Etisalat recently announced the signing of an LTE (News - Alert) roaming peering agreement with iBasis in order to provide a high quality, seamless LTE roaming experience. According to the new LTE roaming peering agreement, the Etisalat (News - Alert) SmartHub IPX will be peered with the iBasis LTE Signaling eXchange (LSX) to deliver LTE roaming and signaling.

The new LTE roaming will be supported by pre-existing IPX connections for GRPS roaming eXchange (GRX) and data services. The combined solution offers a single point of interconnect between existing SS7 networks and diameter-based LTE networks, and facilitate international roaming across 3G/4G networks.

In a release, Ali Amiri, executive vice president, Carrier & Wholesale Services, Etisalat, said, “With the growing importance and adoption of LTE, we want to ensure that our roaming customers enjoy the consistent, high quality LTE experience they expect from Etisalat. The peering agreement with iBasis (News - Alert) LSX will set high benchmarks in providing our LTE end user’s best-in-class roaming connectivity worldwide and access to a global footprint of LTE operator networks.”

IPX provides end-to-end high quality interconnect and transport for mobile, fixed operators, internet service providers, and content providers. The ecosystem includes multiple connected IPX providers with peering agreements. IPX peering is a critical part of LTE roaming as it enables a seamless integration of the entire spectrum of LTE services. Open peering enables mobile operators and their subscribers to achieve a wider customer reach, reduce costs and rapid time to market.

Willem Offerhaus, CEO, iBasis, said, “As LTE adoption spreads rapidly around the world, the challenges of international LTE Roaming are becoming increasingly important. We are very pleased to peer with an innovative operator like Etisalat UAE to ensure a consistent high-quality experience for LTE subscribers.”

Etisalat SmartHub IPX, an innovative IPX hub, provides a single point of connection between MNOs, FNOs and other OTT content providers, and offers services such as LTE roaming, content, voice, messaging, internet, data exchange and IPX transport. iBasis LSX provides best-in-class connectivity, and enables operators to maximize roaming profits with a single point of access to 2G, 3G and 4G diameter signaling network, and non-LTE networks.

Etisalat is the biggest telecom operator in the Middle East and North Africa, and iBasis is a well known international carrier and provider of data services and solutions for mobile operators.