 This is JSA TV the newsroom for tech and telecom professionals. I'm Dean Perine and welcome to JSA TV We are coming at you on location from ITW 2018 in the windy city of Chicago, Illinois And I am here with with mr. And pardon me if I don't get this right on the first try mr. Robert Robin Dunne Mahalingham. You got that Outstanding outstanding and Robbie is the SVP of international business for HGC Ravi welcome to JSA TV. Thank you for having me you bet you bet and we are gonna talk about something that is on the top of a Lot of people's minds right now blockchain Robbie is here to discuss blockchain in the telecom industry Blockchain is currently one of the most talked about technologies across industries organizations Are exploring blockchain's potential impact in their space and how they can benefit from this emerging technology the Communication service provider industry is no exception. All right So our first question for you Robbie is blockchain and specifically its benefits in the telecommunications industry Tell us a little bit more about that. Okay, so as you know blockchain I think it became famous because of cryptocurrency and that's how blockchain now has become on the front front line But blockchain itself as a technology has been around for about 30 years. I did not know that It's been around for that long, but it took cryptocurrency to make it to become popular But I have to let you know that the cryptocurrency and the blockchains are two different separate technologies but because of the smart ledgering and also the Trust capability of the blockchain it became the most How shall I say the best way to do the? Smart currencies or the cryptocurrencies. So now everybody talks about blockchain blockchain in Insurance blocking blockchain in finance and blockchain in telecoms. So there's been two streams The the industry has been exploring one is on the retail side But this exploration is not easy because you have to face with the real-world situation as in finance Money laundering and a host of issues but blockchain seem to be making more track in the Backhand side of the industry, which is more about cost-saving more about efficiency And and trying to create a new ecosystem that would Make it more efficient and create more automation So that is where I think the opportunity lies in this side for the telecoms industry I would say I'm so glad we're having this conversation because quite honestly that has been a point of confusion for me So thank you for that Robbie. I'm glad to provide that revelation You heard it here folks first folks. Thank you very much Robbie So a question number two What are the challenges and how companies can mitigate the the challenges of the application to ensure? You know successful implementation Well, I think to begin with It's the overall mindset and the acceptance of this as a kind of a way to improve Business and also efficiency and profitability So, you know in the industry telecoms industry while it's the most Fast-paced industry. It also is consisting of human beings in the organization who take time to actually accept changes So the first challenge is how to make that Change in the organization to accept that this is a new way to do it and you may need to rewrite how we do The the the handshake between two parties using smart ledger as a method instead of you know other current means So this is one challenge. The second challenge is of course is between still between the real world and the Virtual world so in the in the virtual world where we can do automation We can exchange contracts. There is trust But you still have an element where when you want to do your settlement Where you have hard currencies Where you need to do with the legal Related matters. So these are challenges that you now have to face. So that sometimes is Just as hard as Trying to do automation within the industry. So I would say the legal side and also on the finance side Robbie, thank you very much. So let's talk about potential What is the potential for blockchain and specifically, you know, how our folks gonna monetize this? Well, I would say In terms of okay, there's two elements One is about how do we make money from this platform? And the other one is how we can make use of the platform to actually do business efficiency and improvement So that is one side, which is very important. But how can you make money or monetize it? I believe this ecosystem in The wholesale industry of telecommunication is far wide-ranging at the moment we are only at the tip of the Iceberg of looking at one stream could be voice, but it can also be expanded to roaming It can be expanded to Telecommunication into the corporate side of interconnects. So I believe the monetizing aspect of it Is still not really fully explored, but it's quite wide-ranging But let's talk about expectations. I mean obviously you probably you have expectations for yourself You have expectations in your role with the company Let's talk about what those expectations are where do you where do you see things going? Yeah, so I I am a firm believer of That we should adapt and change For the new and also keeping our step once or two steps ahead of the curve So I would like to you know mold the organization and motivate the team to be able to see the next phase and prepare ourselves So this is not easy it takes time But I believe with a lot of communication and also commitment this can be achieved so so that is one on the other aspect of it in terms of Where do we want to see or where do I see myself? I would like to take international business as a wide-ranging Service provider of not only for you know the usual carrier to carrier business But also all across board a platform that would able or enable Companies to you know reach out to where we our core competencies have always been is to the emerging market This is our expertise and these are markets Which are difficult the more difficult these markets are these are the markets that we go to and provide these solutions for other carriers and other corporate customers and other OTT's so we hope to make this better and And get some success out of it You know, I have a feeling that you're going to be very success successful. This is a pleasure talking with you today, Robbie We appreciate it. Thank you very much for having me and all the best to to JSA TV Thank you very much. We appreciate that and thank you viewers for watching JSA TV. We'll see you soon