[asterisk-biz] Mobile extensions from Asterisk - HLR registration?

[John Todd]

I've posed this question in person to people with some frequency over  
the last few years, and the answer has always been "No, I don't know  
of such a service." but I'll try on the list and see what I get.

I think it would be a great asset to the Asterisk community to have a  
service provider (let's call them "SP-A") who is a mobile carrier who  
offered the following method: if I register a SIP entity with their  
servers, they would then register with the HLR of my mobile carrier  
("SP-B") and act as if I was roaming into a mobile network operated  
by  SP-A.  SP-B would then take all calls and text messages destined  
for my mobile device and send them to SP-A.  SP-A in turn would then  
relay those calls and messages to my Asterisk server, via SIP and/or  
XMPP.

I would have pre-registered my mobile number with SP-B and  
authenticated that I was the owner of that mobile number.  SP-A would  
hopefully charge very little for the calls - perhaps a slight premium  
on what I'd expect for a SIP carrier.

This would, I believe, quickly make Asterisk a roaming-capable  
solution for mobile devices.  Local Asterisk servers would be able to  
(as an example) detect dual-mode devices and then route calls in the  
office in the appropriate manner.  Bluetooth could be used as the  
"trigger" for non-dual-mode phones.  I have faith that Asterisk  
developers and administrators would descend upon this type of service  
like locusts.  The trick would be to make it purchase-able by  
individuals, and not as some large-scale process that involved sales  
contracts and NDAs and the like.  This needs to be a web form, a  
credit card/paypal account, and some good documentation.

Potential problems: what if my mobile phone is registered with SP-A or  
some other provider already?  Who gets the messages?  How do HLRs  
manage multi-registration conflicts?

JT


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John Todd                       email:jtodd at digium.com
Digium, Inc. | Asterisk Open Source Community Director
445 Jan Davis Drive NW -  Huntsville AL 35806  -   USA
direct: +1-256-428-6083         http://www.digium.com/