VeriSign Expands CDMA Roaming to GSM Networks

VeriSign has announced a strategic alliance with International Mobile Communications (IMC) and its wholly-owned subsidiary RSB Limited LLC to offer wireless carriers the ability to extend their international roaming coverage beyond CDMA and TDMA networks to GSM.

"IMC's Roaming Service Bureau offers wireless operators a competitive edge by allowing them to tap into the billions of dollars being spent on global roaming each year" said Bill Watson, President and COO of WorldCell RSB. "The ultimate beneficiaries of our alliance with VeriSign will be the consumers who before now could not easily access global roaming services through their own wireless carriers."

VeriSign introduced the Interstandard Roaming service bureau this week to the members of its Pan-American Roaming Consortium (PARC) throughout Latin America. In addition to the protocol conversion gateway and interstandard mediation platform, the new service bureau also offers an option for handset fulfillment and provisioning. Domestic carriers will also have immediate access to the full complement of Interstandard Roaming service bureau components for handling roaming agreements, roamer testing, data clearing and billing conversion, financial clearing and settlement, fraud management and customer care. Carriers need only sign one master agreement in order to provide service in all the areas globally in which IMC participating carriers provide coverage."

Posted to the site on 14th May 2003