Bridge Alliance
Bridge Mobile Pte. Ltd.
TypePrivate
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded2004 (2004)
Headquarters
Singapore
ProductsM2M/IoT, Enterprise mobility, Roaming
Members34
Websitewww.bridgealliance.com

The Bridge Alliance (originally the Bridge Mobile Alliance) is a business alliance of 34 major mobile telecommunications companies in Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East. It uses connectivity and a suite of integrated value-added services, including IoT/M2M, Optimization and Enterprise Mobility, for all alliance members' subscribers while roaming on each other's networks. The concept is similar to that of the FreeMove alliance in Europe, with whom the Bridge Alliance has a partnership.[1]

History

Established on 3 November 2004, the alliance originally comprised Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), Bharti Airtel, Globe Telecom, Optus, Telkomsel, Maxis Communications, and Taiwan Mobile,[2] enabling it to gain a foothold in the mobile markets of Singapore, India, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan.

The alliance expanded between 2005 and 2015 to also include Hong Kong CSL in Hong Kong, CTM in Macau, SK Telecom in South Korea, Advanced Info Service (AIS) in Thailand, MobiFone in Vietnam, Metfone in Cambodia, Telkomcel in Timor-Leste, Airtel in Sri Lanka, the African operators of Bharti Airtel (in Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia), SoftBank Mobile in Japan, and Saudi Telecom Company in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Recently, the Bridge Alliance members number close to 900 million subscribers in more than 100 markets. Bridge Alliance partners include AT&T, China Unicom, FreeMove and the Global M2M Association.

Timeline

In 2004, seven large Asia Pacific mobile operators formed region's largest joint venture mobile company.[3] In 2005, Bridge and SingTel launched their first regional mobile gaming competition.[4] Also, CSL joined Bridge Alliance.[5] In 2006, Bridge Alliance added CTM as an operator member.[6]

Bridge Alliance in 2007 launched capped plans with one-flat data roaming rate across 11 territories.[7] FreeMove and Bridge Alliance established a partnership that year[8] and two new were members added - SK telecom and AIS.[9][10]

Bridge Alliance launched one-flat rate, daily unlimited data roaming plan across all Bridge Alliance member countries in 2010.[11] AIS and Globe offered Bridge VoiceSMS Roam, one-rate voice and SMS roaming price plans, across APAC in 2011.[12] And in 2011, Bridge AsiaRoamData SIM service had an expanded coverage to 11 countries.[13]

In 2012, Bridge Alliance expanded into Vietnam and accepted MobiFone as its 12th member,[14] and Bridge Alliance and Softbank Mobile formed a business partnership to expand enterprise offerings.[15] In 2013, Airtel Africa joined Bridge Alliance,[16] as did Airtel Bangladesh[17] and Telkomce, which became its 13th member.[18] In 2014, Saudi Telecom Company joined Bridge Alliance,[19] and SoftBank Mobile joined Bridge Alliance.[20] In 2016, Bridge Alliance and the Global M2M Association collaborated to drive worldwide growth in M2M and Internet of Things markets.[21] In 2017, Bridge Alliance and FreeMove expanded a partnership to offer integrated Enterprise Mobility in 106 markets.[22] Bridge Alliance, China Unicom and Singtel Strengthen Interconnected Platform Capabilities with eSIM Swap Collaboration in 2020.[23] Also that year, Bridge Alliance's Global MEC task force gathered in South Korea for first 5G MEC summit.[24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ FreeMove and Bridge Mobile Alliance to establish alliance-to-alliance cooperation Archived October 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Bridge Mobile Press Release, March 27, 2007
  2. ↑ Seven leading Asia Pacific mobile operators to form region’s largest joint venture mobile company Archived November 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Bridge Alliance Press Release, November 3, 2004
  3. ↑ "Telcos Form Bridge Mobile Alliance". Wireless Watch Japan. 4 November 2004.
  4. ↑ "Battle for Asia's 1st World Cyber Games Mobile champs". 14 September 2005. Archived from the original on 2013-05-26.
  5. ↑ "Asia's Bridge Mobile Alliance launches services, adds HK CSL". Total Telecom. 13 June 2005.
  6. ↑ "Bridge Mobile Alliance welcomes CTM as its newest operator member". 27 November 2006. Archived from the original on 2013-05-26.
  7. ↑ "Asia Pacific's leading Bridge Alliance launches one-flat data Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine". SingTel. 5 November 2007.
  8. ↑ "FreeMove and Bridge Mobile Alliance to establish alliance-to-alliance cooperation". 27 March 2007. Archived from the original on 2013-05-26.
  9. ↑ "SK Telecom, expands 3G global alliance". SK Telecom. 9 March 2007.
  10. ↑ "Bridge Mobile Alliance welcomes Advanced Info Service as its 11th operator member". SingTel. 18 June 2007.
  11. ↑ "Bridge Alliance launches one-flat rate, daily unlimited data roaming plan across 11 territories". 1 November 2010. Archived from the original on 2013-05-26.
  12. ↑ "Globe Telecom Offers Cost Savings for Customers With Bridge VoiceSMS Roam". ETB News. 14 December 2011.
  13. ↑ "Bridge Alliance Expands Fixed Fee Mobile Data Roaming to 11 Countries". Cellular-news. 16 November 2011.
  14. ↑ "12 Short Stories About the Mobile Networks". Cellular-news. 27 December 2012.
  15. ↑ "Bridge Alliance teams with Softbank to target multinationals". IT Wire. 10 January 2012.
  16. ↑ "Bharti Airtel's African Network to Join the Bridge Alliance". Cellular-news. 1 December 2013.
  17. ↑ "Airtel Bangladesh Joins Bridge Alliance". Cellular-news. 1 October 2013.
  18. ↑ "Telkomcel joins Bridge Alliance". Telecompaper. 9 July 2013.
  19. ↑ "STC gets on board with Bridge Alliance".
  20. ↑ "SoftBank Mobile Joins Bridge Alliance".
  21. ↑ "bridgealliance". www.bridgealliance.com.
  22. ↑ "Bridge Alliance and FreeMove extend partnership to offer integrated Enterprise Mobility across 106 markets". Bridge Alliance. 2017-06-19. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  23. ↑ "Bridge Alliance, China Unicom and Singtel Strengthen Interconnected Platform Capabilities with eSIM Swap Collaboration". Bridge Alliance. 2020-07-14. Retrieved 2020-11-08.
  24. ↑ "Bridge Alliance's Global MEC Task Force Gathered in Korea for First 5G MEC Summit". Bridge Alliance. 2020-01-22. Retrieved 2020-11-08.
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