ENUM gets carrier workout and GSMA blessing

NeuStar and the GSM Association announced the successful completion of the pilot of their Carrier ENUM service. The PathFinder service is now generally available for anyone dealing with phone numbers, including mobile and fixed network operators, carriers and related service providers.

The PathFinder service pilot was supported by Bharti, Lleida.net, mobilkom austria, SMART, Telekom Austria, Telecom Italia and Telenor. It also included the first successful exchange of international packet voice and MMS traffic enabled via a global, fully-interoperable deployment of Carrier ENUM. GSMA said the trial validated ENUM as an effective solution for IP-based routing and interconnection.

Pathfinder automatically translates a phone number into an IP-based address, making it simple and transparent for users to conduct a wide range of IP-based communications with their existing phone numbers and handset address books. Since mobile and fixed-line operators deal with a single routing mechanism, PathFinder simplifies and reduces the cost of delivering IP-based services; it will also serve as a central directory for all operators by linking an IP address to a phone number.

For more:
- GSMA press release [1] on PathFinder ENUM test results.

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