless transatlantic connection to the US mobile signalling standard – offering an extremely valuable roaming route.

• Sigtran or TDM connections: You can choose to use our extensive world class TDM routes on C7/SS7, or you can join the growing IP community by interconnecting to our Global MPLS network.

Global reach for all your customers

In order to offer a truly synchronised ANSI and ITU-T network, roaming, addressing and message format translation is required.

The BT Mobile Roam Connect ITU-T/ANSI signalling translation service provides this protocol converter. We can then enable the two systems to communicate seamlessly.

BT Mobile Roam Connect ITU-T/ANSI translation feature uses a highly resilient transatlantic connection. Four routed T1 lines carry signals over two transatlantic cables and three US domestic carriers.

The translation is performed in the US in a fully-mated Tandem environment ensuring ultra-high availability and reliability.

The majority of traffic in North America is delivered over direct connections and in all cases is routed to provide the best possible availability.

Both symmetric and asymmetric routing is supported – thecomplexity of wireless number transmission renders asymmetric routing an unavoidable reality in multiple service provider markets.

Our global reach and experience ensures we can work with all In order to offer a truly synchronised ANSI and ITU-T network, roaming, addressing and message format translation is required.

Delivering the freedom to roam

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Migration process:Step 1: Once contracts are signed and roaming partner lists provided, BT creates a detailed network plan in consultation with the mobile network operator. This plan provides a detailed implementation process, setting out each step of the migration and providing timeframes.

For each mobile network operator roaming partner, BT provides details of which BT nodes to send traffic to. This can either be as primary, secondary routes or shared routes – depending on your individual need and capability.

Migration is normally carried out in the following way:• Outbound traffic from mobile network operator is split

into five groups of roaming partners to be migrated seven days apart.

• Inbound traffic migration begins with all roaming partners and signalling providers asked to change their routing to direct mobile network operator traffic to BT.

Step 2: The interconnect network is then established and tested. Wherever possible, existing bandwidth is used to connect to the nearest BT nodes. This maximises time and reduces the cost to our customer. BT uses dedicated GSM signalling links from our Point of Presence (PoP) to two or more of the eight BT SCCP nodes. The mobile network operator can also connect directly to our Signal Transfer Point (STP) if preferred.

Step 3: One small network will be migrated over to the BT network and tested. BT’s network account manager and a dedicated project manager provide support where necessary as the end-to-end connection is established. Once traffic is successfully flowing in both directions, this test network is monitored for one week before migration of larger roaming partners begins.

Step 4: The remaining networks are migrated according to the implementation plan. Capacity is carefully monitored during this process, and the network augmented if required. Note that outbound routing is under both mobile network operator and BT control. Return routing, however, is not. We will need an updated IR21 and letter of authority to approach other signalling carriers to migrate return traffic via BT.

BT’s experience is that full migration of more than 200 roaming partners takes three months. If only large roaming partners are to be migrated to BT, this can take between four and six weeks to migrate fully.

We work closely with you during this period to monitor the migration of roaming partners – and we send reminders to those that are slow in moving the return traffic

Where we roam, others followMobile Roam Connect makes use of our extensive SS7 signalling network, which evolved out of our international voice business.

International GSM roaming started in early 1991 and now signalling traffic from BT Roam Connect dominates the SS7 network in terms of capacity and complexity.

BT has been running the SS7 GSM network for more than 17 years, and has access to a large pool of knowledge and resources in order to support our customers.

In addition, BT has invested extensively in its network monitoring, planning, people and capacity management positions.

As a result, we are not only a vital signalling network for BT’s GSM mobile network operator customers, but also the same network that supports BT voice business.

BT has made significant investments into our GSM Signalling network to develop a Sigtran capability.

You can interconnect with our highly resilient, diversely routed Global MPLS network to ensure the highest quality signalling over IP.

Localized MPLS POPs enable you to benefit from greater bandwidth and provide you the opportunity to recover TDM infrastructure.

Our design team will work with you to individually design and support the interconnect allowing you to join the future of telecommunications today.

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BT Roam Connect is an SS7 or Sigtran (signalling over IP) based signalling service. It offers mobile network operators the opportunity to join a global inter-operator hub offering ubiquitous global network coverage.

Subscribers can then roam seamlessly between networks on both an inbound and outbound basis. The service is accessed either directly through terrestrial and satellite links, or indirectly through a third-party operator.

To use the BT Roam Connect service, however, the mobile network operator must have signalling access to BT’s switches (UK or Europe), either directly or indirectly via a third network (e.g. a local carrier). BT then acts as a signalling hub to roaming partners around the globe.

BT Roam Connect provides near complete access to the networks of GSM mobile operators in most of the world’s countries, and can add new networks as required. Through us, operators can confidently negotiate roaming agreements secure in the knowledge that signalling will be supported.

Every SS7 link in the BT network acts as a signalling relay point (SRP). The capacity and quality of each one is continuously monitored by industry recognised systems, such as Tektronix GeoProbe and SIGNET. These links use signalling connection control parts (SCCP) to provide secure and robust message transfer, offering yet more consistency and reliability.

BT does not allow use of its Signalling Transfer Point (STP) capability to forward roaming messages. In other words, only planned and agreed routes are possible. These measures maintain network integrity and capacity control in order to provide consistent service quality.

International Telecommunication Standardisation Sector ITU-T and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) signalling translation is available as part of our service (known as BT Roam Translate).

This provides a high-quality, cost-effective means of connection throughout North America, and the financial benefits of this highly lucrative transatlantic roaming route.

We also understand that the migration of existing connections is a vital consideration for mobile network operators.

Therefore, BT provides both project and network management support throughout the design, implementation, testing and maintenance of our service.

Consistent performance worldwide

Offices worldwide

The telecommunications services described in this publication are subject to availability and may be modified from time to time. Services and equipment are provided subject to British Telecommunications plc’s respective standard conditions of contract. Nothing in this publication forms any part of any contract.

© British Telecommunications plc 2012Registered office: 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJRegistered in England No: 1800000

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