As enterprises begin to adopt blockchain technology in order to optimize their systems and processes in ways that simply cannot be done with other technologies, the likelihood that their customers will know or care could be low. After all, once deployed in enterprise fashion, blockchain typically occupies a fabric-like spot within the organization's enterprise information technology stack. In other words, not necessarily at the customer-facing surface. And there's no industry where this could be more true than in the telecommunications and carrier business where the sorts of integrations that make it possible for people to call or text their friends and families across different carriers are fraught with technological and settlement challenges due to lack of a single source of truth. As Syniverse Sr. Distinguished Engineer of Emerging Technologies Monique Morrow explained to Blockchain Journal editor-in-chief David Berlind at World Economic Forum 2023 in Davos, Switzerland, both Syniverse (which itself is in the SMS fabric of hundreds of carriers) and the GSM Association (GSMA) where she chairs the GSMA-Distributed Ledger Technology Group have a pretty clear understanding of the business problems that blockchain can solve in the telecommunications industry.

To watch the video version of this podcast or read its full-text transcript, go to:
https://blockchainjournal.com/interview/how-sms-messages-and-other-carriergrade-services-could-be-moving-enterprisegrade/

The video can also be watched on Blockchain Journal's YouTube Channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_1hDvagNAM

How SMS Messages and Other Carrier-Grade Services Could Be Moving to Enterprise-Grade Blockchain

Interview with Mats Granryd, Director-General, Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23), Dubai, UAE, 20 November to 15 December 2023.




For further information please visit: http://www.itu.int
#ituwrc #radiocommunication #Itu

ITU INTERVIEWS @ WRC-23: Mats Granryd, DG, GSMA

Finally back in the studio, the lads are joined by Paul from CC Group PR and his colleague Rich, who ensures an extra long recording by his constant interruptions. They start by talking about an imminent webinar, hosted by CC and featuring elite telecoms hacks, that aims to set the scene for the Mobile World Congress trade show, leading to plenty of tangents around the show, journalism, and PR in general. They eventually move on to cover a couple telecoms moans about how rubbish the EU is, before concluding with a review of a new book about Huawei.

Trade shows, Europe and Huawei

Peter Jarich, head of GSMA Intelligence, joins the podcast to discuss the organization's new study focused on carriers AI strategies, what carriers are spending on AI and what kind of returns they hope to get from AI strategies.

Release date: 2/11/2025

Show notes: https://www.lightreading.com/ai-machine-learning/what-carriers-think-about-ai

What carriers think about AI

How can technology, in this case mobile technology help people in hard-to-reach places and can it ever make our world fairer?
 
These are two questions our Social Impact Pioneer this week grapples with daily.
 
In this episode of the Business Fights Poverty podcast series – Social Impact Pioneers, we sit down with Max Cuvellier Giacomelli, Head of Mobile for Development at the GSMA, the global industry body uniting over 750 mobile operators and 400 tech companies. Max leads one of the most impactful teams in the world—Mobile for Development (M4D)—which has reached over 220 million people in low- and middle-income countries through mobile innovation.
 
Max shares how the GSMA’s initiatives drive digital inclusion, financial empowerment, climate resilience, and gender equality, particularly through its Connected Women campaign and mobile money ecosystems. He unpacks how mobile connectivity is closing the mobile gender gap, with targeted programs helping over 80 million women access mobile internet and financial services, and how GSMA-supported startups like Crop2Cash are using AI to empower African farmers.
 
We also explore the usage gap—the 3.1 billion people who live within network coverage but remain offline—and what’s being done to tackle digital barriers. Max highlights the GSMA’s push for commercially sustainable innovation, its AI Innovation Fund, and why ‘dumb AI’ built for real-world conditions in Africa may hold the key to inclusive tech.
 
Whether you're passionate about tech for good, sustainable development, startup ecosystems, or bridging the digital divide, this conversation is packed with insights on how to scale impact through smart, inclusive partnerships between the private and public sectors.
 
Tune in to hear how GSMA is helping build a more equitable digital future—and why the road to socio-economic transformation runs through mobile.

Links:

Links:

Max Cuvellier: https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/gsma_people/max-cuvellier-giacomelli/

GSMA 
Mobile for Development (“M4D”) : https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/ 

GSMA, #AccelerateAction: Our latest data shows progress in closing the mobile internet gender gap has stalled: https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/blog/accelerateaction-our-latest-data-shows-progress-in-closing-the-mobile-internet-gender-gap-has-stalled/

GSMA: AI for Africa: Use cases delivering impact: : https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/AI-for-Africa-Use-cases-delivering-impact.pdf

GSMA; Breaking Barriers: How we can close the Usage Gap: https://www.gsma.com/breakingbarriers/#:~:text=Only%204%25%20of%20the%20global,affects%203.1%20billion%20people%20globally.

GSMA: Ensuring food security by solving the agricultural information gap:
 https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/blog/ensuring-food-security-by-solving-the-agricultural-information-gap/

GSMA: ClimateTech
Horizons
https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GSMA_ClimateTech_Horizons_2025.pdf


Mobile technology and International Development with Max Cuvellier,

6G, GSMA and geopolitics

Hello, and welcome to the Business Fights Poverty podcast, where we bring you engaging conversations with social impact trailblazers. Dive into a wealth of insights, diverse perspectives, and valuable advice, all designed to enlighten and inspire. Gain first-hand understanding of how businesses and thought leaders are addressing the world's most pressing social challenges, empowering you to make well-informed decisions and take meaningful action. So, sit back and join us as we explore the frontiers of business-driven social impact.

The world's leading source of information for enterprises and businesses looking to use blockchain as an application platform for digital transformation, business innovation, customer engagement, and industry disruption.

Once a week we get together in a studio somewhere in London to take the piss out of telecoms and technology for an hour or so.

ITU: Committed to connecting the world
www.itu.int.

ITU is the leading United Nations agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), driving innovation in ICTs together with 193 Member States and a membership of some 900 private sector entities and academic institutions. Established over 150 years ago in 1865, ITU is the intergovernmental body responsible for coordinating the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promoting international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, improving communication infrastructure in the developing world, and establishing the worldwide standards that foster seamless interconnection of a vast range of communications systems. From broadband networks to cutting-edge wireless technologies, aeronautical and maritime navigation, radio astronomy, oceanographic and satellite-based earth monitoring as well as converging fixed-mobile phone, Internet and broadcasting technologies, ITU is committed to connecting the world.

The materials contained on this podcast channel are for information purposes only. ITU expressly disclaims all liability to any person in respect of anything and in respect of the consequences of anything said or omitted to be said wholly or partly in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this podcast channel. ITU is not responsible for any third party content which may be accessed through this podcast channel. ITU interviews and soundbites may be edited for content and duration. The views and opinions expressed are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the ITU. 

ITU holds copyright in the information available on this podcast channel, unless otherwise stated. Copyright in any third-party materials found on this podcast channel must also be respected.

Please see our new podcast page below for the latest info, show notes and more.

New tracks tagged #GSMA