It's a long way to the IPX Summit by Neil Johnson, Segment Manager, TeliaSonera International Carrier

Total Telecom's IPX Summit in September was lucky enough to have Neil Johnson, Segment Manager, TeliaSonera International Carrier provide his insights into IPX and effective 4G Roaming.

In light of the IPX Summit, Neil had this to say:

1. We’ve made it to base camp
Such gatherings celebrate ground covered and share direction. To continue the mountaineering metaphor, it was more of a successful IPX base camp. As an industry, we need to recognize that we are still at the early stages of what will be, for most operators, a challenging expedition.

2. Retail-driven, wholesale-enabled journey
‘Quality must move forward because people won’t go back’. That was how we opened the first IPX summit (IPX base camp 1) a year ago, when we launched whatisIPX.com. It still holds true. End users take everything we give them for granted and want more. Roaming is a prime example. As people get used to 4G in their home network, they expect it when they travel. And we need to deliver it. To keep moving quality forward. Otherwise we risk alienating and ultimately losing our end users.

3. The IPX Map
OK, not a map but the graphic that launched a thousand copies. The GSMA’s Dan Warren, Senior Director of Technology stood up and said “I did that”. In IPX, Dan’s the man, up there with Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

4. Expedition teams plan for the worst.
Buyers procure IPX-based services, not the IPX itself – that’s clear now. IPX is merely the underlying network infrastructure. IPX-enabled services – like diameter signaling or VoIPX – get bought and used. But the service and experience is merely as good as the IPX infrastructure. With no IPX certification, there remains plenty of variation in reach, but perhaps less in design. Disappointingly, one established carrier insists on branding its Internet-based services as IPX. Their marketing spend, rather than industry consensus, buys their place on the IPX journey.

5. Deciding which mountain to climb?
There remains a widespread perception that roaming is prohibitively expensive, and this is today suppressing demand. This will change – driven as much by operator group initiatives as well as, at least within the EU, regulation. Demand will grow quickly, particularly with the coming contextual services.

To see the rest of Neil's blog post click here.

Source: Johnson, N. 2014. It's a long way to the IPX Summit. Retrieved October, 2014, from http://www.whatisipx.com/its-a-long-way-up-to-the-ipx-summit/