Global communications company BICS announced the first established roaming connection between the 5G standalone (SA) networks of Belgian operator Proximus and stc Kuwait based in the Middle East.

The connection marks BICS’ latest efforts to interlink telecommunication ecosystems globally and the first move to intercontinentally link live 5G SA networks in a non-lab environment.

The networks’ connection was secured through a security edge protection proxy (SEPP), in accordance with GSMA’s mandated roaming guidelines hosted on BICS’ internetwork packet exchange (IPX).

“Until now, operators around the world have only been delivering 5G non-standalone (NSA) roaming that routes traffic through 4G/LTE core,” BICS VP Mikaël Schachne stated in the release.

“By establishing 5G SA roaming, we’ve broken down the barriers to bring the power of this technology to international communications. This is an important step for the industry, and accelerates the benefits of 5G to potential consumers and enterprises around the world,” he continued.

CEO of solutions by stc Mohammed N. Al-Nusif added that the breakthrough will be important for the industry at large but will also provide “5G roaming spanning the widest coverage area across the world.”

“It’s going to bring stc customers exceptional connectivity at high-data speeds and offer them the same 4G and 5G data plans at no additional costs when abroad,” he stated.

Another of BICS' efforts to bridge international connection came with its partnership with satellite company Lynk, where the two are looking to widen the international impact of Lynk’s nascent 5G satellite network in coming years.

BICS VP Mikael Schachne and Lynk CCO Daniel Dooley explained to SDxCentral that the opportunity is very appealing to mobile network operators (MNOs) because the satellites already connect to any 3GPP device without any changes to MNO networks or users’ mobile phones.

“That’s the great part because we’re using the standard roaming agreements. For operators, it’s very seamless, so we can facilitate the establishment of a connection with the central satellite with hundreds of operators around the world,” Schachne said.