Digicel goes live with the BroadForward Diameter Router

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14 Feb, 2024, 00:00 GMT

Digicel has deployed both the BroadForward STP and DRA, enabling 3G and 4G routing from a common converged signaling solution, capable of also carrying future 5G signaling traffic

AMERSFOORT, The Netherlands, Feb. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Operator Digicel today announced it now has gone live with the BroadForward Diameter Routing Agent (DRA). The BroadForward DRA has replaced the legacy DRA systems while the BroadForward STP earlier replaced the IP Transfer Point (ITP) systems that were in use at 26 of Digicel's markets in the Caribbean and Central America. At the heart of the Digicel network, the BroadForward DRA provides intelligent routing and interworking of Diameter signaling traffic between multi-vendor network nodes.

Digicel delivers mobile communications, business solutions, media and entertainment, and digital services to consumers and business customers in 25 markets across the Caribbean and Central America.

The DRA has been deployed on the GSMA award-winning BroadForward converged signaling architecture. This multi-technology signaling architecture has greatly facilitated Digicel to replace standalone SS7 and Diameter-based network functions. By design, the solution provides mobile core network functions for 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G routing, interworking, security, and number portability. Each deployed product therefore can call upon on-board support for protocols such as Diameter, SS7, SIP, ENUM, RADIUS, and HTTP/2.

According to GSMA Intelligence in 2022 "Mobile connectivity in the Caribbean is a growth industry with 28 million unique mobile subscribers, a market penetration of 63.7 percent", while "a large number of users are still relying on legacy mobile technologies [such as 2G and 3G]".

Miguel Calvo Vervaet, Group Director, International Business and Wholesale at Digicel, commented "Next to 4G, which remains the dominant broadband cellular network technology in the Caribbean, we continue to support 2G and 3G. It is a great benefit to have both the BroadForward STP and DRA running on the same multi-technology software architecture, which allows for ongoing, innovative development and modern deployment. This enables us to continue to adapt to the technology changes, such as 5G, quickly and without prohibitive costs."

BroadForward CEO, Taco Schoute added: "More and more mobile operators are looking for ways to replace 2G, 3G and 4G network functions with our solution, which unlike most legacy products, offers continued development and a path to the future, and includes support for 5G. The BroadForward converged signaling architecture which runs our STP and DRA, as well as 5G functions such as SEPP and SCP, gives our customers exactly that certainty of a future-proof investment."

About Digicel

As a Digital Operator, Digicel is in the business of delivering powerful digital experiences 1440 minutes of each day to customers – that's every minute, all day, every day. Through its world-class LTE and fibre networks, together with its suite of apps spanning sports (SportsMax),news (Loop), and self-care (MyDigicel app), Digicel is the only operator in its markets that can deliver that.

Serving consumer and business customers in 25 markets in the Caribbean and Central America, its investments of over US$7 billion and a commitment to its communities through its Digicel Foundations in Haiti, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea and Trinidad & Tobago have contributed to positive outcomes for over 3 million people to date. https://www.digicelgroup.com/

About BroadForward

BroadForward is leader in intelligent signaling software for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G mobile networks. BroadForward delivers core network products for routing, interworking, security and number portability, designed for convergence across legacy and next-generation networks. BroadForward is an eight-time GSMA Best Technology GLOMO Award nominee and winner of Best Mobile & Network Software Breakthrough with its converged signaling solution, supporting communication service providers with their network transition to 5G. BroadForward's 5G products include the Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Service Communication Proxy (SCP) and 4G-5G interworking. All BroadForward products are hardware-agnostic and support network virtualization, containerization and cloud deployment. www.broadforward.com