Telefonica to use IBM's blockchain

The blockchain technology has been largely associated with cryptocurrencies for quite a while now. It came into limelight due to Bitcoin using it for transactional purposes and has been, ever since, even affiliated with the infamous Silk Road.

However, cryptocurrencies just mark the beginning of a revolution. Digital currencies just gave us a glimpse of its various applications, helping us see its limitless possibilities in disrupting almost every industry on the planet. There is, honestly, still a long way to go, since nothing is ever perfect, not even blockchain. We earlier discussed the major shortcomings of the blockchain.

That being said, every major corporation in the world is developing its own private blockchain, including IBM. In a recent turn of events, IBM has decided to help Seagate (a prominent storage device company) fight against counterfeit hard disks by helping them track their products using their in-house-developed blockchain.

Even Telefonica, a major Telecom Operator in Spain, has crafted out a partnership with IBM to make use of the technology for management of international calls. It will help the firm monitor mobile phone traffic, helping it to overcome challenges like lack of transparency during the routing process.

The telecom industry has just begun to scratch the surface on how blockchain can help save billions of dollars in operational costs and help with the issues it has been facing since the past couple of years. As a result of using IBM's blockchain, Telefonica will be able to track the traceability of a call as well as keep a tab on various things such as the duration of a call, its destination and the point of origin.

The technology will also help create a Peer-to-peer network which will comprise of numerous service providers, network operators, and some vendors. The platform will only be available to on-chain participants.

Here is what IBM said after Telefonica confirmed the partnership:
“Telefónica will be collaborating with IBM to develop a proof-of-concept that is based on our blockchain. The system will be used to solve one of the major problems faced in the telecommunications industry – management of traffic during international calls”.

Blockchain has a lot of application in the telecom industry and can help solve the issues such as transparency and uncollected revenues. Because of the immutable nature of blockchains, they will also be able to identify fraud as well as solve disputes on the network.

It is noteworthy that Telefonica is not the first telecom player to make use of the technology to improve upon its services. Just a month ago, Viettel Group, which is one of the largest telecom providers in Vietnam,  announced that they will make use of blockchain. Even in South Korea, LG UPlus, which owns LG Corporation, revealed that they have created a system which will work irrespective of network provider, helping users to make payment overseas easily.