The founders of Bubbletone blockchain platform who stated their intention to eliminate roaming in mobile communication have signed contracts with Bridge Alliance and five other major telecom operators. As Invest Foresight learned from two representatives of the company, the new platform will thus be able to provide communication in 80 countries worldwide, including Europe, North America, APR, Middle East and Africa.
Team and ICO results
Bubbletone allows its users make mobile calls and have Internet access globally and at local rates. The project was launched by Yury Morozov, co-founder of four active telecom companies including Golden Ring and CountryCom with its Allo Incognito mobile virtual network operator. Allo Incognito has over 200 thousand clients and, according to Kontur.Focus service, in 2015 had sales of RUR 1.3 bln ($22 mio). Yury Morozov has worked in telecom industry for over 20 years.
The project team includes such advisors as Keith Teare, TechCrunch online publisher of technology industry news founding shareholder, Anders Larsson, AllcoinWiki co-founder with 20 years of experience in Ericsson Group, Dr. Norman Lewis, former Director of Technology Research at Orange UK. The investors of the project include one of Russia’s major telecom operators whose name is not disclosed.
The project has recently accomplished an ICO. For that, Yury Morozov had a special company, Clement Vale, registered in Dublin. The ICO was accomplished by June 15 with Bubbleton raising over $8.6 mio (of the $15 mio initially expected).
Contracts
By now, Clement Vale has signed contracts with Bridge Alliance, Telefonica telecommunication company, and Hong Kong Joy Telecom. Invest Foresight has got copies of the said contracts.
Bridge Alliance consists of 34 mobile operators worldwide with over 800 mio customers. It is a leading mobile alliance serving consumers and enterprises in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Telefonica is a major Spanish telecom company with presence in 24 countries and 325 mio customers. Hong Kong Joy Telecom has several million users in ten countries.
Bubbletone is now engaged in negotiations with major telecom operators such as Orange, Hutchison, Etisalat, as well as two Russian operators.
How it works
Mobile roaming prices are too high these days. So international travelers either refrain from calling or buy SIM cards of local cell companies to enjoy low local rates.
To make phone calls via Bubbletone platform while abroad, there is no need to change a SIM card since users keel their national numbers. One only needs to download an application which helps in selecting a local mobile communication provider. The application is free for users, since Bubbletone gets its revenues as fees payable by local telecom operators for bringing in new clients. Bubbletone’s fee is between 2% and 5%.
Bubbletone messenger beta version is already availably at AppStore and Google Play. At the moment, the company offers its services in 80 cities around the globe. The platform founder intends to allow mobile communication operators to directly offer their local communication services to ultimate users at advantageous rates via blockchain based smart contracts.
Blockchain is employed by operators for specifying their rates and receiving clients’ encrypted personal data, while smart contract ensure payments for telecommunication provided. A blockchain platform opens up an opportunity for small telecommunication companies to render their services thus stimulating competition among operators at every local market and causing prices drop.
The idea of employing blockchain for the international telecommunication came to the Bubbletone founder when his company Allo Incognito was unable to get a direct access to the international roaming and had to obtain one via Megafon or Beeline providers. That resulted in losses for Allo Incognito since its partners were late with billings whereas Allo Incognito always had to make advance payments for the roaming services.
According to the company’s Road Map, by the end of 2018’s fourth quarter, the first one million of transactions will be processed. Yury Morozov believes he is making a revolution in telecommunications.
Easy 4 is a Russian virtual cellular communication operator which has also tried to make international roaming cheaper. According to its rates, phonecalls and Internet traffic via SIM cards when travelling overseas will be charged at the same level as when in Russia.
By Natalia Kuznetsova