ETSI Headquarters, Sophia Antipolis, France – 23 April 2012
The MSF, ETSI and GSMA today announced the first ever RCS (Rich Communication Suite) and VoLTE (Voice over LTE) interoperability event scheduled for 1-12 October 2012. The test event will take place in two labs, hosted by Telecom Slovenia Group and Sintesio, in Kranj, Slovenia, and China Mobile, at the China Mobile Research Institute Laboratory in Beijing, China. The event is also sponsored by Verizon.
The event builds on the major success of the previous MSF VoLTE Interoperability Event that took place during September 2011 and reflects the MSF's, ETSI's and GSMA's drive to continue to deliver major carrier driven events that benefit all their members.
The RCS/VoLTE interoperability event will focus on core network interfaces needed to ensure multi-vendor deployment strategies for RCS /VoLTE technology. It will validate interoperability of RCS services with and without VoLTE, and also validate interoperability of VoLTE services. Single network, roaming and interconnect scenarios will be used. In addition, the GSMA technical recommendations and the test scenarios developed by MSF and ETSI will be evaluated.
An Operator's Workshop is scheduled for 10 & 11 October 2012, hosted by Sintesio and will be chaired by Giulio Maggiore of Telecom Italia, and chair of ETSI TC INT. The workshop will provide presentations on RCS VoLTE deployment scenarios, test specifications used for the interoperability event, as well asl initial feedback/results from the event. Delegates will have an opportunity to visit the interoperability event itself.
"The GSMA is pleased to work with the MSF and ETSI on interoperability of RCS and VoLTE technologies as it demonstrates further momentum for implementing a single, industry wide solution for advanced communication services via IP," said David Hutton, Director of Technology at the GSMA. "This will help promote multivendor interoperability, facilitate a broad ecosystem and drive vast economies of scale for LTE all over the world."
"The forthcoming interoperability event will demonstrate the growing degree of compliance of vendors' implementations with VoLTE and RCS specifications," said Giulio Maggiore of Telecom Italia, and chair of ETSI TC INT. "ETSI recognizes that interoperability events such as this play a key role in terms of validating standards and testing products against those standards, resulting in reduced time to market."
'The MSF welcomes the continued support of the operator community for our interoperability events. China Mobile's hosting commitment underscores the significance of VoLTE and RCS technologies in today's service rich environment' said Kyu Ouk Lee, MSF President. 'Seeing ETSI, GSMA and MSF in partnership for this event clearly speaks to the importance of this technology direction for the telecommunications industry.'
To learn more about the RCS/VoLTE interoperability event contact Ashley Wright at awright@msforum.org.
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Notes for Editors
About ETSI
ETSI produces globally-applicable standards for Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), including fixed, mobile, radio, converged, aeronautical, broadcast and internet technologies and is officially recognized by the European Union as a European Standards Organization. ETSI is an independent, not-for-profit association whose more than 700 member companies and organizations, drawn from 62 countries across 5 continents worldwide, determine its work programme and participate directly in its work.
For more information please visit: www.etsi.org.
ETSI Plugtests are interoperability test events that cover a wide range of telecommunications, Internet, broadcasting and multimedia converging standards. For more information, please visit: www.etsi.org/plugtests.
About the MSF
The MultiService Forum is a global association of service providers, system suppliers and test equipment vendors committed to developing and promoting open-architecture, multiservice Next Generation Networks. Founded in 1998, the MSF is an open-membership organization comprised of the world's leading telecommunications companies. The MSF's activities include developing Implementation Agreements, promoting worldwide compatibility and interoperability of network elements, and encouraging input to appropriate national and international standards bodies.
About GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.
For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com
PLUGTESTS™, LTE™ and the ETSI logo are Trade Marks of ETSI registered for the benefit of its Members.
3GPP™ is a Trade Mark of ETSI registered for the benefit of its Members and of the 3GPP Organizational Partners.
GSM™, the Global System for Mobile communication, is a registered Trade Mark of the GSM Association.
For ETSI press enquiries:
Ultan Mulligan
Events & Communications, ETSI
Tel: +33 4 92944388
Email: ultan.mulligan@etsi.org
For more information about the MSF, please contact:
Ashley Wright,
Tel: +1 510 492 4051
Email: awright@msforum.org