The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) has launched an industry specification group (ISG) for blockchain to explore the viability and potential of the technology for various purposes.
This confirms that the telecommunications industry is intending to leverage blockchain use cases across its supply chains and networks.
Founding members include Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Telefónica, and Vodafone.
These players want to examine the use of Permissioned Distributed Ledgers (ISG PDL) to solve challenges related to the operation of PDLs, business use cases, functional architecture and solution for the operation of PDLs, including interfaces, APIs, protocols and information data models, as well as other topics.
Distributed Ledgers are mostly known for their use with cryptocurrencies. However, they can also be used for digital identity attributes, object tracking, or the verification of service level agreements, according to ETSI that is based in Sophia Antipolis in the south of France.
This is the reason why blockchain is seen as a solution to many industries.
Distributed Ledgers can be either Permissionless (public) or Permissioned (private).
Read: The Differences Between 'Permissioned' And 'Permissionless' Blockchain
While Permissionless Ledgers are known by the general public through popular terms such as Bitcoin, Permissioned Distributed Ledgers are better qualified to address the more business-oriented use cases that are of interest to Industry and governmental institutions.
Blockchain which was first developed for Bitcoin, uses distributed ledger where people can record transaction between parties in an efficient and secure manner.
One of the biggest challenges when using blockchain as a decentralized and distributed technology on cross-business settings, is the standardizing processes and workflows in a way that works for all the involved parties.
Without this standard process, blockchain can create more problems that it solves.
The ETSI work group has plans for its first meeting in early January 2019 at Telefonica, Madrid, where members can discuss project priorities, and to also elect representatives from each of the participating companies.
ETSI isn’t the first telecommunications firm to look into blockchain technology.
Earlier this 2018, British telecommunication regulator, Ofcom, announced it was also exploring the technology to help manage the nation's database of available telephone numbers.
With the ability to change digital economy of businesses, regulators, operators and consumers, blockchain is a $1 billion opportunity for telecommunication companies. ETSI's blockchain group here, is to proactively make the significant commitments necessary to position themselves for that revenue.
