Global data communications and provider Transaction Network Services (TNS) has launched an enhanced solution which it says makes global 4G roaming coverage for mobile point-of-sale (POS) terminals more accessible.
The company says its Global Wireless Access (GWA) solution can now support 4G roaming in more than 60 countries around the world.
According to TNS, the Internet of Things (IoT) solution for POS terminals provides comprehensive international coverage and is currently used by retailers and deployers of large POS terminal estates in more than 35 countries across Europe, the Asia Pacific region and the Americas.
John Tait, Managing Director of TNS’ FinTech Solutions business across the Asia Pacific region, said: “We are delighted to be making 4G roaming coverage readily available for POS terminals. The ongoing shutdown of 2G and 3G networks is being compounded by a reduction in 3G network capacity as spectrum is reallocated to 4G. This introduces significant uncertainty for terminal owners who are presented with the growing possibility that their mobile terminals might not be able to connect and accept vital customer payments.”
‘{loadposition peter}According to Tait, wireless terminal providers, owners and users need to deploy 4G terminals now as they can no longer guarantee 3G coverage where it has previously been available.
“TNS’ GWA solution supports the latest terminals and can help merchants benefit from 4G speeds which make point-of-sale transactions faster, provide better customer service and enhanced efficiency. With GWA they can also dedicate more time to their core selling activities.”
Tait claims TNS now supports more than 500,000 POS and ATM SIMs globally, with its GWA solution specifically designed for the needs of the payments industry to simplify the deployment and management of wireless POS terminals.
He says in-country domestic roaming minimises coverage blackspots, while direct connectivity to the TNS network allows merchants to access hundreds of acquirers and processors.
“We have created GWA to alleviate the pain points which merchants face. An advanced SIM management and diagnostics portal allows SIMs to be provisioned quickly and easily, and users can view and make changes in real time. The combination of strongest signal connectivity and data roaming provides maximum availability for POS terminals and the optional Roam+ application gives fully flexible network carrier selection based on the quality of the data connection to the TNS network.”
Tait said GWA supports pre-activated SIMs and allows bulk provisioning of SIMs, which contributes significantly to simplifying SIM management and lowering total cost of ownership.