Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy grants £700,000 to the United Kingdom Office of Communications to explore the blockchain technology.

The purpose was to improve the management of UK landline telephone connections. 

Mansoor Hanif, Ofcom Chief Technology Officer, stated “We will be working with the industry to explore how blockchain can help make it quicker and easier for landline customers to switch providers while retaining their number – as well to reduce nuisance calls. We will expand our research into other areas to apply innovative technologies like blockchain to benefit consumers.”

The department reinstated between 2018 and April 2020, “We will be inviting industry participants to trial the porting process to aid in the management of millions of telephone numbers using ledger and blockchain technology. We will be coordinating this work across industries, universities, and other third-party providers.

Of note, BEIS as a government organization is being supported by 46 agencies and several public bodies who have a major role to play in industrial strategy, science, climate change policy, innovation and business.

While the agency will be coordinating the work, the Office of Communications statement in the announcement reads thus: “We issue blocks of these numbers to telecoms operators.  They manage the numbers and movement (porting) of them into and out of their control.”

Involving industry participants to test and help with the mass management of millions of telephone numbers in a way to circumnavigate costs.  High costs for collaborative attempts were a barrier in the previous attempts.  With blockchain technology the barrier seems to be ruled out.

Several other Telecom companies in the world are considering to make use of the blockchain technology in their networks.

Earlier this July, about 3 Telecom companies in China were considering blockchain technology for their business model to help with management of their networks.  These companies focused on forming “A trustworthy blockchain application team to explore the blockchain area.”

Similarly, in South Korea, KT Corporation, the largest telephone company launched their blockchain powered commercial network.  The firm helped build a blockchain layer in the already existing nationwide network to help make it “secure and transparent” concerning managing data efficiently.

Of note, BEIS has forever been providing strong defense for efficient technology.  They have been deploying smart meters as a smart choice for consumers to use smarter energy systems.  So, it might not be a surprise if they agree upon the use of smart contracts or anything smart about technology for that reason.