IO Community Unites in Luxembourg to talk M2M, 5GSA, MOCN Gateways and Travel SIM
Connecting the people who connect the world, the IO Community kicked off the year gathering for its 5th Plenary in the Vodafone Offices.
Having reached 137 MNO/MVNOs in 94 countries members of IO, 2024 promises to be the year in which IO reaps the rewards of the innovative initiatives cultivated in its Labs.
With co-located sessions of all IO Labs, the fifth IO Plenary was hosted by Vodafone Roaming Services in Luxembourg on January 23rd to 25th, 2024. Representatives from four continents gathered alongside participants online.
Executive Board Deputy Chair Anneli Jennersjo Lundberg, Director of International Carrier Services at CKH IOD, inaugurated IO Plenary #05 with words of encouragement for the delegates to be active, ask questions, contribute, be bold, raise ideas, and be open to collaborate and work together. Gold Sponsor Nextgen Clearing followed with a comprehensive presentation on the IoT/M2M market and how Mobile Operators can increase their revenues.
The Chairs and Deputy Chairs of all Labs provided updates on their Work Plans, and the achievements of the previous year. The M2M Roaming Lab (M2MRL) focused on M2M Settlement and the Automotive stream, concluding with preparations for the upcoming face-to-face meeting taking place in Rome on March 7th & 8th.
The African Roaming Alliance (ARA) highlighted an important milestone in 2023 with the first face-to-face ARA Lab meeting in Cairo, Egypt. In 2024, this Lab will focus on driving discussions on African Regulations and keeping the African operators updated on key topics in the industry. Delegates were invited to join an evening event hosted by Nextgen Clearing on day one, allowing them to network, relax, and enjoy delicious food and drinks after a busy day.
The second day commenced with updates from the Executive Board and Advisory Board, presented by IO Director General Jason Bryan. The VoLTE Roaming Lab (VRL) session was crucial in determining the future of the Lab. Delegates were asked whether they thought there was still a need for this platform, to which they responded the lab should remain open but take a different approach for its continuation.
The Roaming Connectivity Lab (RCL) appointed Sanaz Moshirian, Technical Specialist at CKH IOD, as Deputy Chair and continued its labour of educating operators on the fields of Private Networks and Neutral Hosts. Druid Software was invited to discuss their journey and share their insights as part of this session, including valuable learnings on Private Networks and MOCN Gateways.
Day three kicked off with a workshop on IO Mobilize, the wholesale roaming community platform for IO members, and continued with an interactive session on eSIM delivered by Dhiraj Wazir, IO Director of Programmes. RoamForward (Automation Subcommittee) also conveyed their developments and invited Vodafone Roaming Services to share their experience in Customer Experience Management.
Wrapping up, the 5G Roaming Lab (5GRL) announced its new leadership team, with Luc Lamoureux (Director Global Roaming and Planning at Reliance JIO) as the Chair, and Jason Olivieri (Senior Manager, Product Development Strategy at Verizon) as Deputy Chair. The session compiled presentations from Reliance JIO, Verizon, and T-Mobile US sharing experiences on 5G SA deployment, SMS delivery, Network Slicing and 5G SA Testing.
Continued support from the host, Vodafone Roaming Services, and the Gold Sponsor, Nextgen Clearing, ensured that delegates had numerous opportunities to network in various environments. The IO community gathers in Seville (Spain) from May 22nd to 24th for the sixth Plenary, co-located with ROCCO’s Innovation fueled Genesis 2024 event.
About IO
IO is a non-profit member organisation developed by Mobile Operators for Mobile Operators. With just a few core staff, the organisation tackles roaming specific challenges through accelerator “Lab” style meetings where MNOs share and collaborate on their key challenges.
IO Plenary #05 Sponsors
