Tata Communications has launched a global service that helps mobile network operators and service providers deliver an improved mobile internet experience.

Called Data Roaming Boost, it has the potential to halve the time it takes to open a web page or application on their smart device while they are travelling overseas.

Tata subsidiary Teleena, a mobile service and IoT enabler, is the first to roll out the service to enhance the delivery of its mobile and IoT applications globally.

With data roaming, a mobile user’s internet connection is traditionally routed via long distances and through multiple transit parties back to the home operator, resulting in speed and connectivity problems. This in turn leads to a poor user experience and often results in service abandonment.

With Data Roaming Boost, mobile network operators can avoid this multi-party hand-off and connect their customers to the internet using the closest Tata Communications’ globally deployed point-of-presence. This ensures a high-quality browsing experience for roamers, while giving service providers full control of their subscriber traffic.

Initial tests by Tata returned results showing that Data Roaming Boost provides a 130% improvement in connectivity speeds compared with the traditional approach of routing traffic back to the mobile operator’s home network.

Data Roaming Boost also delivers efficiencies for international IoT applications when a device is in constant roaming mode. For example, the infotainment device of a car could be built in one country and used in another, which can be costly for the service provider and lead to a slow user experience. Data Roaming Boost reduces connectivity costs for IoT service providers and makes IoT applications more responsive for users.

“As LTE networks bring high-bandwidth applications such as content streaming and video calling to mobile users’ handsets, mobile service providers are under pressure to offer their customers a consistent mobile experience whether at home or abroad,” said Conor Carroll, senior vice president at Tata Communications (www.tatacommunications.com). “Data Roaming Boost represents a breakthrough in data roaming performance and enables service providers to offer highly responsive, glitch-free, mobile data connectivity to their customers, whether they are international travellers or IoT businesses.”

Timo Smit, executive director at Teleena (www.teleena.com), added: “Data Roaming Boost is a game-changer for the delivery of mobile services and IoT applications. By integrating our platform with Tata Communications’ Data Roaming Boost, we are able to offer fully managed data roaming services and IoT for our customers on a global scale, delivering a ubiquitous, seamless user experience regardless of location.”

Built on Tata’s global network (www.tatacommunications.com/izo), which is ranked among the top five in five continents and connects four out of five mobile subscribers globally, Data Roaming Boost creates a virtualised extension of the home operator’s network, reducing delays associated with home routing and enhancing customer retention.

The tests were conducted with one operator for European outbound roaming to Singapore, based on access to Google.com. Mean data rate for home routing was 396kbit/s, compared with an average of 917kbit/s using Data Roaming Boost, a 230% improvement. When comparing round trip delay, the average for home routing was 370ms, compared with 156ms using Data Roaming Boost, a more than 50% improvement.