KPMG, Microsoft and R3 will create a blockchain for billing in telecommunications

Consulting company KPMG began to cooperate with TOMIA, Microsoft and R3 in the development of a blockchain for calculations in the field of telecommunications.

In cooperation with Microsoft and R3, KPMG wants to solve the problems with accurate counting of data volumes that arise when connecting 5G. The company “expects that revenues from international mobile roaming will reach $ 31 billion by 2022, and their average annual growth rate will be eight percent.” Arun Ghosh, head of the blockchain direction at KPMG, said:

“Despite the fact that we can consume more data faster and in more places than ever before, in this next wave of telecommunications development, it becomes increasingly difficult for companies to track and reconcile data sharing fees.”

The pilot blockchain project aims to reduce future costs, the number of disputes and time spent on calculations in the field of telecommunications, triggered by “billions of mobile interactions through hundreds of connected networks managed by dozens of customers and suppliers.”

The new partnership is designed not only to solve the problem of future costs, but also to eliminate existing market problems. Settlements and reconciliations are currently handled manually, and can take up to a month, Ghosh said. Now, he says, a huge amount of data is generated in the mobile device industry, including metadata about where the call begins and ends, terms of a contract with the user, and billing information that must be authenticated by at least two parties if service operations occur.

“The three pillars of calculations — users, their contracts, and the amount of data generated — can be integrated into a managed registry that telecom operators need to see and verify,” he said.

In fact, KPMG offers to automatically reconcile most of this information with the help of smart contracts developed by them. Gosh said KPMG took over the management of the project. While Microsoft acts as the main architect, Corda R3 is responsible for operational processes, and TOMIA shares knowledge in the field of telecommunications, representing more than 40 global operators.

Prior to this blockchain initiative, KPMG advised telecom operators on cost-effective 5G network deployment, cyber security, privacy and data protection, as well as revenue accounting and leasing.

In June, it was reported that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) merged
with IBM, Walmart, KPMG and Merck to create proof of the blockchain concept for sharing and tracking prescription drug distribution data. And in February, it became known that KPMG and Guardtime are collaborating
in order to develop products and services based on the blockchain.