Telus, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Samsung Electronics announced Tuesday they are teaming up to create North America’s first virtual roaming gateway, improving reliability, speed and latency for customers travelling abroad.
“Traditionally, roaming traffic (voice, data, and SMS) is routed through the provider’s home country, resulting in slower speeds for customers. With this revolutionary new approach, TELUS is able to house their network within AWS Regions worldwide, using virtualized roaming gateways,” a Telus press release explains. “This means that traffic no longer needs to go through Canada, but will be routed directly to the closest AWS Region that houses TELUS’ network, significantly enhancing speed and responsiveness of mobile services.”
Also known as network cloudification, the process uses Seoul-based Samsung’s cloud-native core technology on public cloud for mobile data, and Hamburg-based ng-voice GmbH’s cloud-native IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) for voice calls.
“This architecture evolution further strengthens TELUS’ commitment to keeping our customers connected to what matters most, ensuring they are able to enjoy the same award-winning experience they have in Canada from anywhere in the world,” Nazim Benhadid, chief technology officer at Telus, said in the release. “Together with AWS, Samsung and ng-voice, we are making roaming more reliable and resilient than ever.”
Chivas Nambiar, general manager of the telco business unit at AWS, said: “We are thrilled to work with TELUS, a company at the forefront of re-inventing the telco customer experience. Alongside our AWS Partners, we are excited about how TELUS is using the cloud to augment their network capabilities to provide consistent and reliable global services for their customers.”
“Samsung’s Cloud-native Core is designed with flexibility and scalability in mind,” said Stephen Wiktorski, vice-president and head of networks at Samsung Canada. “By ensuring higher stability and reliability, Samsung powers TELUS’ new roaming approach to bring unmatched network performance and customer experiences while traveling. By working with forward-looking operators like TELUS, we are able to turn never before seen possibilities into reality.”
Telus said virtual roaming gateway trials will begin in the first quarter of 2024, but the collaboration’s possibilities extend beyond roaming. “Leveraging Samsung’s full Cloud-native Core solution on AWS paves the way for further advancements in disaster-recovery and 5G standalone core use cases,” the release says.
