MWC19 Shanghai: The application prospects of blockchain technology in telecom operators

Although cryptocurrencies, led by Bitcoin, have struggled over the past year, the blockchain and distributed ledger technology that underpins them continue to attract attention. In addition, this technology is still relatively new, but there are actual use cases that have been put into use, and more trials have been conducted in many industries and governments, so there is a promising market prospect.

During the MWC19 Shanghai, which is in full swing in Shanghai, GSMA held a blockchain summit at the same time. Thought leaders and business leaders from government agencies, blockchain start-ups, and telecom operators discussed the success, flaws and prospects of the current blockchain system, and showed us the application prospects of blockchain technology in telecom operators.

Blockchain needs to move from niche to mass

Angie Lau, the summit's chief moderator, editor-in-chief and CEO of Forkast News, said at the opening ceremony: "In recent years, blockchain technology has continued to mature and will have a hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars of impact on many industries. Its unique decentralized and decentralized features will also bring significant changes to individuals and society as a whole."

However, for now, although blockchain can have a beneficial impact on the business of many industries, it is still a niche market. How to gradually turn it into the mainstream mass market has become a topic of discussion among all parties. It is based on such issues that leaders from various fields expressed their views in the roundtable discussion hosted by AAX CMO Sheel Kohli.

Theresa Hoang, founder and CEO of Women's Crypto Playground, believes: "While large companies want to implement the concept of blockchain, it will be difficult to adopt it in the mass market if people's mindset cannot be changed. It takes a new perspective and a different way to change people's psychology."

Stefan Rust, global business development director at Bitcoin.com, said: “We are changing the banking industry, managing our own funds through blockchain, stimulating business activities through cryptocurrency, and promoting the development of blockchain technology to the mass market.” Peter Lin, CEO of AAX, said: “Blockchain may become mainstream when mature applications are available.”

Regulatory issues remain a hurdle

The emergence of every new technology will face certain regulatory issues. Since the decentralized and decentralized nature of blockchain has caused regulatory challenges on a global scale, it is imperative to study how it can and should comply with national laws and regulations.

In this regard, Paul Ulrich, senior policy manager for government and regulatory affairs at GSMA, said: "As a technology, blockchain itself is not controversial, but there are interests issues among the representatives and a lack of coordination, so some supervision is needed. Various blockchain applications should be tested in a controlled environment before being widely promoted." In addition, Paul Ulrich pointed out that in terms of regulation, the latest trend in Asia is to adopt innovation and regulate innovation.

However, Jordi Puignero, Minister of Digital Policy and Public Administration of Generalitat de Catalunya, said: "There is no need for too much regulation, but more to achieve innovation and create a suitable innovation ecosystem. Being too strong is not a good choice."

Giving operators more market opportunities

In recent years, the growth of the operator market has slowed down significantly. Faced with this situation, operators have been looking for and exploring the next round of revenue opportunities. There is a good argument that blockchain is more suitable for telecommunications networks than the open Internet. Telecommunications applications based on blockchain will bring more market opportunities for operators.

Faced with such market opportunities, Wu Ling, chairman of the International Telecommunications Blockchain Alliance, believes: "Blockchain is just a database, so it requires multiple parties to work together. Cooperation with telecommunications companies is the most reasonable. After building the basic technology platform, different applications can be easily built. In addition, after working together, both parties will have opportunities for growth."

Jia Xueqin, an expert in IoT technology and standardization at China Unicom Network Technology Research Institute, said: "In the future, various IoT applications will emerge in the fields of industry, agriculture, and medical care, which will provide operators with opportunities for growth. The combination of IoT and blockchain technology can prevent data from being tampered with and provide a reliable basic capability for IoT data. Therefore, blockchain is crucial to future development."

China Telecom has made breakthroughs in blockchain applications. For example, China Telecom's blockchain SIM card integrates encryption algorithms into the SIM card, which can provide privacy and convenience, and supports multiple blockchain encryption algorithms. In addition, China Telecom has also made breakthroughs in electronic bidding and blockchain-based clearing systems. Liang Wei, head of blockchain business research and development at China Telecom, said: "Blockchain provides more technical paradigms for value, and with the advent of the 5G era, blockchain is bound to give operators a new round of opportunities."

The annual MWC Shanghai Conference is still in full swing. This year's conference is themed "Intelligent Connection of Everything" and will host many of the most popular summit forums in the technology industry, including the Blockchain Summit, Artificial Intelligence Summit, Global Terminal Summit and 5G Summit. C-level experts from all walks of life around the world will share their insights here. Please continue to pay attention to MWC19 Shanghai and explore the cutting-edge development trends of new technologies together!