UK telecoms operator BT Group is upgrading its application server as a new service creation platform to develop and monetize new services for consumers and enterprises. The company is working with Canadian business support system (BSS) provider Optiva on the project, and expects to integrate new blockchain and AI tools from technology partners to drive its activity in the banking, insurance, and healthcare industries particularly, it said.

BT’s existing application server is from Optiva, deployed as part of the latter’s Optiva Charging Engine; the firms have extended a “strategic” relationship to “upgrade to a next-generation, cloud-native, open architecture service creation platform”, they declared. A statement said: “It will include Optiva’s open API framework, enabling integration with new cutting-edge technology partners… [and] fostering the growth of new services and new revenue opportunities.”

BT said it expects to have 90-plus percent 5G population coverage in the UK by 2028, and it wants a new service creation environmentmore quickly monetize its infrastructure – with “rapid design, testing, and deployment of new services”. Optiva’s server will give BT access to an automated development framework to “improve time-to-market and reduce operational overhead”, it said.  

Nitin Patel, head of mobile and messaging at BT, said: “Optiva has been a strategic partner for over a decade, enabling us to continuously innovate and meet our business goals. The next-generation Optiva application server will allow us to integrate with cutting-edge technology partners and build innovative new services for consumers and enterprises.”

Robert Stabile, chief executive at Optiva, said: “BT’s application server upgrade will provide it with increased power to innovate, integrate and capitalize on emerging technologies, including blockchain and AI tools. It will also expose more network services to support new offerings. We value BT’s trust and are committed to further empowering BT to capture new market opportunities, achieve its goals and expand its business success.”