NEW DELHI, INDIA: Telecom Italia Sparkle and Bharti Telesoft announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to jointly work on the commercial launch of a new Prepaid Roaming Hub value added solution for mobile operators globally.

The Prepaid Roaming Hub solution enables prepaid roamers to recharge their accounts while roaming on a third party operator’s network. According to VisionGain the market for roaming recharges is estimated to reach 410 million recharges by 2011, generating US$2 billion in revenues.  

The Prepaid Roaming Hub solution also provides an International Airtime Transfer service, which enables migrant workers to top-up of friends’ and family members’ mobile talk-time in their home country.  The International Airtime Transfer service is an important service for the 200 million migrant workers worldwide, who will be able to top-up the mobile talk time of friends and family back home using this service.

The rapid progress made by Telecom Italia Sparkle and Bharti Telesoft in moving from conceptualization to signing of the MoU reflects the strong alignment and commitment between the parties towards rapid launch of the Prepaid Roaming Hub solution. Telecom Italia Sparkle and Bharti Telesoft are committed to maintaining the scorching pace of progress to enable service launch by Q2 2009.

Stefano Mazzitelli, chief executive officer,  Telecom Italia Sparkle, said: “We are excited to cooperate with Bharti Telesoft on the introduction of the Prepaid Roaming Hub solution as it demonstrates our commitment to improving the competitiveness of our mobile operator customers in the rapidly growing area of prepaid roaming recharge.”

Mao Mohapatra, chief executive officer, Bharti Telesoft, added: “With the majority of new mobile subscribers opting for prepaid services, the demand for prepaid roaming recharge is vast – and largely untapped. The Prepaid Roaming Hub solution will enable recharge of prepaid accounts for roaming subscribers topping up their accounts, as well as for people working overseas who want to use the International Airtime Transfer service for family members back in their home country."

"The solution manages top-ups and transfers in a transparent, quick and efficient manner, adeptly handling remittance issues. Prepaid Roaming Hub provides both a practical and easy-to-use recharge service for roamers, and boosts roaming revenues, ensuring that mobile roamers and operators alike benefit from the service,” he added.