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T
his issue of Connect-World EMEA (Europe, the Middle
East and Africa) explores how technology ties and
binds the growing relations between the developing
and the developed regions of the world. The theme of
this issue is EMEA and ICT – Positioning for Change.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is
shaping the way the world is developing. This is nothing
new, of course. Historically, every major new technology
has shaped, re-shaped and divided the world
between those that control and use the technology
and those that do not.
The digital divide could have been just one more
example of this, but the rapid drop in the technology’s
cost, the rapid return on investment, as well as
the concerted efforts of governments, institutions and
international organisations, turn ICT into the cure for
its own ills.
The EMEA region encompasses a broad range, not just
of geographies, but also of societies and needs. The
new technologies bring opportunity to all, but the sort
of change they will bring to the Middle East and Africa
is several orders of magnitude more earth shaking
than the change they will bring to Europe. Whereas in
most of Europe ICT will bring important, but incremental
change, in much of Africa and the Middle East
the changes will be nothing less than revolutionary.
Regions long cut-off from the benefits of the latest
technologies, from any substantial commerce with the
more developed parts of the world, and with little
cultural interchange, will now, for better and worse,
come face-to-face with all the changes these developments
bring.
Governments, international agencies, regional industries,
service providers, businesses large and small,
and local communities all now need to position themselves
to absorb the benefits and minimise the social
and business risks.
This issue of Connect-World focuses upon what this
technology invasion means to people, communities,
businesses, service providers and equipment suppliers
in Europe the Middle East and Africa.
It points to the need of governments
and companies to plan for the
change.
Similarly, in Connect-World’s Africa
and the Middle East, Asia-Pacific,
Europe, India, North America and
Latin America issues, each region’s leaders look at the
issues that drive the development of their home
regions or countries.
Current discussions centre upon the changes wrought
in industry and society by the latest generation of
information and communications technology – especially
Internet protocol digital communications, and
how both business and society are changing, need to
change, as a result.
Connect-World’s next Global edition will focus upon
the United Nation’s World Summit on the Information
Society – the WSIS. This event, organised by the ITU,
will take place on 16 th -18 th November in Tunis. There,
heads of state, ministers, regulators, government delegations,
leaders of industry and international organisations
from throughout the world will gather to
finalise the plans – developed during years of preparatory
meetings – to realise a worldwide, universal,
information society and provide a blueprint for the
building of a global information economy.
Connect-World is inviting world leaders of industry
and government, including heads of state and ministers,
to share, in our Global edition, their ideas about
how the great goals of the world summit can be
realised, how the world can go about building a truly
global information economy.
The special Connect-World Global Edition, in honour
of the WSIS, in addition to our normal global mailing,
will be distributed to all those attending the WSIS, as
well as to a substantial, select, list of world leaders.
Fredric J. Morris,
Editor-in-Chief
Connect-World
C
onnections
Editor-in-Chief:
Fredric J. Morris
fredric.morris@connect-world.com;
Publisher:
David Nunes
david.nunes@connect-world.com;
Managing Director:
Valetta Brown
admin@connect-world.com;
Printers: Grupo Bigsa
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronical, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without prior permission from the publishers. The content
of this Publication is based on best knowledge and information available at the time
of publication. No responsibility for any injury, death, loss, damage or delay, however
caused, resulting from the use of the material can be accepted by the publishers or others
associated with its preparation. The publishers neither accept responsibility for, nor
necessarily agree with, the views expressed by contributors.
Connect-World EMEA Issue 2005 is published under Licence by WORLD INFOCOMMS LTD
Executive Office: Global House 12 Albert Road London E16 2DW United Kingdom
Tel.: +44 20 7540 0876 Fax: +44 20 7474 0090
email: info@connect-world.com URL: www.connect-world.com
ISSN 1748-6998
1

T
his issue of Connect-World EMEA (Europe, the Middle
East and Africa) explores how technology ties and
binds the growing relations between the developing
and the developed regions of the world. The theme of
this issue is EMEA and ICT – Positioning for Change.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is
shaping the way the world is developing. This is nothing
new, of course. Historically, every major new technology
has shaped, re-shaped and divided the world
between those that control and use the technology
and those that do not.
The digital divide could have been just one more
example of this, but the rapid drop in the technology’s
cost, the rapid return on investment, as well as
the concerted efforts of governments, institutions and
international organisations, turn ICT into the cure for
its own ills.
The EMEA region encompasses a broad range, not just
of geographies, but also of societies and needs. The
new technologies bring opportunity to all, but the sort
of change they will bring to the Middle East and Africa
is several orders of magnitude more earth shaking
than the change they will bring to Europe. Whereas in
most of Europe ICT will bring important, but incremental
change, in much of Africa and the Middle East
the changes will be nothing less than revolutionary.
Regions long cut-off from the benefits of the latest
technologies, from any substantial commerce with the
more developed parts of the world, and with little
cultural interchange, will now, for better and worse,
come face-to-face with all the changes these developments
bring.
Governments, international agencies, regional industries,
service providers, businesses large and small,
and local communities all now need to position themselves
to absorb the benefits and minimise the social
and business risks.
This issue of Connect-World focuses upon what this
technology invasion means to people, communities,
businesses, service providers and equipment suppliers
in Europe the Middle East and Africa.
It points to the need of governments
and companies to plan for the
change.
Similarly, in Connect-World’s Africa
and the Middle East, Asia-Pacific,
Europe, India, North America and
Latin America issues, each region’s leaders look at the
issues that drive the development of their home
regions or countries.
Current discussions centre upon the changes wrought
in industry and society by the latest generation of
information and communications technology – especially
Internet protocol digital communications, and
how both business and society are changing, need to
change, as a result.
Connect-World’s next Global edition will focus upon
the United Nation’s World Summit on the Information
Society – the WSIS. This event, organised by the ITU,
will take place on 16 th -18 th November in Tunis. There,
heads of state, ministers, regulators, government delegations,
leaders of industry and international organisations
from throughout the world will gather to
finalise the plans – developed during years of preparatory
meetings – to realise a worldwide, universal,
information society and provide a blueprint for the
building of a global information economy.
Connect-World is inviting world leaders of industry
and government, including heads of state and ministers,
to share, in our Global edition, their ideas about
how the great goals of the world summit can be
realised, how the world can go about building a truly
global information economy.
The special Connect-World Global Edition, in honour
of the WSIS, in addition to our normal global mailing,
will be distributed to all those attending the WSIS, as
well as to a substantial, select, list of world leaders.
Fredric J. Morris,
Editor-in-Chief
Connect-World
C
onnections
Editor-in-Chief:
Fredric J. Morris
fredric.morris@connect-world.com;
Publisher:
David Nunes
david.nunes@connect-world.com;
Managing Director:
Valetta Brown
admin@connect-world.com;
Printers: Grupo Bigsa
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronical, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without prior permission from the publishers. The content
of this Publication is based on best knowledge and information available at the time
of publication. No responsibility for any injury, death, loss, damage or delay, however
caused, resulting from the use of the material can be accepted by the publishers or others
associated with its preparation. The publishers neither accept responsibility for, nor
necessarily agree with, the views expressed by contributors.
Connect-World EMEA Issue 2005 is published under Licence by WORLD INFOCOMMS LTD
Executive Office: Global House 12 Albert Road London E16 2DW United Kingdom
Tel.: +44 20 7540 0876 Fax: +44 20 7474 0090
email: info@connect-world.com URL: www.connect-world.com
ISSN 1748-6998
1

T
his issue of Connect-World EMEA (Europe, the Middle
East and Africa) explores how technology ties and
binds the growing relations between the developing
and the developed regions of the world. The theme of
this issue is EMEA and ICT – Positioning for Change.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is
shaping the way the world is developing. This is nothing
new, of course. Historically, every major new technology
has shaped, re-shaped and divided the world
between those that control and use the technology
and those that do not.
The digital divide could have been just one more
example of this, but the rapid drop in the technology’s
cost, the rapid return on investment, as well as
the concerted efforts of governments, institutions and
international organisations, turn ICT into the cure for
its own ills.
The EMEA region encompasses a broad range, not just
of geographies, but also of societies and needs. The
new technologies bring opportunity to all, but the sort
of change they will bring to the Middle East and Africa
is several orders of magnitude more earth shaking
than the change they will bring to Europe. Whereas in
most of Europe ICT will bring important, but incremental
change, in much of Africa and the Middle East
the changes will be nothing less than revolutionary.
Regions long cut-off from the benefits of the latest
technologies, from any substantial commerce with the
more developed parts of the world, and with little
cultural interchange, will now, for better and worse,
come face-to-face with all the changes these developments
bring.
Governments, international agencies, regional industries,
service providers, businesses large and small,
and local communities all now need to position themselves
to absorb the benefits and minimise the social
and business risks.
This issue of Connect-World focuses upon what this
technology invasion means to people, communities,
businesses, service providers and equipment suppliers
in Europe the Middle East and Africa.
It points to the need of governments
and companies to plan for the
change.
Similarly, in Connect-World’s Africa
and the Middle East, Asia-Pacific,
Europe, India, North America and
Latin America issues, each region’s leaders look at the
issues that drive the development of their home
regions or countries.
Current discussions centre upon the changes wrought
in industry and society by the latest generation of
information and communications technology – especially
Internet protocol digital communications, and
how both business and society are changing, need to
change, as a result.
Connect-World’s next Global edition will focus upon
the United Nation’s World Summit on the Information
Society – the WSIS. This event, organised by the ITU,
will take place on 16 th -18 th November in Tunis. There,
heads of state, ministers, regulators, government delegations,
leaders of industry and international organisations
from throughout the world will gather to
finalise the plans – developed during years of preparatory
meetings – to realise a worldwide, universal,
information society and provide a blueprint for the
building of a global information economy.
Connect-World is inviting world leaders of industry
and government, including heads of state and ministers,
to share, in our Global edition, their ideas about
how the great goals of the world summit can be
realised, how the world can go about building a truly
global information economy.
The special Connect-World Global Edition, in honour
of the WSIS, in addition to our normal global mailing,
will be distributed to all those attending the WSIS, as
well as to a substantial, select, list of world leaders.
Fredric J. Morris,
Editor-in-Chief
Connect-World
C
onnections
Editor-in-Chief:
Fredric J. Morris
fredric.morris@connect-world.com;
Publisher:
David Nunes
david.nunes@connect-world.com;
Managing Director:
Valetta Brown
admin@connect-world.com;
Printers: Grupo Bigsa
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronical, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without prior permission from the publishers. The content
of this Publication is based on best knowledge and information available at the time
of publication. No responsibility for any injury, death, loss, damage or delay, however
caused, resulting from the use of the material can be accepted by the publishers or others
associated with its preparation. The publishers neither accept responsibility for, nor
necessarily agree with, the views expressed by contributors.
Connect-World EMEA Issue 2005 is published under Licence by WORLD INFOCOMMS LTD
Executive Office: Global House 12 Albert Road London E16 2DW United Kingdom
Tel.: +44 20 7540 0876 Fax: +44 20 7474 0090
email: info@connect-world.com URL: www.connect-world.com
ISSN 1748-6998
1

Contents
1-Connections
5-Contents
Nationaldevelopment
6
Regulating for growth in Germany
by Matthias Kurth, President, the Regulatory Authority for
Telecommunications and Posts, Germany
Regionalcommunications
11
Bringing the future to Africa
by Peter Gbedemah, co-Founder and CEO, Gateway
Communications
IP networks
15
IP – the new universal language for
communication networks
by Thomas Mock, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning
Ciena Corporation
IP communicationsassurance
19
Getting ready for IP communications
Assurance
by William Burns, President, Service Assurance-Broadband,
Spirent Communications
Broadband
22
25
The broadband revolution: power to the
people
by Rik Missault, Vice President Marketing and
Communications, Fixed Solutions Division, Alcatel
High-performance broadband – thinking
beyond the pipe
by Peter Linder, Technical Director Wireline Networks,
Business Unit Systems, Ericsson
Mobilevalue-addedservices
47
Voice-based value-added services:
delivering on their promises
by Marshall Kavesh, co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, European
Computer Telecoms Group (ECT)
Mobiletelephony
50
54
Mobile in Botswana – the development edge
by José António Ferreira, CEO, Mascom Wireless, Botswana
What mobile telephony brings to Uganda
by Noel Meier, CEO MTN Uganda
Businesscommunications
57
Positioning business for global commerce
by Brian Day, Vice President, Carrier Voice and Multimedia,
Nortel, Europe, Middle East and Africa
CulturaldevelopmentandtheInternet
60
Oman’s culture, the Internet and a
changing world
by Mohammed Al-Wahaibi, Executive President, Oman
Telecommunications Company
Serviceassurance
63
Service assurance – defining the way
by Asif Naseem, Board Member, Service Availability Forum,
Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, GoAhead
Software
Tripleplay
32
36
IPTV: rethinking broadcasting
by Ed Graczyk, Director of Marketing and Communications,
Microsoft TV Division
Last chance for telco profitability: triple
play networks
by Kevin DeNuccio, President and CEO, Redback
Useranddevelopercommunities
39
IT has entered the participation age
by Darrell Jordan-Smith, Vice President, Global
Telecommunications, Sun Microsystems
Mobileconvergence
43
Emerging opportunities in a destructive
environment
by Raghu Rau, Corporate Vice President, Global Marketing and
Strategy, Networks, Motorola
Advertisements
NextNet Wireless
Motorola
Microsoft
Telefónica
Redback Networks
MTC
Bechtel Telecom
UT Starcom
Nexus Telecom
Turkcell
I. E. Consortium
Carriers World 05
i3
GSM World
RFID World
Detecon
Broadband Russia 05
Number Portability 05
Iran Telecom 05
Telecom&Broadband 05
Telecoms World 05
e-Secure Malaysia
Acterna
Ericsson
IFC
2-3
4
7
10
13
14
17
21
24
27
29
34
37
40
42
45
48
51
56
59
62
IBC
OBC
PromotionalFeatures
Newport Networks
MTC
18
30-31
All articles are available online at: www.connect-world.com 5

National Development
Regulating for growth in Germany
by Matthias Kurth, President, the Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Posts,
Germany
Marketplayersbringservicesandnewapplicationsforcustomers.IPtechnologyandthe
introductionofnextgenerationnetworksofferthemhugepotentialinthisregard,but
onlyforuserswithbroadbandconnections.ThespreadofIP-basedbroadbandnetworks
requirestheoversightandsupportofregulatoryauthoritiestomakenewservicessecure
andavailabletoaswideacustomerbaseaspossiblethroughcompetition.Guaranteeing
competitiveaccesstothecostlylastmileinfrastructureiscriticaltothegrowthofhealthy
competition.
MatthiasKurthisthePresidentofGermany’sRegulatoryAuthorityforTelecommunicationsandPosts,
having previously been its Vice President. During his career, he has been Director of Business
Development,LawandRegulationforCOLTTelekomGmbH,ChairmanoftheConferenceofHeadsof
AdministrationoftheMinistersofEconomics,atfederalandstatelevelandMemberoftheSupervisory
BoardoftheDeutscheAusgleichsbank.MrKurthhasalsobeenRepresentativeoftheStateofHessein
the Committee of the Regions of the European Union, Representative of the State of Hesse in the
Regulatory Council for Posts and Telecommunications, State Secretary in the Hesse Ministry of
Economics,TransportandUrbanandRegionalDevelopment,HeadofAdministrationandPermanent
DeputyoftheMinister,ParliamentarySecretaryandDeputyChairmanoftheSPDGroupintheLand
Parliament, member of the Presidium of the Hesse Land Parliament and judge at the Darmstadt
RegionalCourt.
MathiasKurthstudiedLawandEconomicsatFrankfurtamMainUniversity,andwasapostgraduate
legaltraineeintheAdministrationofJusticeoftheStateofHesse.
InternetProtocolandnext
generationnetworks
TheInternetasaninformationmediumhasalreadyrevolutionisedsociety
around the world and opened up
entirely new markets and business
models. This trend is by no means
over. The Internet Protocol and next
generation networks will transform
the telecommunications and media
landscape.Someseethisprocessasa
revolution, while others consider it
more evolutionary. Yet more crucial,
is that it will happen and is unstoppable,nationallyandinternationally.
Thisdynamicwillre-energizecompetition.
It is important now that the
competitive structures that emerged
fromthetraditionalline-switchednetworksarenotstymiedor,worse,eliminated
because of IP technology. All
competitors, without exception, must
take up the challenge of structural
change. Yet it is also important to
makesurethatcompanieswithsignificant
market power do not deploy
technologies that limit other companies'accessorcompetitiveopportuni-
ties. Network and services interoperability
is the crucial issue facing the
markets.
Itisatthispointthatregulationkicks
in. The job of the regulatory authoritiesistoshapetheregulatoryenvironmentinsuchawaythatcompetitionis
notdistortedandinvestmentissecured
evenattimesoftechnologicalchange.
Regulation must therefore focus on
the real bottlenecks. Access to networksandnetworkelements,thelast
mile, is most critical in the end customer
area. The last mile cannot be
replicated without great cost. Access
toitisthereforerestrictedtoexclude
competitors from essential facilities
or, at least, to delay their provision.
Non-discriminatory provision of
scarceresourcessuchasnumbersand
radiospectrummustalsobesecured.
Thejobofthemarketplayersistofurther
develop services and devise new
applications for the customers. The
conversion to IP technology and the
introduction of next generation networks
offer huge potential in this
regard. Network intelligence, today
still located in the network itself, is
shiftingmoreandmoretotheterminal
equipment, in other words closer
to the user. Ultimately, users will be
able to decide for themselves what
servicestouse,andwillpossiblyconfigure
their own or use the services
offeredfromoneormoreproviderson
oneormoreplatforms.
Theoretically, then, the network is
simplifying as the service offer
expands,creatingsynergiesintheprovisionofnetworkcapacitywhileopening
up diverse service offers for the
users. The benefits for users and
henceforfurthergrowthareclear.
Nevertheless, there are risks. New
services and technologies create new
potentialforfraudandnegativeinfluences.Already,thedamagecausedby
spam, phishing, unlawful diallers,
Trojan horses, worms and viruses in
Europe alone is estimated to reach
severalbillioneurosannuallyandthe
trendisupwards.
Such activities have already deterred
many from using services such as
home banking, online shopping and
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National development
"Users will be able to
decide for themselves
what services to use,
and will possibly
configure their own or
use the services
offered from one or
more providers on one
or more platforms."
premium rate services. Online sales
could be significantly higher if the
Internet were more secure. The cost
advantages of home banking or electronic
services could benefit companiesandcustomersalike.
Wecannotexpecttopreventeachand
every form of fraud and misuse,
despite specific measures, but it is
essentialnottobecomplacent,andto
strengthen users' confidence in technologyandservicesbytakingaction.
Constantvigilance
TheGermanregulatoryauthorityhas
been largely successful combating
dialler misuse by, for example, compiling
a register of diallers that must
meetpreciselydefinedconsumerprotection
requirements. Yet experience
showstheneedforconstantvigilance,
due to constant efforts to circumvent
therequirements.
The universal nature of the Internet
allowsactivitiestobemovedtoother
countries, consequently preventing
national regulatory authorities from
intervening.
In many cases, objectives require
international action flanked by
national measures. These measures
should not be the responsibility of
stateinstitutionsalone.Networkoperators
and service providers should
playapart.
Concerted action is the only way to
stemabuseandspurgrowth.TheITU
hasafundamentalroleinternationally,
co-ordinating as it does internationalInternetgovernance.
friendlyspeed.Currently,then,broad-
band and its promotion is one of the
most important issues in Germany
andEuropeasawhole.
The European Regulators Group
(ERG),agroupofnationalregulatory
authorities created by the European
Commission, is currently addressing
issues of broadband penetration. An
ERG working group headed by the
German regulatory authority has
begunanempiricalstudyofdevelopments
in the broadband access market.
Assisted by national regulatory
authorities,ithascollectedimportant
data that allow initial conclusions to
be drawn about the extent to which
regulatory strategies and the availability
of regulated access stimulate
competition.
Thestudybeginsbylookingatthecurrentstructuresintheindividualmemberstates.Whereasinothercountries
cable provides a large number of
broadband connections, the number
of cable connections in Germany,
compared to telephone network DSL
connections, is very low. Of the 6.9
million broadband connections in
Germany at the end of 2004, only
145,000 were by cable. The data
shows that in many countries only
intermodal competition triggered by
cablehasthrowndownthegauntletto
thetelephonecompanies.
The study shows that a diversified
rangeofaccessproductsboostscom-
petitioninthebroadbandmarketcon-
siderably. The ERG is currently discussingamodelbasedona'ladderof
investment'. The ladder stands for a
rangeofaccessproducts,thedifferent
stages of an investment scenario for
competitors.
Thefirstrungoftheladderrepresents
pure resale, while the next rung, bit
stream access, leads to the fully
unbundledlocalloop.Thetoprungis
self-operatedinfrastructure.
The broadband market is well
advanced wherever many wholesale
productsareavailableonmanyrungs
of the ladder. This facilitates market
entry, since entry is possible at any
point.
Access products, however, must be
consistentlypricedsothatacompetitor
entering lower down the ladder
canmoreeasilyclimbtothenextrung.
Provision should be made for migration
paths facilitating the move from
one rung to another. For example,
competitors acquiring customers by
way of resale should have access to
consistently priced products such as
bitstreamaccess.
The ladder describes the various
stages of the value chain which competitors
can reach, step-by-step, successivelyreplacingwholesaleproducts
they initially bought with their own
infrastructure. When they have
reachedthetoprungandpossessinfra-
Promotingbroadband
TheservicesenabledbyIPtechnology
and next generation networks will
onlybeavailabletouserswithbroadband
connections, allowing them to
usethewholespectrumofservicesin
user-friendly quality and at user-
Figure 1: The broadband market is well advanced wherever many wholesale products are available
on many rungs of the ladder.
8

National development
"The universal nature
of the Internet allows
activities to be moved
to other countries,
consequently
preventing national
regulatory authorities
from intervening."
structure, the regulation of wholesale
productscanstarttoberolledback.
At present, a host of detailed questions
are being discussed. How can,
forinstance,newaccessproductssuch
as ‘standalone bit stream access’ that
are being demanded be integrated
meaningfully in the ladder of investmentHowcanconsistentpriceregulationbesecuredforthewholeofthe
ladder What are the implications of
theuseofIPtechnologyandnextgeneration
networks for the existing
PSTN(publicswitchedtelephonenetwork),
particularly with regard to
costsandhencepriceregulationgenerally
Will there be a new interconnection
regime with different cost
allocation
Finally, we do not know whether the
current European regulatory frameworkwillbeabletoclarifytheseissues
or whether, here too, modifications
willprovenecessary.
Competition
The European telecoms regulators
debatedthesequestionsatlengthata
broadbandseminarinBledattheend
of May. The national regulators will
have to make their own assessments
through studies of the broadband
market,butthereisacommonunderstandingthatbroadbandpromotionis
aconcernofallmemberstates.
Looking at the ladder of investment
situation in Germany, competition in
thecentresofpopulationisalreadyon
theupperrungs.Measuredbythefigures
for full unbundling, Germany is
leading the way. There are more
unbundledlocallooprentalsherethan
inalltheotherEUMemberStates.
"To catch up with the
leaders in Europe’s
broadband markets, we
will have to intensify
competition."
In the cities, competitors have much
of their own infrastructure and thus,
apartfromthelastmile,largelyhave
no need for Deutsche Telekom AG's
wholesale products. Outside these
conurbations,thecompetitors,mainly
resellers, are wholly reliant on
DeutscheTelekom'sinfrastructure.
Competitionthereisonamuchlower
rung of the ladder and is much less
prevalentthaninFrance,forinstance,
as can be seen in the price of DSL
access. Where competitors provide
DSL access using unbundled local
loopspricesarelowest,thatistosay,
withalotoftheirowninfrastructure.
To catch up with the leaders in
Europe’s broadband markets, we will
have to intensify competition.
Regarding unbundled local loops, we
have created a pro-competitive environment
with our latest reduction in
themonthlyrental.
Whereintermodalcompetitionisconcerned,weexpect,byawardingspectrum
for Fixed Wireless Access,
WiMAX,etc.,toacceleratebroadband
penetration outside conurbations
throughwirelessaccess.
Finally,themissingmiddlerungofthe
ladder,bitstreamaccess,notyetavailable
in Germany, may be a sensible
addition to the range of wholesale
products, particularly outside the
conurbations. The French experience
demonstrates that infrastructurebasedcompetitioninnowaysuffersas
a result, while market penetration
benefitsconsiderably.
ThespreadofIP-basednetworksand
servicesisaprocessthatmustbeoverseen
and supported by regulatory
authorities.
Crucialforusertake-upiswhetherwe
manage to make the new services
secure,resistanttofraudandmisuse,
and available to as wide a customer
base as possible through the promotionofbroadband.
This is the only way to maximise the
markets' growth potential and boost
theglobaleconomy.Doingsoisahuge
challenge for the regulatory authorities,bothatnationalandinternationallevel,achallengethatcanbeovercomeonlybyjoiningforcesandacting
together.
www.connect-world.com
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development.
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9

Regional communications
Bringing the future to Africa
by Peter Gbedemah, co-Founder and CEO, Gateway Communications
Traditionally, high charges, long implementation delays and poor service limited the
growth of African communications services. New technologies, such as wireless and
VoIP,arechangingthis,withominousimplicationsforAfrica’sexpensive,oftenunreliable,fixedlineoperators.Africa’ssocialandeconomicdevelopmenthasspurreddemand
forreliable,costeffectivetelecommunications.Pre-paidGSMphonepackages,costingas
littleasUS$5,makewirelesstelecommunicationsavailabletolow-incomeAfricanswho
nowspendasmuchastwo-thirdsoftheirhouseholdearningsoncommunications.
PeterGbedemahisaco-FounderofGatewayCommunicationsanditsCEO.Heisresponsiblefordriving
the company’s growth by developing a highly efficient pan-African network and delivering high
qualitycommunicationsservicestoGSMserviceproviders,PTTsandenterprisesthroughoutthecontinent.MrGbedemahhasmorethan20yearsofexperiencewithinthecommunicationsandtechnology
marketsandawide-rangingbackgroundinmanagement,systemsengineeringandbusinessdevelopment.HehasworkedextensivelyinAfricaandhasabroadknowledgeoftheregulatory,economicand
businessenvironmentwithinthecontinent.MrGbedemahhasheldanumberofseniorexecutivepositionswithCitigroup,BritishTelecommunications,BTNorthAmericaandNetSourceCommunications
Inc.
Peter Gbedemah holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Software Engineering from the University of
Birmingham.
BecauseoftheG8summit,theeyesof
theworldarelookingtoAfrica,seekingnewwaysofkeepingdollarsgeneratedinAfricawithinAfrica.Onearea
in which this is already happening is
theresultofprofoundchangestothe
waypeopleinAfricacommunicateby
telephone,andthisaffectseverything
from the economic structure of the
continent to the services provided by
carriersandoperators.
Traditional African telecommunicationsarechangingasnextgeneration
networksbridgethecontinent,leaving
hardlyacalleruntouched.Callswithin
Africa that once looped through
EuropenowstayinAfricaandtherevenues
go to the African carriers that
deliver the calls locally instead of to
carriers in London or Paris. This has
had a real impact on the quality and
affordabilityofcallingwithinAfrica.
Connecting people with mobile and
satellite is a basic prerequisite for
Africa’sdigitalfuture,anddirectinterconnectivity,
mobile-to-mobile,
between networks is what ties it all
together. Few individual companies
haveenoughexpertsonthegroundto
observeallthechangesthataretaking
place in Africa. It is the mobile-tomobilecarriers,thosethatcarrymost
ofthecontinent’sinternationaltraffic
by interconnecting the more than 40
mobilenetworksin30countries,that
have been best able to recognise and
reacttonewtrendsinadvance.
NewageinAfrica
Withtheintroductionofnextgeneration
network (NGN) and voice over
Internet protocol (VoIP) technology,
theageofswitchingmobiletelephone
calls in the skies over Africa has
arrived.
Multi-milliondollarinvestmentswere
neededtobuildtheinfrastructurethat
controls the more than 350 satellite
links to approximately 80 earth stationsanddrivesthedigitalrevolution
forward by creating the largest
mobile-to-mobile network in Africa.
The experience gained from this vast
interconnection of African mobile
operatorsenablesthecarrierstopredicttheneedsanddemandsofAfrica’s
futuremobilephoneusers.
Africaisleadingthemobilerevolution
inmanyplaces,butqualityisthemost
important aspect the whole telecom
evolutionthatweareseeing.Asvoice
quality increases, so too does the
lengthofthecallsandthenumberof
value-added services, such as multimedia
messaging, the caller uses.
When the line does not work well,
when the call quality is poor, consumers
will not even consider using
additionalservices.
The network is the backbone of the
next generation services offered by
Africanoperators.Theplanningofthe
lastdecadehasprettymuchbeenconsigned
to the dustbin as carriers and
operatorsalikerevisebusinessmodels
to accommodate the fast pace of
changeandnewtechnologies.
At the centre of the planning is the
networkinfrastructureandequipment
11

Regional communications
to carry the new services. Industry
leadersknowthatwhenthenetworkis
not up to speed, revenue is lost. As
technologies forge ahead, there is a
veryrealdangerthat,withoutresilient
networks with huge capacity at their
disposal,theabilitytooffernewservicesremainsattheplanningstage.
Given the advanced technologies
available,thefutureishereandnow.
Phone users in Africa now demand
morefromtheiroperators.Theywant
tobeabletoaccessthesameservices
andthesamequality,asinEuropeor
NorthAmerica.
VoIPindustry
The booming VoIP industry sees the
needforquality.Africahasembraced
VoIP as a cost-effective and reliable
meanstocommunicatenotjustinternationally,oronapan-Africanbasis,
butlocallywithineachcountryaswell.
Traditionally, pan-African landline
services have been the preserve of a
relatively affluent, chosen minority
because of high usage charges, long
service implementation delays and
poorservice.Consumers,andspecialistsalike,nowseeVoIPasthewayto
bring communications services to
mostofAfrica.
For fixed line operators in Africa,
whoseexpensiveandunreliableservicesstruggletocompeteagainstVoIP
networks,theimplicationsoftheshift
to VoIP are ominous. VoIP has
broughttelecommunicationstothousands
of people who have never had
accesstotelecommunications.
Africaisalivewithfastmovingpeople
and businesses. It is undergoing significant
economic development and
social change brought about by
greater freedom of movement. As a
result, there is growing demand for
wireless telephone services, for reliable
and cost effective telecommunications.
Landline penetration is currently
under1.5percentandincumbenttelecommonopoliesacrossthecontinent
havebeenslowtoreacttochangesin
theAfricanbusinessclimate.
VoIPserviceproviderscanreactmore
rapidly to market conditions because
of their efficient telecommunications
infrastructure. These service
providers are playing a key role in
buildingAfrica’sabilitytotakepartin
the global information society, the
digitalage.
Fixedline
Thedevelopmentoffixedlinecommunicationsisstillconstrainedbyanumber
of factors including the speed of
deregulationwithintheAfricancontinent.
Althoughgovernmentsareliberalising
thetelecomsector,marketdemandfor
more efficient, cost effective VoIP
services often overtakes government
plans.
The use of mobile phones in Africa
reflectsthis:mobileusagedramatically
exceeds that of fixed line devices.
Theperceivedvalueofmobilephones,
evenbythelow-incomepopulation,is
suchthatAfricansspendasignificantly
higher portion of their household
earnings on communications than in
thedevelopedworld.Studiesindicate
that low-income Africans spend as
much as two-thirds of household
incomeoncommunications.
"The use of mobile
phones in Africa
reflects this: mobile
usage dramatically
exceeds that of fixed
line devices."
Recentstatisticsshowtherearesome
36 million African mobile phone
users,afigurethatisgrowingatarate
of135percentayear.VoIPandGSM
havegainedmarketshareasfixedline
operators have lost control of their
relationshipswiththeirusers.
VoIP is successful because it has the
right blend of technology, relationshipsandexpertisetodeliver.Webest
see this in developing regions where
telecommunications services have
never been able to penetrate before.
As the growth of GSM wireless networks
and other new technologies
continueinthesedevelopingregions,
peoplearebeginningtoact,toparticipate,
globally, while working and
thinkinginanAfricancontext.
Internationalcarriersarenowactively
seekingtouselocalskillsandempower
communities rather than taking a
superficial approach to the needs of
themarket.
The success and meteoric rise in the
year-on-yeargrowthinAfricanmobile
communications is largely due to the
localapproachtotheirbusiness,with
an intrinsically African strategy, that
operatorshavetaken.
Costofcalls
The falling cost of calls, driven by
VoIP,isfundamentalforAfricanbusinessusers.Untilnow,thehighcostof
calling throughout Africa (fixed-line
operatorsdonotmaintaindirectbilateral
relationships) has kept trade
withineachcountry’sboundaries.
Deregulation and private partnership
agreements have sparked a massive
fall in the cost of African country-tocountrycallsandspurredinvestment
in technology including VoIP.
Consequently, micro-enterprises and
large corporations can both trade
effectively without substantial investmentincommunicationsequipment.
In the last year, there has been an
upsurge in wireless usage both for
businessandforresidentialuserswho
justwanttotalkwithfriendsandrelatives.Today,lowcostphonepackages
makeitpossibleforentirelow-income
households,perhapswithneighbours,
to pool their resources and share a
phone. With pre-paid GSM phone
packages costing as little as US$5,
telecommunicationsarenowavailable
inlow-incomeregionsofAfricawhere
previouslyphoneswerealuxury.
WAP enabled handsets in the early
‘90s provided the first value-added
servicebreakthrough.Today,interactive
games, music messaging and
video streaming are coming online.
Downloadableorstreamedupdatesof
cricket,rugby,soccer,motorracingor
golfareavailableaspremiumservices,
allowingphoneuserstocatchthelatestscores,gamehighlights,teamprofilesandreplaysofkeymoments.
Streamingservicessendmusicvideos,
movie clips or broadcasting of live
concerts, while audio options gives
phone users access to songs or live
radiothroughtheirphones.
Mobilesarericherandmoreinvolved
theneverbefore,soplatformshaveto
bemoreflexibleandpowerfultosupportnewservicesastheycomeonline.
Africaisliketherestoftheworld:peopletherelovetotalk.Phonesareemotionally
charged, very personal possessions.
They make a statement
aboutwhotheowneris.Theyletpeoplemakestatementsaboutthemselves
by personalising their ring tones and
thedisplaystheyputontheirscreens.
12

IP networks
IP – the new universal language for communication networks
by Thomas Mock, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning Ciena Corporation
As traditional voice services shift to VoIP and broadcast television toward IPTV, the
migrationtoIPischangingthefaceofallcommunications.By2009,nearlyeveryphone
callmadeintheUKwillbeoverIP.AnIP-basedinfrastructure,inadditiontolowercost
calling,providesmanyotheradvantagesthanworldwidetelephonenumberportability.
Thereare11millionpeoplegloballyusingVoIP–twicethoseninemonthsago–andan
increasingnumberofoperatorsandserviceproviderssupporttheseservices.
ThomasMockiscurrentlySeniorVicePresident,StrategicPlanningforCienaCorporation.Inthisrole,
he is responsible for defining Ciena’s LightWorks Architecture and supporting product definition,
requirements,strategyandmarketingofCiena’sportfolioofnetworkingsolutions.Beforeassumingthis
position,MrMockservedastheCompany’sVicePresidentofPortfolioManagementandpreviouslyas
Senior Director of Product Management. He was also Product Marketing Director for Ciena's Short
HaulandAccessproductlines.MrMockjoinedCienaastheInternationalProductMarketingManager.
BeforeCiena,hemanagedtheproductdevelopmentorganisationforaT1multiplexercompany.
ThomasMockreceivedhisBSEEfromtheGeorgiaInstituteofTechnology.
Theturbulenceinthetelecommunicationsindustryinrecentyearshasbeen
dramatic. Despite the challenging
market environment, technologies
havecontinuedtodevelopatanastonishingpace,andthepersistentgrowth
of broadband services has driven a
shiftinnetworkinfrastructure.
As businesses progress to keep up
with the market and new services,
companies like BT with its 21st
Century Network are positioning
InternetProtocol(IP)tobecometheuniversallanguagefortelecommunications.
IP enables the convergence of voice,
data and video services onto a single
network.Astraditionalvoiceservices
shift to Voice over IP and broadcast
televisiontowardIPTV,themigration
toIPischangingtheinterfaceofcommunications
for all users, from businessestogovernmenttoconsumers.
The rise in deployments of IP networkshasledtosomepredictionsthat
by2009nearlyeveryphonecallmade
intheUKwillbeoverIP.
Growthincommunicationstechnology,
attributed to the Internet and
advanced services like broadband, is
leadingthemarkettohungerforfaster
connectionspeeds,greaterbandwidth
andadditionalservicessuchasVoiceover-IP
(VoIP), IPTV (Internet
Protocol Television) and Video on
Demand (VOD). As the adoption of
thesenewservicesandotherapplications
rises, so does bandwidth consumption.
The older ‘legacy’ systems, designed
when voice traffic and revenue predominated,notbasedonIPtechnology,arestrugglingtokeepupwiththe
services users demand. In response,
service providers are employing IP,
originally created as a method for
best-effort communication between
computers, support more efficiently
andreliablytothemountingnumber
of diverse telephony, television and
mission-criticalbusinessapplications.
MigratingtoIPdoesnotmeanacompletechangeinacarrier’sserviceportfolio.
They will still need to offer the
sameoldtelephonyservicestheyhave
alwaysprovided.Unlikethetelevision
broadcasting standard, which will
switchover to digital broadcasting by
government decree by December
2012, carriers and service providers
cannot force their customers to
change their voice services.
Businesses and residential customers
alike purchase voice service based
upon cost, performance and/or customerservice.
In essence, the migration to IP lets
endusersreceivetheircurrentservices,
but gives them the option to use
new advanced offerings from their
suppliers,nomatterhowtheyareconnectedtothenetwork.
Maintaining traditional services as
theyturnoffpartsoftheirnetworkto
build new infrastructure is a huge
undertaking for the carriers. By
migrating to IP, operators can
upgrade their networks to handle
advancedserviceswhilstmaintaining,
withnodifferencefortheenduse,traditionalvoiceservices.
15

IP networks
IP provides a foundation for a commoninfrastructureforallcommunications,
thereby improving efficiency
andaccess.Drivenbymarketdemand
for new services and applications, IP
now provides a low-cost, friendly
means for carrying multiple traffic
types for a variety of services. It is a
technology,which,foronce,thecommunications
sector and the end user
are wholly embracing, and one that
will essentially revolutionise the way
wecommunicate.
ThemovetoEthernet
As part of the move to IP infrastructure,serviceprovidersarealsocapitalizing
on Ethernet, a cost-efficient
technology originally developed to
connect data networking equipment
withinalocalareanetwork(LAN).
Network operators have discovered
thatacombinationofIPandEthernet
technologies provides easier connectivityandcostefficiencies.Ethernet’s
beautyisnotjustitsprice,butalsoits
abilitytodeliverspeedsupto10Gbps.
Service providers are using Ethernet
to provide high-speed connectivity to
theircustomersand,regardlessofthe
existing underlying architecture, in
virtually every portion of their networks.
Insuchadiverseindustry,withmultiplestandardsfornearlyeverytechnology
available, Ethernet provides stability.
It is a technology universally
understoodbybothITstaffandtelecomserviceprovidersalike.Thisfacilitates
network migration and helps
standardise solutions and open lines
ofcommunicationfromtheoutset.
Critical to the service provider and
both residential and business endusers,
IP with Ethernet can provide
reliability, speed and availability as
good as, or better than, legacy networks.
As a result, service providers
enjoymeaningfulcostsavingsandsignificantincreasesinnetworkflexibility.Thisgivestheendusergreatervarieties
of services and packaging at
lowerprices.
ThebenefitsofIP
TheIPrevolutionoffersmanybenefits
toconsumersandenterprises.IPlets
businesses broaden their range of
servicesandreducecosts.Bysubstantially
reducing the phone bill, purchasersbecomemoreinclinedtotake
advantage of the available budget to
add new services. Service providers,
for their part, tend to offer a greater
varietyofbundledservices.
The security that IP can provide to
enterprises is also important. Using
IP-based virtual private networks
(VPN), an enterprise can secure its
intranetandextranetwhilstbringinga
newWeb-centricethostothecompany.
This is crucial for e-commerce,
whichisstillgreatlyunder-utilisedby
manyorganisations.
"Ethernet’s beauty is not
just its price, but also
its ability to deliver
speeds up to 10 Gbps."
AnIP-basedinfrastructuregivesbusiness
users practical benefits such as
VoiceoverIP(VoIP).UsingVoIP,the
telephonenumberoftheorganisation
becomesportable,soabusinessbased
in the United Kingdom can have a
United States telephone number to
save on long-distance expenses.
Likewise, when an enterprise moves,
itcankeepitsoriginalnumberregardlessofitsnewlocation.
These benefits extend to residential
users as well, thus allowing them to
take their telephone numbers with
themwherevertheygo.Therearecurrently
11 million people worldwide
usingVoIP–afigurethathasdoubled
in the past nine months, and an
increasing number of operators and
serviceprovidersaresupportingthese
services.
"IP provides a
foundation for a
common infrastructure
for all communications,
thereby improving
efficiency and access."
Whatcomesnext
At present, the UK communications
industryisbuzzingwithBT’srecently
announced21stCenturyNetwork.BT,
though, is not the first, and certainly
willnotbethelast,tobuildanIP-centricnetwork.Indeed,manynewtechnologies
implemented by large carriers
have often been first tested and
experimentedwithbysmallercarriers
or by research and education networks.
The safety net under the IP
push is that alternative carriers and
cable companies worldwide have
alreadyprovenitsvalueandfunctionality,
paving the way for incumbent
serviceproviderstoheadinthesame
direction.
So,whatwilltheindustryandtheend
user see, or not, during the next few
years As with all new technologies,
therewillcertainlybegrowingpains,
many of which could be unforeseen.
TheevolutiontoIPbeganinthecore
network, and as it works its way out
toward the network’s edge, the enduser
will be the last to witness the
change. The operators will bear the
burdenofimplementingthetransition
of the physical infrastructure and
enablingthedeliveryofnewservices,
andifallgoesasplanned,theshiftwill
bevirtuallyinvisibletotheenduser.
Ofcourse,theshifttoIPandEthernet
willtakesometime.Mostcarriersare
beginning to implement IP now, but
slowlyandatarelativelysmallscale.
Althoughitwillbesomeyearsbefore
IP is fully in place worldwide, it is
already recognised as the universal
language for communications infrastructureandservices.
Lookingahead
So, where are we now and where are
wegoingwiththeIPrevolutionItis
evident that by implementing IP and
Ethernet, we will see a marked
improvement in cost-efficiencies and
bandwidth availability, whilst service
providersshouldalsofinditeasierto
turnaprofit.
Ultimately, the shift to IP will create
more competition. Cable companies
willstrivetoofferthesameservicesas
telecomsorganisationsandviceversa.
New niche service providers will
emergeandfightformarketshare.All
ofthiscouldleadtoevenmoreregulatorydebatesovercompetition,butin
theend,itwillbenefittheenduser.
Asthemarketadaptstothenewcommunication
scenario, innovation and
competitionwillthrive.IPwillbethe
universal language and Ethernet will
becometheuniversalmicrophonefor
both the residential and enterprise
users. Although there are great challenges
ahead for incumbent service
providers and equipment vendors
alike, the industry and the users will
benefitfromIP.
16

NewportNetworks-NewportNetworks-NewportNetworks-NewportNetworks
SESSION CONTROL IN NEXT
GENERATION NETWORKS
Next Generation Networks are evolving to support
multiple services over multiple access technologies.
This means delivering a uniform service
regardless of the type of access used.
Always reachable, anywhere, any device.
Newport Network 1460 delivers the essential proxy
and gateway functions required in wireline and wireless,
IMS-based, Next Generation Networks. The
1460 can be deployed either as a stand-alone session
border controller or as physically separate signalling
and media functions, providing Proxy-Call Session
Control Function (P-CSCF) and Border Gateway
Function (BGF) components respectively.
This intrinsic flexibility allows carriers to plan the
growth of their infrastructure practically and economically,
so that new services can be introduced on
minimal infrastructure by co-hosting functions such
as P-CSCF and Interconnect-Border Control Function
(I-BCF) on a single node. As service traffic grows, the
functions can be distributed across multiple devices
providing efficient re-use of hardware and software.
The 1460 has been designed to meet tier-1 carrier
requirements for resilience and reliability. A single
1460 chassis exceeds ‘five 9s’ availability and all
sub-systems can be replicated so that there is no single
point of failure. Distribution of functions across
multiple chassis further enhances overall system
availability.
In addition to existing voice services, these new networks
will support conversational video, streaming
video, Instant Messaging and even broadcast TV.
They will also need to meet regulatory requirements
such as Lawful Intercept (LI) and Emergency Call
Handling (ECH). The 1460 provides the necessary
support for LI and ECH from day one.
The 1460 SignallingProxy supports the following
functions:
P-CSCF
The first point of contact, proxying the services of a
remote server and providing ECH and LI capabilities
close to the call origination. If required, it can enable
the secure traversal of CPE-based NAT and firewall
devices, and implement topology hiding to prevent
service theft and security breaches. The policing of
signalling messages can also help protect downstream
devices from IP or SIP signalling attacks.
I-BCF
Where required the 1460 can perform the Border
Control Function, policing signalling, performing
topology hiding and generating call details records at
the interconnection point. It can also interface to
one or more Border Gateways to implement QoS policies,
manage media policing and deliver firewalling
functions.
THIG
The Topology Hiding function can be implemented
with any of the above functions, thus providing flexibility
in designing the IMS core.
The 1460 MediaProxy supports the following functions:
I-BGF/C-BGF
The 1460 MediaProxy protects and secures the media
flows. Acting under the control of an I-BCF or CSCF,
the MediaProxy opens and closes media pinholes,
polices the media flows and implements QoS marking,
ensuring that services requested in the signalling
match the delivered media.
Newport Networks 1460 meets the evolving needs of
carriers through a flexible and resilient carrier class
platform capable of delivering key IMS functionality
today. As your NGN grows, the 1460 is designed to
grow with you, delivering the foundation of future
services.
David Gladwin
Marketing Manager at Newport Networks
For more information, please visit:
http://www.newport-networks.com
PromotionalFeature

IP communications assurance
Getting ready for IP communications assurance
by William Burns, President, Service Assurance-Broadband, Spirent Communications
WiththewidespreadrolloutofIPcommunications,operatorsmustfacetheincreased
complexityofmanagingIP-basedservices.Theseservices,whetherresidentialtripleplay
orbusinesssystems,presentclearoperationalandtechnicalchallenges.Today’stechnician,andtherearefewwhoarequalified,faceschallengesthatdwarfthoseofyesterday.
Fortunately,softwaresolutionsandnetworkappliancesareavailabletoautomatetheIP
troubleshooting process. To provide high-quality competitive services, operators need
systemsthatletlowertiertechniciansquicklyresolveIPplatformproblems.
The IP communications business is
bornofcompetition.Withtraditional
voice subscriptions lost to wireless
andVoIPprovidersandtheDSLver-
suscablebattleraging,traditionaltel-
WilliamBurnsisthePresidentofServiceAssurance-Broadband,SpirentCommunications.Heisresponsiblefortheglobalisation,growthandstrategicdirectionoftheServiceAssurancedivisionofSpirent
Communications.BeforejoiningSpirent,hewastheSeniorVicePresidentofGlobalMarketing,Strategy
andBusinessDevelopmentofTellabs,whereheheldseveralseniorsalesmanagementandsalesengineeringpositions.
Willian Burns holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, with a specialisation in
Engineering, from College Misericordia, Pennsylvania, and an MBA from Temple University,
Pennsylvania.
Ready or not, IP-based communicationsarehere,promisingnewservice
rollouts, revenue opportunities and
operational efficiencies. The dawn of
IP communications was inevitable.
However, what may be a surprise is
the increased complexity associated
with managing IP-based services.
Theseservices,whetherthenewrage
of residential triple play or powerful
new business services, present some
clear and daunting challenges, many
of which will rest squarely on the
shouldersofoperationstechnicians.
Challenges such as reducing costs to
deliver services, managing competitive
service offerings and scaling to
meet growth, all trickle down to an
operation’sabilitytodeliverandmanage
services that meet subscriber
expectations.
It’sacomplexIPworld
Today’s technician faces technical
challengesthatdwarfthoseofyesterday.
New IP services are more complex
and difficult to troubleshoot.
Techniciansmustbeabletolocateand
verifyIPservicetroubles,rapidlydiagnoseproblemsandformulatearesolution.
This is not unlike yesterday’s
technician,butadditionalexpertiseis
required to address multiple services
with variable service level requirements,
multiple OSI (open systems
interconnection) layers and a host of
new routing and switch technologies.
These requirements change the picturesignificantly.
Theskillleveloftheoperationsgroups
of a few years ago simply does not
measureuptotoday’sIPservicemanagementrequirements.Theincreased
complexityandsubsequentimpacton
operations poses significant risks to
theoperationalexpensesavingsservice
providers are counting on.
Operationsmusthavetechniciansthat
can address not only voice problems,
butvideoanddataissuesaswell,and
the skills to troubleshoot these problemsacrossmultipleOSIlayers.
For example, when a customer calls
with a VoIP problem, the technician
must ask several questions. Is the
problemaLayer7applicationissue,a
problemofrouteflappingatLayer3,
an Ethernet Layer 2 issue or a DSL
physical Layer problem If the VoIP
call is destined for a PSTN (analog)
phone, they must determine whether
thesourceofthetroubleisintheIPor
PSTNportionofthenetwork.
How many of your technicians have
fiveyearsexperiencesupportingVoIP
networksandunderstandingthenew
signalling protocols or network elements
required to deliver video over
IPTheservicesthemselvesarenewto
technicians.Ifyouthrowinthetransient
nature of IP troubles, and the
continuousneedforserviceproviders
to expand the subscriber base, you
quickly realise that you cannot hire,
train and deploy enough technicians
tomeetthedemand.
19

IP communications assurance
cosarelosingrevenuestostiffcompetition.Theresidentialbroadbandmarket
continues to be a hotly contested
segment, spawning bundled services
to attract high-value customers. The
competitive advantages of bundled
servicesarethereducedprobabilityof
subscribers’ changing service
providersandtheopportunitytoadd
higher-value, revenue-generating
services.Thismeanshittingtheissues
ofcomplexityhead-on.
Deliveringbest-of-breedservicesfrom
the outset improves the chances of
keeping customers happy, building a
platform to attract new customers,
and of maintaining a stable environment
to offer tomorrow’s revenueexpanding
solutions. However, this
success can only be achieved by
addressing the complex, new operational
requirements associated with
IP.
Operationalchanges
Service providers need to recognise
the critical role that service management
operational support systems
(OSSs) play in supporting operations
teams.
In the past, OSSs were typically procuredanddeployedasanafterthought
to network or service deployment.
Budget was typically assigned to roll
outthenetworkandturnuptheservicesasquicklyaspossibleinorderto
startgeneratingrevenue.Thesystems
thatoperationsneededtomanagethe
network were often addressed after
the services had been deployed and
customercomplaintshadbegunstackingup.
Growingthebusinessahead
ofstaffingrequirements
Competition-consciousserviceproviders
recognise the need to invest in service
management systems as part of the
network and service rollout plan,
ensuring that these systems are in
place before a service is provided to
thecustomer.Inacompetitiveworld,
service providers realise they will get
onlyoneopportunitytogetitright.It
isvitalthatprovidersmaketestingof
servicesacriticalpartoftheactivation
process, and testing and diagnostics
an integral part of the ongoing troubleshootingprocess.
Thetechnicianassignedtodaytomanuallyaddressacustomer’sVoIPquality
complaint is a high-level, welltrainedresourceandanexpensiveone
"In order to achieve
their Opex reduction
objectives, service
providers must attract,
keep and grow their
tier one workforce."
aswell.Yetwithouttheproperservice
management tools, the resolution of
thetroubleisstilllefttochance.The
technician may find the trouble right
away,buttheeffortmostlikelywillbe
a long process that will frustrate the
customer, consume additional
resources and possibly jeopardise
futurerevenue.
The operational goals of the typical
serviceprovideraretoreducethecost
of service delivery, offer additional
services to increase overall revenue,
whilemeetingtheexpectationsofthe
subscriber.
To achieve these goals, service
providersmustreversealegacytrend,
the costly policy of hiring more IP
experts than tier one technicians. In
fact,thegoalwouldbetoempowertier
one call centre technicians with the
expertise to diagnose and resolve the
majorityofproblemsonthefirstcall.
This would result in lower operating
expense, or Opex, and better service
metricssuchasmeantimetorepair.
The bottom line is that in order to
achieve their Opex reduction objectives,
service providers must attract,
keep and grow their tier one workforce.
Theincreasedtechnicalcomplexityof
IP networks, the subsequent operational
impact and aggressive growth
projections, make it clear that with
current methods, operations will fall
shortofIPexpertise.ThatiswhereIP
servicemanagementcanhelp,byproviding
tools that empower tier one
technicians to become IP experts
whilegrowingthebusinessandwithouthinderingoperationalcapabilities.
Whatisitgoingtotake
Service providers need to change the
waytheyapproachoperationssupport
systems.GettingaheadoftheIPgame
"Service providers need
to change the way they
approach operations
support systems."
means deploying test and diagnostic
solutionsthatprovideoperationswith
a competitive advantage – an advantage
that provides the necessary
expertisetoaddressthenewIPcomplexity,thatenablesserviceproviders
to benefit from operational efficiencies
and that comes from delivering
high-qualityIPservicesthatmeetthe
subscriber’s expectations from day
one.
Fortunately,thistimearoundtechnology
is keeping up with the need.
SoftwaresolutionsandnetworkappliancesareavailabletoautomatetheIP
troubleshooting process. In fact,
today’s test and diagnostic solutions
can effectively increase the expertise
ofanyoperationscentre.
These solutions can emulate specific
IPservices,andgivethetechniciana
snapshotintothesubscriber’sviewof
servicequality.
Armed with advanced test and diagnosticdata,technicianscanefficiently
address the greater complexity, from
multipleservicestomultiplelayers.In
the not so distant future, IP services
willbeturnedupcompletelyverified,
andonceoperational,diagnosedbyan
automatedexpertanalysissystems.
Noturningback
There is no turning back for service
providers.Servicedeliveryoveraconverged
IP network is upon us.
Nevertheless, to reap the benefits of
rapidservicedeployment,competitive
service bundles, to realise Opex savingsandmeettheneedsofdemanding
subscribers, service providers must
changetheprioritytheygivetoservice
managementOSSplanning.
Diagnostic tools that enable service
turn-up, verification, rapid trouble
managementandautomationcapabilitiesneedtobepartoftheimplementationstrategy.
Operations need the tools to enable
lower-cost tier one technicians to
troubleshootasquicklyandaswellas
high-pricedtiertwoandtierthreeIP
experts. It is the only way to achieve
therevenuegrowthandOpexsavings
service providers are counting upon
andthatshareholdersdemand.
20

Broadband
The broadband revolution: power to the people
by Rik Missault, Vice President Marketing and Communications, Fixed Solutions Division, Alcatel
Digital technology is transforming broadcast TV, music retailing and online gaming,
transferringpowerfrombroadcasterstoconsumers.Traditionally,cablecompaniesprovidedvideoandphonecompanieshandledvoice.Usingbroadbanddigitaltechnology,
bothnowoffervoice,dataandvideoortripleplay.Tripleplaycancreatenewviewer
experiences by combining content, communication and community. Participation TV
letsviewersactivelyparticipateintelevisionshowsandformTVviewingcommunities,
sotheycantalk,online,aboutshows,astheyhappen,withfriends.
RikMissaultjoinedAlcatelin1992.HehasbeeninvolvedintheworldwidedevelopmentofAlcatel'sDSL
businesssince1996andcurrentlyleadstheMarketingandCommunicationsteamsatAlcatel'sFixed
SolutionsDivision.
RikMissaultearnedhisdegreeinElectronicsEngineeringfromtheUniversityofLeuveninBelgiumand
completedanExecutiveMastersinBusinessAdministrationattheVlerickSchoolforManagementin
Gent,Belgium.
Makingthetripleplay
Forcablecompanies,videocamefirst.
For phone companies, it was voice.
Both have already extended into
broadbandandbotharealsostarting
to offer what used to be their rivals’
exclusive offering. This move to offer
voice,dataandvideohasspawnedthe
useoftheterm‘tripleplay’.
We are on the cusp of a home informationandentertainmentrevolution.
Digital technology is transforming
several existing market segments,
including broadcast TV, music retailingandonlinegaming,tonameafew.
These changes are accompanied by
parallelgrowthinconsumerexpectations
regarding how to engage with
information and entertainment. The
biggest change, resulting from this
shift,isthetransferofpowerfromthe
broadcasters and schedulers to the
consumers. It is now commonly
understoodthatconsumerswantcontrolofthecontentandoftheschedule.
Currently,thethreetripleplaycomponentsarelargelyofferedindependent-
ly. Users, however, are seeking an
integratedexperience.So,newservicesarebeingdeveloped,resultingfrom
the combination, or convergence, of
different technologies and terminals.
Forexample,callerIDonyourTVset,
forastart.
The successful deployment of triple
play services is creating an exciting
laboratoryforthedesignofinnovative
applications.Thechallengeistobuild
acompellingnewuserexperience.
TheTriplePlayuser
experience:integrateand
differentiate
Fortheuser,theessentialelementsof
triple play are content, communicationandcommunity(Figure1).
ContentcoversbroadcastTVandondemandmoviesandpersonalcontent,
like holiday photos and birthday
videos. Communication includes verbal
and non-verbal communication.
Fromvoiceandvideototextandpicturemessaging.Becausepeoplelivein
asocialcontext,communitysupportis
a key component of the converged
triple play story. People talk about
media with their friends and share
pictureswiththeirfamilies.Acreative
blendofcontent,communicationand
communityisthebestguaranteeofan
appealingbroadbandexperience.
Puttingtheviewerinthe
driver’sseat:participation
TV
A growing phenomenon, thanks in
parttothepopularityofrealityTV,is
participationTV.
ParticipationTVletsviewerstakepart
in games shows, song contests, talk
shows and human interest news programmesfromtheirhomes.
Participation TV, or Response TV,
allowsviewerstocommunicateviathe
broadcast and actively participate in
television shows – e.g., dial a phone
number or send a text message from
theirmobilephonetovoteforacontestantorforanoption.Participation
TV, usually associated with contests,
quizzesandtalentshows,canbefound
22

Broadband
throughout Western Europe, India
andNorthAmerica.
Examplesincludeaudienceparticipation
programmes where by calling a
number,visitingawebsiteorsending
an SMS viewers can vote, provide
feedback or purchase products and
servicesorpurchaseproductsfeatured
ontheshow.Theseactivitiesincrease
thequalityoftheviewers’experience
and drive on-air content, putting the
viewerinthedriver’sseat.
Communitytelevision:where
communicationmeets
entertainment
Most interactive TV services, today,
focusontheinteractionbetweenviewer
and broadcaster through voting,
betting and background information
retrieval.Inthefuture,thisinteraction
willincrease,transformingtraditional
TVviewing.
Technology can create a rich social
experience by introducing communities
into TV or video viewing, essentially
a room-by-room, house-byhouse
activity. It’s like talking about
programmes,notthenextdayaround
theofficewatercooler,butliveasthey
happen.
Whenwatchingafootballmatchyou
can check what your friends are
watchingandsendthemaninvitation
to join you. An avatar, unique onscreen
symbols selected by users to
representthemselves,isdisplayedfor
each member of your group that is
online,soyoucansendmessagesback
andforth.Youcanalsotalkormaintain
video communications using
yourwebcamera,whichisdisplayed
asanoverlay,likepicture-in-picture.
This concept, called community TV,
enablesuserstowatchtheirfavourite
programmes with friends and family,
eveniftheyliveindifferentcities.
Usability research is important when
designing this sort of application. In
the case of community TV, focus
groups and user tests indicate that
many users of chat applications are
already familiar with the concept of
onlinecommunities.Whencombined
with television, online communities
becomeverycompelling.
Personalbroadcasting
Many video on demand and IPTV
deployments only consider major
moviesandbroadcastTVchannelsas
content for which people will pay. In
reality, Hollywood is only part of the
available video content. Many other
types of content appeal to small and
medium-sized‘affinitygroups’including:
- Local issues (e.g., council meetings
andcommunityevents);
-Localproductinformation(e.g.,new
fashion collections and neighbourhoodstoreopenings);
- Community clubs (e.g., local amateurtheatreassociations);
-Homemoviesandphotos.
The personal content trend is driven
bythewidespreaduseofdigitalphotographandvideocamerasthatmakeit
easy to share personal multimedia
contentwithfamilyandfriendsinan
interactive TV environment and, in a
sense,createtheirownTVchannel.
Figure 1: For the user, the essencial elements of
triple play are content, communication and community.
An affinity group is constructed of
individualswithapassionforaspecificprogrammeormovie.Thissegment
would be interested in a video database
service that logged and tracked
programmeepisodesandscenes,taggingthembycharacterandplotline.
This database could be used to cut
scenes together, link episodes, dive
intoassociatedmeta-data,shareinformation
with like-minded individuals
andgroups.
on a PC screen, put them on TV and
theyfeelthateverybodyiswatching.
Examplesabound
The sharing of photos and home
moviescreates‘micro-celebrities’that
gettheirfacesonTVforafewseconds.
Many TV stations now display onscreenmessagestransmittedbyviewersviaSMS,becausepeoplelikeseeingtheirnameonTV,evenifitisjust
forafewseconds.Althoughmostpeopledon’tgetexcitedseeingthemselves
Personalisationcanbetakenevenfurther,
with users assigning ratings to
content, recommending programmes
and subscribing to other community
channels.
The sharing of personal files has
another benefit since the files are
stored on a network drive, users do
notcluttertheirpersonalharddrives
or worry about backups. There are
also many other voice/broadband
services.Youcanshareaphotoalbum
online and have an online slideshow
together with friends. You can send
videos and photos to mobile phone
users. Recommendations and notificationsofnewcontentcanalsobesent
tomobilephones.
Theseexamples,anddozensofothers,
represent real, converged triple play
applicationsinwhichthevideo,voice
and data components are combined
to deliver a sum that is greater than
the individual parts. Unlike existing
triple play deployments where
1+1+1=3, future triple play offerings
will result in a different calculation:
1+1+1=7. Call it the ‘new maths’ of
tripleplay.
Today,tripleplayservicesareproving
to have considerable customer
appeal. Current triple play services
are the first chapter in the convergence
story. To maintain their competitive
edge, service providers look
attoday’stripleplaydeploymentsasa
laboratory where voice, data and
videocanbecreativelycombinedand
integratedintocompellinguserexperiences.
The fusion of content and communication
is the second chapter of the
convergencestory.Fromauser’sperspective,
community services act as
theenablingframeworkforthefuture
evolutionoftheinteractiveTVexperience,
including text messaging, video
communication and personal content
distribution. Community and participationTVareuniqueexamplesofthe
power of merging triple play components
and point the way for further
exploration.
Thelogicalnextstepistheemergence
ofnewTVformatsthatmakefulluse
ofthesenewcommunicationmethods
in a broadcast TV environment. This
will constitute a real fusion of the
tripleplaycomponents.
23

Broadband
High-performance broadband – thinking beyond the pipe
by Peter Linder, Technical Director Wireline Networks, Business Unit Systems, Ericsson
BroadbandmeansmoretooperatorsthanfasterInternetaccess.Itis,intruth,anessentialingredientintheirstrategiesforlong-termsurvival.Highperformancebroadbandis
notonlytodelivernewrevenuegeneratingservicessuchastripleplayvoice,Internetand
TVandadvancedinteractiveandpersonalisedservices,buttoprovidelowercost,higherquality,competitive,IPtelephonyservices.Itwillalsoprovidesystemstotietogether
the many residential digital devices proliferating in kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms.
PeterLinderisTechnicalDirectorforWirelineNetworksatEricsson.HisrolecoversBroadbandAccess,
IPSoftswitchingforTelephonyandMultimediaapplicationsaswellastheinstalledbaseofAXE.Before
hiscurrentposition,hewasTechnicalDirectorforBroadbandaccessandheldseveralmanagerialpositions
in the broadband access area covering products such as DSL, LMDS, HFC and fibre Ethernet
access. He also served as Vice President of Marketing for the Ethernet in the First Mile Alliance. Mr
LinderisafrequentspeakeratvariousBroadbandindustryevents,withinternationalappearancesat
the Broadband World Forum (Seoul & Venice), Voice-on-the-Net (Boston), xDSL Summit (Nice), 21
CenturyCommunicationsWorldForum(London),VONSpring(SanJose),VONEurope(Stockholm),
BroadbandWorldForumAsia(Yokohama)andSuperComm(Chicago).
PeterLinderwasgraduatedfromChalmersInstituteofTechnologyinGothenburg,Sweden,in1991with
MScinElectricalEngineering,aswellasanMBAinInternationalBusinessManagement.
One of the least understood developmentsintoday’stelecomworldisthe
transformation of broadband beyond
Internet connectivity. This may seem
curious,sinceeverybodywantsitand
weseeanenormoussurgeindemand
fromhouseholdsandoffices.
WeneedtobroadentheInternetparadigm,becauseprovidinghigh-capacityconnectionswillnotbeenough.In
faceofthechallengesaheadforwireline
operators, it is extremely importanttostartthinkingofbroadbandnot
justintermsof‘moremeansbetter’.
Thewirelinebusinessisnowentering
a new phase where it is performance
thatcounts.Tomorrow’sbroadbandis
notjustforwebsurfingandIPtransport.Operatorsseehigh-performance
broadbandasawaytocontinuetobe
competitive.
What is high-performance broadbandItisaboutaddingvaluetograb
astakeinthenewbusinessopportunitiesthatflowfromthedevelopmentof
media and communication services,
instead of getting stuck in the bit
transporttrap.
Take household water as an analogy.
Ordinarytapwaterisgoodfortakinga
shower, cooking or drinking, but if
processed into sparkling water, soft
drinksandsuchitcanbelabelledand
marketed at much higher prices.
However,itcannolongerbedistributedthroughpipes.
Today’s basic high-capacity bit pipe
does not provide users with much
addedvalue,but,unlikewater,itcan
be upgraded to distribute the new,
advanced, services that require
greater performance and capability
fromthebroadbandconnection.This
gives today’s operators many new
opportunitiessincehigh-performance
broadband networks conserve the
uniquecharacteristicsofthenewservicesandcandeliverthemtotheright
devices.
Besidesspeed,thenewnetworksmust
be able to control bit-error rates,
latencyandlatencyvariations,impor-
tantforhighqualitygamingandreal-
time applications such as IPTV and
must deliver the reliable and secure
connections,vitalfortripleplayvoice,
Internet and TV over the same connection.Thisisafarcryfromtoday’s
‘besteffort’Internetconnections.
Increased capacity is important, but
without a corresponding increase in
quality of service, it cannot be sold.
Provisioningisanimportantcapabilityofhigh-performancebroadbandas
istheabilitytokeeptrackofindividual
usage and charges for end userdriven,dynamicallychanging,portfolios
of services. These will add new
dimensions to the operators’ interactionwithconsumers.
So, if not web-surfing, what services
willdrivewirelinerevenuesThereis
no universal recommendation, no
uniquesilverbullet.
Fromaglobalperspective,it’sobvious
howmuchconsumertasteandpreferencesdifferbetweenmarkets,cultures
andagegroups.
25

Broadband
"Today’s basic highcapacity
bit pipe does
not provide users with
much added value, but,
unlike water, it can be
upgraded to distribute
the new, advanced,
services that require
greater performance
and capability from the
broadband connection."
Tripleplayisjustdippingitstoeinthe
water,stilltryingtofindtherightmix
of services to bundle. Operators are
bundling existing services to retain
theircustomers,becauseabroadband
customer lost now will be virtually
impossibletowinbacklater.
The challenge is to ensure that any
service, including tomorrow’s, can be
delivered to anyone and bundled to
suitawiderangeofconsumerpreferences.Itisnottheservicesthattrigger
broadbanddevelopment.
It is the growing number of digital
devices in our households, and the
synergiesthatwillincreasetheirvalue
whentheyareconnected.Justlookat
game consoles and iPods spur completelynewwaysofusingnetworks.
Operators must provide home gatewayspreparedtohandletheexpanded
services. WLAN and Ethernet are
standardised,broadlyaccepted,interfacessuitableforahomenetworkand
can serve as a gateway to the public
network, the natural host of security,
andotherfunctionsthatcanbemanagedbytheaccessoperator.
What does an intelligent position for
growthlooklikeAtthisstageofmarket
development, there are three distinctandstrategicinitiativesforwirelineoperatorstoconsider:
First
ShifttoIP/Ethernetbroadbandaccess
architectures. New IP/Ethernet-centricaccessnodesaredesignedtoprovide
cost efficient capacity and capabilities.ThetransitiontoIP/Ethernetbasedaccessstartedwiththeadoption
of IP-DSLAMs (Digital Subscriber
Line Access Multiplexer) at central
officesandwithFTT-buildingdeployments
for multi-dwelling buildings.
This transition is now affecting other
node segments, for example Multi-
Service Access Nodes, Fibre-to-the-
Neighbourhood or Curb and Fixed
WirelessBroadbandapplications.
Second
Use IP to modernise telephony. It is
quite a challenge to migrate to IP
whileretainingfullcompatibilitywith
existing services and terminals and
withoutlosinganyofthefeaturesand
qualities of circuit-switched telephony.
A case in point is British Telecom’s
21st Century Network, the first
attempt to transform a national
telephonynetworktoIP.Theproject’s
objective is to lower basic telephony
operational costs without any noticeable
difference to customers.
Transforming telephony services to
Servicedelivery
The ‘everything must be free’ scare,
anotherproductoftheInternetparadigm,
is limiting what we deliver.
Consumers will pay if the value is
there.
DHLdeliverspackagesdespitecheaperalternativesbecausepeoplepayfor
performanceandsecurity.Itispossible
to move from a free to fee paradigm
for service delivery and
advancedbroadbandconnectionswill
play a key role creating the required
value.
Digitaldevicesaboundinthemodern
home. Automated appliances in the
kitchen,digitalwashingmachines,climate
control and security systems
functionalongsidetraditionalphones,
TVs, PCs, cameras, video equipment
andthelike.
Ifthesecouldbesimplyconnectedto
the home network, operators could
launchnewservicesforsuchdevices,
andmanyothersnotyetinvented.
Figure 1: Operators see high-performance broadband as a way to stay competitive.
26

Broadband
"Today’s basic highcapacity
bit pipe does
not provide users with
much added value, but,
unlike water, it can be
upgraded to distribute
the new, advanced,
services that require
greater performance
and capability from the
broadband connection."
Tripleplayisjustdippingitstoeinthe
water,stilltryingtofindtherightmix
of services to bundle. Operators are
bundling existing services to retain
theircustomers,becauseabroadband
customer lost now will be virtually
impossibletowinbacklater.
The challenge is to ensure that any
service, including tomorrow’s, can be
delivered to anyone and bundled to
suitawiderangeofconsumerpreferences.Itisnottheservicesthattrigger
broadbanddevelopment.
It is the growing number of digital
devices in our households, and the
synergiesthatwillincreasetheirvalue
whentheyareconnected.Justlookat
game consoles and iPods spur completelynewwaysofusingnetworks.
Operators must provide home gatewayspreparedtohandletheexpanded
services. WLAN and Ethernet are
standardised,broadlyaccepted,interfacessuitableforahomenetworkand
can serve as a gateway to the public
network, the natural host of security,
andotherfunctionsthatcanbemanagedbytheaccessoperator.
What does an intelligent position for
growthlooklikeAtthisstageofmarket
development, there are three distinctandstrategicinitiativesforwirelineoperatorstoconsider:
First
ShifttoIP/Ethernetbroadbandaccess
architectures. New IP/Ethernet-centricaccessnodesaredesignedtoprovide
cost efficient capacity and capabilities.ThetransitiontoIP/Ethernetbasedaccessstartedwiththeadoption
of IP-DSLAMs (Digital Subscriber
Line Access Multiplexer) at central
officesandwithFTT-buildingdeployments
for multi-dwelling buildings.
This transition is now affecting other
node segments, for example Multi-
Service Access Nodes, Fibre-to-the-
Neighbourhood or Curb and Fixed
WirelessBroadbandapplications.
Second
Use IP to modernise telephony. It is
quite a challenge to migrate to IP
whileretainingfullcompatibilitywith
existing services and terminals and
withoutlosinganyofthefeaturesand
qualities of circuit-switched telephony.
A case in point is British Telecom’s
21st Century Network, the first
attempt to transform a national
telephonynetworktoIP.Theproject’s
objective is to lower basic telephony
operational costs without any noticeable
difference to customers.
Transforming telephony services to
Servicedelivery
The ‘everything must be free’ scare,
anotherproductoftheInternetparadigm,
is limiting what we deliver.
Consumers will pay if the value is
there.
DHLdeliverspackagesdespitecheaperalternativesbecausepeoplepayfor
performanceandsecurity.Itispossible
to move from a free to fee paradigm
for service delivery and
advancedbroadbandconnectionswill
play a key role creating the required
value.
Digitaldevicesaboundinthemodern
home. Automated appliances in the
kitchen,digitalwashingmachines,climate
control and security systems
functionalongsidetraditionalphones,
TVs, PCs, cameras, video equipment
andthelike.
Ifthesecouldbesimplyconnectedto
the home network, operators could
launchnewservicesforsuchdevices,
andmanyothersnotyetinvented.
Figure 1: Operators see high-performance broadband as a way to stay competitive.
26

Broadband
You are a decision
maker;
You understand
your business;
Figure 2: Broadband used to be simple, but as the market broadens, operators need a bigger portfolio
of solutions to connect their customers.
IP,alsoreferredtoastelephonyemulation,
is calls for softswitches to
replace the current hardware.
Softswitches connect to existing circuit-switched
access nodes through
mediagatewaysordirectlytoIP-Multi
ServiceAccessNodes.
Third
Lay the foundation for tomorrow’s
communicationservices,byintroduc-
ingIPMulti-MediaSubsystem(IMS)-
based systems and services. IMSbasedservicescanconnecttowhatever
communications device is most
convenienttotheuseratthemoment,
beitaPC,laptop,mobilephoneorTV.
Consumersdonotwanttokeepalist
of different numbers or addresses to
contactsomeone,makingacallshould
besimpleandindependentofthetype
ofcommunicationservicesordevices
used. New communications services
will flexibly, dynamically, change the
communicationformatbetweenvoice,
data,picturesandvideo,duringacall
and,insteadofbeingrestrictedasthey
are today to one type of network or
device, will cut across network and
deviceboundariessothatcommunication
between different device types
canbebecomeareality.
"Broadband used to be
simple, but as the
market broadens,
operators need a bigger
portfolio of solutions to
connect their
customers."
With this in place, the ability to use
converged multimedia communication
opens up a host of new ‘richer
communication’ services including
talking and simultaneously sharing a
picture or image with the person
called.Itcanalsomean‘push-to-talk’,
buddy-lists, presence and availability
as added qualities to your communication.
Another added value growth area is
themedia,TVbeingtheprimeexample.Wecanalsoexpectawiderangeof
newinteractiveandpersonalisedservices.
Broadband used to be simple, but as
themarketbroadens,operatorsneeda
biggerportfolioofsolutionstoconnect
their customers. They need DSL for
short local loops, for small house
areas, fibre for new real estate and
multi-dwellingunits,andwirelessfor
ruralareas.
The implications of the transition
from single service Internet access
over ATM-based architectures to
IP/Ethernet architecture for multiple
serviceshavebecomeevidentoverthe
pasttwoyears.
Equipment suppliers are working
closely with operators to identify the
optimal transition paths to the new
architectures.Noonetodayquestions
thatoperatorsneedtomigratetothe
newarchitectureandthereisagrowing
realisation that a fast transition
willyieldmuchbetterlong-termprofitabilitythanextendingthelifeofthe
oldarchitecture.
Do you
understand how ICT
affect the
markets, the
countries and the
people you serve
Gain insight into
how ICT leaders see
the future.
Connect-World,
The Decision
Makers’ Forum for
ICT Driven
Development,
brings you the
thoughts and
opinions of
leaders from
around the globe,
their personal
assessment of the
issues that drive
the ICT revolution
and change the
lives of us all.
www.connect-world.com
28

Broadband
You are a decision
maker;
You understand
your business;
Figure 2: Broadband used to be simple, but as the market broadens, operators need a bigger portfolio
of solutions to connect their customers.
IP,alsoreferredtoastelephonyemulation,
is calls for softswitches to
replace the current hardware.
Softswitches connect to existing circuit-switched
access nodes through
mediagatewaysordirectlytoIP-Multi
ServiceAccessNodes.
Third
Lay the foundation for tomorrow’s
communicationservices,byintroduc-
ingIPMulti-MediaSubsystem(IMS)-
based systems and services. IMSbasedservicescanconnecttowhatever
communications device is most
convenienttotheuseratthemoment,
beitaPC,laptop,mobilephoneorTV.
Consumersdonotwanttokeepalist
of different numbers or addresses to
contactsomeone,makingacallshould
besimpleandindependentofthetype
ofcommunicationservicesordevices
used. New communications services
will flexibly, dynamically, change the
communicationformatbetweenvoice,
data,picturesandvideo,duringacall
and,insteadofbeingrestrictedasthey
are today to one type of network or
device, will cut across network and
deviceboundariessothatcommunication
between different device types
canbebecomeareality.
"Broadband used to be
simple, but as the
market broadens,
operators need a bigger
portfolio of solutions to
connect their
customers."
With this in place, the ability to use
converged multimedia communication
opens up a host of new ‘richer
communication’ services including
talking and simultaneously sharing a
picture or image with the person
called.Itcanalsomean‘push-to-talk’,
buddy-lists, presence and availability
as added qualities to your communication.
Another added value growth area is
themedia,TVbeingtheprimeexample.Wecanalsoexpectawiderangeof
newinteractiveandpersonalisedservices.
Broadband used to be simple, but as
themarketbroadens,operatorsneeda
biggerportfolioofsolutionstoconnect
their customers. They need DSL for
short local loops, for small house
areas, fibre for new real estate and
multi-dwellingunits,andwirelessfor
ruralareas.
The implications of the transition
from single service Internet access
over ATM-based architectures to
IP/Ethernet architecture for multiple
serviceshavebecomeevidentoverthe
pasttwoyears.
Equipment suppliers are working
closely with operators to identify the
optimal transition paths to the new
architectures.Noonetodayquestions
thatoperatorsneedtomigratetothe
newarchitectureandthereisagrowing
realisation that a fast transition
willyieldmuchbetterlong-termprofitabilitythanextendingthelifeofthe
oldarchitecture.
Do you
understand how ICT
affect the
markets, the
countries and the
people you serve
Gain insight into
how ICT leaders see
the future.
Connect-World,
The Decision
Makers’ Forum for
ICT Driven
Development,
brings you the
thoughts and
opinions of
leaders from
around the globe,
their personal
assessment of the
issues that drive
the ICT revolution
and change the
lives of us all.
www.connect-world.com
28

mtcatheer-mtcatheer-mtcatheer-mtcatheer-mtcatheer-mtcatheer
MTC ATHEER:
SUPPORTING THE IRAQI PEOPLE, WINNING THE HEARTS OF CUSTOMERS
The launch of GSM services promises a new era of economic prosperity in Iraq
mtc atheer, part of the MTC Group of companies,
was granted a licence to operate in the southern
region of Iraq, in an agreement signed with the Iraqi
Ministry of Telecommunications on 22nd December
2003. mtc atheer has already established, and operates,
GSM networks in Southern Iraq and in Baghdad.
By end of 2006, mtc atheer’s network will cover all
of Iraq. mtc atheer is proud of the role it is playing
helping Iraq’s society and Iraq’s economy, by developing
technology and building a telecommunications
infrastructure to meet the country’s needs.
mtc atheer met the goals established by the Ministry
of Communications for the first year of operation in
a much shorter time, and provided quality services,
despite great difficulties and security concerns during
the service launch in southern Iraq. Notably, the
license’s ‘force majeure’ condition was not used as a
pretext to postpone or delay the work. Despite the
difficulties, mtc atheer’s determination to achieve
led to the successful incorporation of Baghdad into its
network, now the largest and widest network in Iraq.
services is the focus of our attention. We do not just
want to provide coverage, but to develop and
enhance this coverage to meet and win the hearts of
our customers".
Quality services
mtc atheer focuses on providing reasonably priced
quality services, to support Iraq’s economy and markets.
Today, mtc atheer provides a wide range of prepaid
and postpaid services to meet the demands of
businesses and the needs of individuals.
mtc atheer’s postpaid service targets individual SMEs
and large corporations that need 50 lines or more.
Monthly billing is in US dollars, and postpaid subscription
fees are well below those of other operators,
and special peak and off-peak rates are lower
than those of other operators.
Almost 99 per cent of current customers use the prepaid
service that, in the very near future, will provide
full GPRS network services capable of supporting
1 million subscribers by September 2005.
mtc atheer provides competitively priced roaming
services in most of the countries in the world, using
the slogan Getting Together, so that customers can
stay in contact with their families and businesses, a
much needed service.
mtc atheer offers local and international SMS services,
and emergency call services, direct numbers to
hospitals, police stations, etc., through its hotline
120 open 24 hours a day. mtc atheer is now developing
new services such as voicemail, call barring,
caller ID, conference call services, in addition to the
GPRS and MMS services scheduled for launch by
September 2005.
Mr Ali Al Dahwi, CEO of mtc atheer.
Mobile coverage
The company’s coverage spans more than 2,200 kilometres
in Southern Iraq. The network runs along the
banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates, servicing all
the southern cities, such as Basra, Amara, Diwaniya,
Samawa, Nasiriya, Kout, Al Hilla, Karbala and Najaf,
among others, and all along the major highways and
freeways that connect these cities together. mtc
atheer’s services currently span 13 governorates of
the southern and central regions of Iraq.
mtc atheer now covers all of Baghdad. The official
launch on 27th March 2005 was a momentous day for
the citizens of Baghdad, who welcomed the arrival of
quality mobile telephony in a region with almost no
alternative service.
Commenting on the launch, Mr Ali Al Dahwi, CEO of
mtc atheer, stated: "presenting the most distinctive
Embracing local talent: 100 per cent Iraqi
workforce
Job creation is an important aspect of mtc atheer’s
role in Iraq. "We estimate that as a result of our presence
and ongoing activities some 7000 direct and
indirect work opportunities have been created. This
figure should be close to 10,000 by the end of 2005",
said Ali Al-Dahwi.
mtc atheer now employs more than 600 Iraqis.
Training and skill development have been our number
one priority. The company prides itself on having carried
out its network development using a 100 per
cent Iraqi workforce. This commitment to hiring and
training nationals is a policy that the MTC Group
upholds in all its 18 operations in the Middle East and
Africa.
The MTC Group believes in giving nationals the opportunity
to hold executive positions and take on leadership
roles. Iraqi workers have received training in
Kuwait, Jordan, Finland and USA. The company pro-
PromotionalFeature

mtcatheer-mtcatheer-mtcatheer-mtcatheer-mtcatheer-mtcatheer
motes the exchange of information between the 18
operators in the MTC Group through cross training.
mtc sponsorship of National orchestra.
Corporate social responsibility: supporting the
local community
Apart from its role in developing local talent to support
the rebuilding of Iraq, mtc atheer actively participates
in the community through sponsorship of
local programmes and philanthropic activities.
By the end of 2005, mtc atheer's total contributions
to the community in Iraq, in programmes such as
those below, will reach US$500,000.
1. Humanitarian Aid – financial support has been
given to several humanitarian organisations;
2. Sponsorship of the International Day for Orphans,
in co-ordination with Al Hayat International
Association;
3. Blood Donation – a campaign was launched on 17th
March, 2005 to benefit Iraqi Hospitals with mtc
atheer employees as donors;
4. Food and other supplies were donated to the Iraqi
Society for the Handicapped in Baghdad;
5. The Institute for the Deaf and Mute – sponsorship
of the Deaf and Mute Children’s Day carnival, April
25, 2005;
6. Contributions to a polio vaccination campaign;
7. Sponsorship of the Iraqi National Symphony
Orchestra;
8. Sponsoring the Iraqi Olympic Football Team and
support for the locally acclaimed Football Team, Al
Kadmya, during the football championship;
9. Sponsorship of TV programmes on Al Sharqia TV
Channel, during Ramadan;
10. Ramadan Banquet Tent: "Fast Breaking Banquets"
in several mosques in different areas in Baghdad and
Basra;
11. Education Sponsorship – helping the rebuilding
and renovation of universities in Baghdad, Kufa and
Basra, providing Internet cafés, etc.
Achievements
mtc atheer now has over 600,000 customers from
Southern Iraq to Baghdad. This network will offer
full GPRS services for up to 1 million subscribers by
September 2005.
mtc atheer has already invested more than US$ 280
million, with its expansion into Baghdad and the
northern region, this figure will rise to US$ 430 million
by the end of 2005. mtc atheer’s investments
have benefited trade organisations and industrial
sectors in Iraq, including engineering, sales, and
commerce, the company expects to double these
investments as it expands its coverage.
Key strengths of mtc atheer
- Committed to the redevelopment of Iraq;
- Largest network in Iraq in terms of geography;
- World-class telecommunications services;
- Effective use of MTC Group resources;
- 600,000 plus subscribers, expected to reach 1 million
plus by end 2005;
- US$430 million in investment by 2005 yearend;
- 100 per cent Iraqi employees;
- The more than 7,000 indirect jobs already created
will grow to 10,000 by end of 2005;
- A concerted commitment to the community
through grants, aid and sponsorship – US$500,000 by
end of 2005.
About MTC Group
Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) was founded in
1983 and is today one of the largest mobile operators in the
Middle East and Africa, offering a plethora of world-class
voice and data services to over 10 million customers spread
across 18 countries – Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon
and 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange, MTC’s market capitalization
exceeded US$10 billion as at August 1, 2005.
through acquisitions, partnerships and greenfield opportunities,
MTC aims to achieve in nine years what other companies
have taken more than 27 years to achieve.
In addition to securing the best possible returns for shareholders
in keeping with a high standard of corporate governance,
MTC is defined by a commitment to excellence in
providing world-class mobile services and an ethos of corporate
social responsibility in supporting communities, offering
employment and creating business opportunities wherever it
operates. Please visit http://www.mtc.com.kw
MTC's corporate strategy can simply be summarized as
‘3x3x3’, an ambitious, sustainable expansion strategy that
will see MTC become a leading mobile and lifestyle services
provider on the global stage by the end of the year 2011.
Initiated in year 2002, it is this strategy that will make MTC
a global player in three stages: regional, international and
global, with each stage completed in three years, with an
aim of reaching a subscriber base of 20 million. In essence,
PromotionalFeature

Triple play
IPTV: rethinking broadcasting
by Ed Graczyk, Director of Marketing and Communications, Microsoft TV Division
TelevisionoverIP-basedbroadbandnetworks,IPTV,provideshigh-definitionprogramming,VideoonDemand,DigitalVideoRecording,hundredsoflinearchannels,arich
InteractiveProgrammeGuideandmore.Itfundamentallychangestraditionalbroadcast
TVandletsprovidersdeliveranewgenerationofintegratedservicescalledtripleplay,
combiningvoice,videoandbroadband.IPTV’sefficientuseofbandwidthgivestheconsumer
a near-limitless number of channels and access to a huge library of live, ondemandandtime-shifted,digitalvideorecordedcontent.
EdGraczykisDirectorofMarketingandCommunicationsfortheMicrosoftTVDivisionatMicrosoft
Corporation.Heisresponsibleforcommunications,publicrelations,branding,positioning,advertising,
partner co-marketing and events worldwide for the Microsoft TV family of software products. Mr
GraczykhasheldanumberofmarketingandsalesmanagementpositionsatMicrosoftincludingmarketing
lead for the MSN MoneyCentral personal finance service, marketing lead for MSN
CommunicationsServices,publicrelationsleadfortheWebEssentialsandMSNdivisions,entertainmentmarketingmanagerforMSNandcorporateaccountsalesmanagement.BeforejoiningMicrosoft,
hespentsixyearswithUNISYSCorporation.Heservedinvarioussalesandproductmanagementpositions,withafocusoncustomersinthebanking,securitiesandinsuranceindustries.
MrGraczykfrequentlyspeaksatdigitalTVindustryevents,includingBroadcastAsia,CTAMResearch
Conference,DigitalHollywood,DigiTrendsCampInteractive,KaganInteractiveTVSummit,IFABerlin
andthePBSTechnologyConference.In1994,hereceivedtheCorporateAccountExecutiveoftheYear
AwardatMicrosoft.HeisalsoamemberoftheCable&TelecommunicationsAssociationforMarketing.
EdGraczykhasabachelor’sdegreeinSciencefromtheBostonCollegeSchoolofManagement,wherehe
holdsatriplemajorinmarketing,computerscienceandeconomics.
Recent technological innovations
have enabled the delivery of highqualitytelevisionoverbroadband,IPbased
networks. Called IPTV, this
next-generationTVtechnologyoffers
broadband service providers an
opportunitytofundamentallychange
traditional approaches to broadcast
TV and expand their businesses
throughnewrevenuemodels.
Recent industry events – including
BT’sdecisiontoofferTVoverbroadband
services, SBC’s Project
Lightspeed rollout, Verizon’s
announcement of FiOS TV and V-
CASTservices,cable’saggressiverollout
of triple-play services, and
Microsoft’s recently-announced relationshipwithAlcatel–pointtoaparadigmshiftintheworldofdigitalTV
andcommunicationservicesingeneral.Convergenceis,finally,reallyhappening.
IPTV is one of the best examples of
this convergence. For years, the TV
has been an island of entertainment
andinformationunconnectedtomost
oftheotherdevicesinthehomethat
peoplerelyondaily.IPTVischanging
that by enabling broadband service
providers, including telecommunication
and cable companies, to build
new,connected-entertainment,information
and communication services
andexperiencesfortheircustomers.
IPTV
Caller ID on the TV screen, sporting
events with multiple camera angles,
accessing digital photos or digital
musicstoredonahomePCfromyour
TV set, and participating in interactiveservicestiedtoTVprogramming
suchasvotingandpolling,areafew
examples of the exciting connectedentertainment
services on the near
horizon with IPTV. While some of
these capabilities are possible with
conventionalTVdistributionsystems,
IPTVraisestheconsumerexperience
toanewlevelandmakesitmucheasier
to implement for the service
provider.
But let’s be clear: IPTV is not about
streamingvideoovertheInternettoa
PC or the ‘best efforts’ video quality
that we experience on the Internet
today.IPTVisaboutdeliveringatruly
high-quality,competitive,multichannelTVservicetoconsumertelevision
setsoveranIPnetworkcontrolledby
thebroadbandprovider.IPTVserviceswillofferthefullrangeoffeatures
that consumers expect, including
standard and high-definition programming,VideoonDemand,Digital
Video Recording, hundreds of linear
channels, a rich Interactive
ProgrammeGuideandmore.
IPTVisthekindofbreakthroughthe
TVindustryrarelysees.Likethetransitionfromblackandwhitetocolour
TV,IPTVwillusherinthenext-generation
TV entertainment that consumers
will come to expect as the
norm.Thetechnologywasnotcreated
overnight.Ithasbeenindevelopment
for over ten years, but is now being
drivenforwardbysuchmarketforces
asbroadbandadoptionandtheevolutionofdigitalentertainment.Analysts
at Multimedia Research Group predictthattherewillbe27millionIPTV
subscribersworldwideby2008.
WhileIPTVpiggybacksontherapidly
evolving advances in broadband and
32

Triple play
other technologies, a key difference
withIPTVisthebusinessopportunity.IPTVisthemissinglinkneededto
help service providers deliver a new
generationofintegratedservicesinto
thehome.Somepeoplerefertothisas
the triple play, or quadruple play,
when mobile services are included,
togetherwithvoice,videoandbroadband.
IPTV,though,isreallyaboutdelivering
the single play – a full range of
seamlessly integrated communication,
entertainment and information
services and experiences to subscribersoverasingleconnectioninto
thehome.
The broadband connection behind
next-generationTVserviceswillyield
an exciting new range of TV content
choices, personalisation, and connected
experiences for consumers,
regardless of where they are, what
devicetheyareusing,andwhatkind
ofphysicalnetworktheyareconnectedtoatthetime.
IPTV’s architecture enables sending
individualvideostreamstoindividual
devicesinthehome,incontrasttothe
broadcast model used by legacy TV
distributionplatformswhereallchannelsaresenttoallsubscribersallthe
time, which requires a massive
amountofbandwidthtocarryallthat
programming. IPTV’s much more
Figure 1: Analysts at Multimedia Reasearch Group predict
that there will be 27 million IPTV subscribers worldwide by
2008.
"Like the transition from
black and white to
colour TV, IPTV will
usher in the
next-generation TV
entertainment that
consumers will come to
expect as the norm. "
efficientuseofbandwidthmakespossibleanear-limitlessnumberofchannels
and access to a huge library of
live, on-demand and time-shifted,
digitalvideorecorded,content,tothe
consumer.
By taking advantage of the two-way
architecture of broadband, IPTV
eliminatesthebandwidthconstraints
inherent in broadcasting TV today,
where operators face challenges to
add more programming choices,
especiallyondemandhigh-definition
programming, in their space-constrainednetworks.
IPTValsotakesadvantagesofthelatest
in set-top box technology, with
more powerful, broadband-enabled
devices that will lead to significant
advances in interactive programme
guidesandnewviewerinterfaces.The
same advances will enable advanced
searchcapabilitiesaswellaspersonalisation
and predictive
guidance based on viewer
preferencesandbehaviour.
Nowthatthetechnologyis
inplacethechallengeisto
build and market a successful
service to consumers.MarketersofIPTV
services must clearly differentiate
their offering
through service capabilities,
packaging, pricing
and distribution.
PackagingIPTVwithexisting
primary services, such
as high-speed data or
telephonyservices,enables
the network operator to
reinvigorate his business
whilesignificantlydecreasing
subscriber churn.
Subscribersbenefitfroma
better total value propositionofintegratedcommunication
and entertainment
services, and in particular,
a far better TV
experience.
More and more, consumersarebecomingused
to interacting with digital entertainment.IPTVextendsthisconceptand
enables next-generation TV services
that consumer value, including the
following:
Networkedandremotedigitalvideo
recording
DVRs are all about watching television
in your time. Adding the television/set-topboxtoanIP-basedhome
networkincreasesthatabilityforconsumers,
enabling TV watchers in the
family room to record a football
match while someone in the master
bedroom records their favourite
movie. IPTV also makes it easy to
remotelyprogramtheDVRfromyour
PC at the office or another Internetconnected
device such as a mobile
phone.
Advancedcommunications
features
Today’s generation is conditioned to
communicatewithfriendsandfamily
in new ways. IPTV enables service
providerstobetterleveragetheirmultiple
products and build integrated
messaging services where voicemail,
SMSandevenemailcanbeaccessed
viatheTVscreen.
Next-generationinteractiveTV
features
IPTV’s always on, two-way connection
is ideally suited for advanced
interactivity that involves the viewer
intheTVexperience.TV-basedapplicationssuchasvoting,changingcamera
angles, real-time shopping and
matching wits with game show contestantsareamongthemanypossibilities.
Targetedadsandprogramme
recommendations
Since IPTV uses a broadband, not a
broadcast, architecture, it means
there is a two-way, 1:1 relationship
betweenthenetworkoperatorandthe
television viewer, which enables the
deliveryofmore-personalisedcontent
basedonasubscriber’sviewinghistory
or "opt-in" personal information
fromtheconsumer.
Instantchannelchanging
DigitalTVisgreat,butitcantakeup
to two seconds just to tune a new
channelonbroadcastdigitalTVplatforms.IPTVcanoffersoftware-based
tuning that enables a subscriber to
zapthroughchannelsinmilliseconds,
actually faster than the blink of an
33

Taking triple play to the next level
The triple play market is ramping up and competition is
ruthless. IP based services are driving the market to provide
more for less, without sacrificing quality. Are you ready
We at i3 see things end-to-end and provide customer
premise equipment (CPE) as integrated solution components.
We convert our pioneering experience within VoIP and IP TV
into CPE that meets today’s needs as well as tomorrow’s
opportunities. Our technology helps you control and personalize
your service portfolio, reduce your operating costs,
while helping you to build new broadband revenues.
Maybe this is why leading service providers like
Belgacom, TeliaSonera and others have chosen i3 to deliver
CPE for their commercial deployments of IPTV and Voice
over IP.
Mood IP set-top boxes (STB) provide for advanced IP streaming media and
Internet services, web browsing and e-mail. They are MPEG-4 AVC Ready with
integrated Personal Video Recorder for personalized viewing and recording.
Vood IP Residential Gateways provide Voice over IP and high-speed Internet
access with integrated ADSL2+, FTTH and Ethernet connectivity. They are the
intelligent gateway into the home for all IP communications.
Meet us at IBC, Stand 4:350 Madrid, Stand 2003
i3 micro technology – www.i3micro.com – EMEA +46 (0)8 506 388 00 – Americas +1 425 392 2229

Triple play
"More and more,
consumers are
becoming used to
interacting with digital
entertainment."
eye.Theuserexperienceisextremely
important; IPTV services can add to
theuservaluebynotintrudingonthe
userexperience.
Multiplepicture-in-pictureservices
Forpicture-inpicture(PIP)functionality,
broadcast TV requires multiple
tunersinthereceivingdevice,onefor
eachimage.WithIPTV,tuningissoftware-based,
meaning no hardware
tuners are required and multiple
movingpicturescanbecost-effectively
shown on the screen at once. One
applicationofmultiplePIPisaricher
mosaic interactive programme guide
(IPG) with six to eight moving video
thumbnails per screen, contrasted
withthesimpletext-basedIPGspeoplearefamiliarwithtoday.
Piracyandillegalduplicationofcontent
are major issues for content
providers.Acontentprotectionmodel
thatsafeguardscontentownerswithoutsacrificingconsumerexperienceis
important. When safeguards are in
place,andhigh-qualitycontentcanbe
delivered, content owners will take
advantageofthenewpurchasemodelsthatIPTVenables.
Digital rights management (DRM)
systemsdefineandpreservethecontent
owners’ rights to managing the
distributionofcontentaswellasthe
rights of the end user to view it.
AdvancedDRMtechnologywillmake
available a variety of new content
optionsforIPTVandahomenetwork
might contain several IP-based
devicescapableofaccessing,storing,
sharingordisplayingDRM-protected
digitalTVcontentinasecureway.
To illustrate, think of a set-top box
thatreceivesaTVsignalandstoresit
on the set-top’s DVR. The set-top
could securely make that content
available to other televisions in the
homeortoaportablevideoplayer–
aslongastherighttodosohasbeen
acquired from the content provider.
ThebusinessrulesforDRMaredrivenbythecontentownersandservice
providers.
Soon, the hardware required to
decode and display IPTV services
will be embedded in single, lowcost
silicon chips. This will help
drivedownthetotalcostsofdeployingandmaintaininganIPTVsystem.
Withnewsiliconadvances,IPTVsettopboxescanbecomemorepowerful,
more economical and fuel greater
IPTVinnovation.
Businessmodel
Thisnewgenerationofchipswillalso
enableanewcategoryof‘IPTVready’
consumer devices. In some markets,
consumers will be able to choose
betweenanarrayofdevicesandmanufacturers
for a reasonably priced
IPTV receiver with the features and
functionality that best meets their
needs.
The business model might look very
similar to the mobile phone market
today, where operators subsidise
basic low-cost versions, but consumers
can buy more powerful, feature-richdevices.
Eventually, consumers will have yet
anotherchoice–whethertosubscribe
toanIPTVservicefromtheirtelecommunications
provider, their cable
providerorfromtheemerginggroup
ofwirelessbroadbandproviders.The
advantages of IP-based networks,
especially the bandwidth and economic
efficiencies gained by delivering
video, broadband and telephony
services over a single network, are
numerous.
Both cable and telco operators will
inevitably converge upon IP-based
networksforalltheircommunication
services.Thelinesbetweencableand
telco will blur even more than they
have today. Both are quickly becomingmulti-serviceprovidersofferinga
full range of communication and
entertainment services and compete
in terms of quality of service, the
value of their connected-entertainment
and connected-information
offerings, and how well they market
theirservicebundles.
While there are significant benefits
forserviceproviderswhoadoptIPTV,
consumerswillbetheultimatebeneficiaries
with more choices, better
prices,fasterinnovationand,overall,
amuchbetterTVexperience.
www.connect-world.com
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35

Triple play
Last chance for telco profitability: triple play networks
by Kevin DeNuccio, President and CEO, Redback
TraditionalfixedvoicetelcosfaceseriousthreatsfromIP-basednetworks:growthand
perminuterevenuesaredeclining,andmobileservicecompetitionhascapturedclients.
BroadbandIP-basednetworksletacarrierusesinglehighqualitytripleplaynetworksto
carryalltraditionalvoiceanddataservices,provideVPNs,video,gamesandahostof
otherpersonalisedservicesaswell.Telcosneedtoconsolidatetheirnetworkstooffer
usersanarrayofcost-effectivetailor-madeservicesviaabroadbandIPinfrastructure.
KevinA.DeNuccioisthePresidentandChiefExecutiveOfficerofRedback.Heservedpreviouslyasthe
SeniorVicePresidentofWorldwideServiceProviderOperationsatCiscoSystems,wherehewasresponsibleforallfieldactivitiesintheserviceprovidermarketplaceglobally.DuringhistenureatCisco,Mr
DeNuccioalsomanagedworldwidefieldoperations,includingallsalesandengineeringsupportorganisations.BeforejoiningCiscoSystems,hewasthefounder,PresidentandChiefExecutiveOfficerofBell
Atlantic Network Integration, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Atlantic, now Verizon
Communications,responsibleforcorporatestrategyandoperations.MrDeNucciohasalsoheldsenior
managementpositionsatbothUnisysCorporationandWangLaboratoriesasVicePresidentintheir
networkintegrationandworldwidechannelpartnerbusinesses.
KevinDeNuccioearnedhisdegreeinFinance,fromNortheasternUniversity,andgraduatedfromthe
ExecutiveMBAprogrammeatColumbiaUniversity.
Advances in IP (Internet Protocol)
equipment, rapidly increasing broadband
penetration and growing residential
broadband capacity are revolutionisingthedeliveryofservicesvia
broadband. Interactive television,
voiceandnextgenerationonlinegaming
services are rapidly becoming a
reality,duetobreakthrougharchitecturesthatdelivertheseservicesatdramaticallylowercost.
Historically, telecom operators have
dedicated entire networks to single
services. This means that telecom
operatorsneededanetworkforvoice,
anotherforleasedlines,oneforVPNs
(virtual private networks), one more
for Internet access, and so on. With
thegrowthofbroadbandandIP,acarriercanbuildasinglenetworktocarry
alltheseservicesandmore,especially
since the quality of service end users
demand is now available using IP
networks.
Dialtonebroadband
Similartothealways-availabletelephony
dial tone, many carriers are
preparing their networks to offer a
‘dial tone for broadband’ service that
will bring broadband service, by
default, to every household. This
broadband connection will provide
anynewserviceaconsumerrequests.
This gives residential and business
users access to a wealth of services,
rangingfromVPNstovideo,togames
or voice. Eventually, when greater
bandwidth is available, virtual reality
based applications will be accessible
overbroadbandconnections.
Thetelecomoperator
perspective
The end user sees a virtually endless
streamofIP-basedcapabilities.What,
though,doestheadventofbroadband
IP applications mean for the telecom
operatorHowcanatelecomoperator
use these technologies to position
itselfforhealthygrowth
Voice,thecorebusinessoftraditional
wireline telcos, faces serious threats
fromIP-basednetworks.Voiceservice
growthhasbeenslow,perminuterevenues
are declining and competition
frommobileserviceshasdrainedfixed
traffic.
A few years ago, the volume of data
traffic, mostly Internet access, surpassedthatofvoiceontelconetworks.
Consequently,theInternetProtocolis
now the dominant network protocol.
Analysts predict that Video-over-
Broadbandtrafficwilleventuallysurpassvoiceanddata.
Today’s competitive world is a challenge
for telcos. They face shrinking
voice revenues and need to generate
new revenue, but income from
Internetaccessserviceshasbeenlow,
and often barely profitable. Internet
accesspricesareexpectedtodrop,so
whatcanthetelcosdo
Thetwoobviouschoicesareeitherto
selllowcostaccessandtransportorto
offercontentandbecomeafullservice
provider.Thefirstoptionrequiresthe
telco to pursue the lowest possible
costsforreliableserviceandbecomea
costleader.Thesecondoptioncallsfor
adding value to its access and transport
services to increase its Average
36

Triple play
Enhancingtheenduser
experience
Toexecutea‘highvalueadded’strategy,
operators need to enhance the
experience to persuade the user to
spend more. IPTV’s most successful
deployments to date have offered
eitherexclusivecontent,suchnational
sportseventsorinteractiveelements.
Today, service providers in Belgium,
SpainandTheNetherlandshavepurchasedexclusiverightstotheirnational
football leagues. They expect to
offerafullyinteractiveviewerexperience.
Figure 1: Basic broadband Internet services have been the only ray of hope of growth.
Revenue per User (ARPU). In truth,
most telcos risk their survival if they
donotdoboth.
usersplayinganonlinegame,watching
IP Television or making a VoIP
phonecallasitisforabusiness.
Forexample,whileaviewerwatching
amatchhewillbealertedifagoalis
scoredinanothermatch.Hecan,ifhe
chooses, see a replay of the goal and
then switch back to the game he was
originallywatching.
This means telcos must abandon
today’s ‘dedicated-network-per-service’modelandconsolidatetheirservice-dedicated
networks into a single
networkarchitecture.
Asinglenetworkforallservices,using
standardised network elements and
procedures,significantlyreducescapitalandoperatingexpenses.
Single network architectures today,
generally rely upon IP-based broadbandnetworks.Telcos,tomakeuseof
their existing copper infrastructure,
tendtochooseADSLfortheirbroadbandsubscriberaccess.
Current IP technology can provide
timecriticalanddelaysensitiveservices
such as voice or video running
alongside each other on a single network.Offeringthebasicsuiteofservicesoverasinglenetwork,usingasingle
protocol, lowers the operator’s
costs and enhances the subscriber
experience.
Theenduserperspective
Today,businessandconsumerswant
more than traditional services. They
look for advanced services anywhere,
anyplace,anytime.
Figure1showstheunificationofresidential
and business user requirementsandexpectations.Traditionally,
residential services were about scale
andservicevariety,whereasforbusiness
users, reliability and performancecamefirst.Broadbandtechnologies
have changed this. Today, reliability
is as important for residential
Think about how important broadband
Internet connections are these
days.Ifafixedphonedoesnotwork,a
usergetstheexactsameservicefroma
mobile phone. Today, if the broadbandInternetconnectionfailsthereis
noalternative.
Greaterexpectations
The unification of business and residential
requirements generates
greater expectations. For example,
Internet users expect their voice and
videoservicestobeavailablewherever
theuserisonwhateverdeviceisbeing
used.Onlythescreensize–thedifference
between a 2" cell phone screen
anda42"LCD–nottheconnection,
limitstheviewer’sexperience.
Eachusercanreceiveindividual,personalisedtelevisionandvideocontent.
VideooverIP,IPTV,willletonewatch
the10o’clocknewsatanytime–can
we still call it the 10 o’clock news –
and permit interaction between the
network,otherusersandotherapplications.
Today’s cable or satellite systems are
unidirectional. Broadband IP makes
two-way communication, including
fully interactive television, possible.
Interaction could vary from online
voting regarding a show’s content, to
directingandselectingdifferentcameraanglesduringWorldCupfootball.
New broadband IP applications,
including interactivity, will drive revenue
growth as full service telecom
operators begin to offer ‘one-stop
shops’.
The next way to enhance the user
experience is to make the broadband
IP network ‘subscriber aware’. The
system should recognize each user,
andusersession,tocontrolthequality
of the service and personalise the
userexperience.
In many countries, people pay relativelylittletoseeagreatmanychannels.NewbroadbandIPTVandVideo
on Demand services will have to be
affordable and comparably priced.
Giventhepricesensitivity,telcosmust
continuetodelivertraditionalservices
economically despite the addition of
newservices.Thiswillonlybepossible
using an integrated IP-based triple
play,voice,dataandvideo,network.
With broadband IP technology movingaheadrapidly,telcoswillbeableto
consolidate their networks and combine
strategies to offer an advanced
user experience through a subscriber
awarenetwork.
Byofferingeachuseranarrayoftailor-madeservicesviaacosteffective,
highly controllable and highly available
broadband IP infrastructure
everyonewins.
Withnewindividualizedservicessoon
to be a reality, and the strategies at
handfortheoperator,willthe‘bigbad
Telco’ and its customers end up as
closefriendsItcouldverywellbethe
case,astherewillbeonlywinners.
38

User and developer communities
IT has entered the participation age
by Darrell Jordan-Smith, Vice President, Global Telecommunications, Sun Microsystems
Thegrowthofmobilecommunications,voiceanddata,ishelpingtocreatebothcommunitiesofusersandcommunitiesofapplicationsdeveloperstoserveuserneeds.The
participants in these communities are driving change, creating new businesses, new
socialservicesandanewnetworkeconomywithgrowthfuelledbysharingandcollaboration.Carriersfacingdecliningvoicerevenuesarecountinguponthesenewdevelopmentstoprovidecompellingnewservicesthatbuildrevenuesandreducechurn.
DarrellJordan-SmithisresponsibleforSun'sstrategyandprofilewithintheglobaltelecommunications
industry.AppointedinOctober2004,MrJordan-Smithprovidesstrategicmarketleadershipandhelps
definesolutionsforcustomersthatexploitindustrytrendstoaddresstheirkeybusinessandtechnology
issues.Beforehiscurrentrole,heestablishedandledtheVodafoneglobalaccountteam,responsiblefor
the business relationship with the Vodafone Group across 50 countries. Over the years, Mr Jordan-
Smith has developed a reputation for innovative business development practices targeted at helping
serviceprovidersincreaseARPU,driveoutcostandrealizefullreturnsfromITinvestments.BeforejoiningSunin2000,MrJordan-SmithheldseniorsalesandmanagementroleswithintheAT&TGroupof
companiesincludingLucent,NCR,AT&TBCSandAT&TCommunications.
NowbasedintheUSA,DarrellJordan-SmithholdsanMScandMBAfromtheUniversityofGlasgow.
The pace of communications technologiesischangingevermorerapidly.Notjustinsmallways,butinvery
powerful ways that are putting the
development of communications
applications,suchasVoIPandmobile
contentservices,inthehandsofmany
newplayers.
We can call this new era the
Participation Age, where given dramatically
lowered barriers to entry,
plummeting device prices and nearuniversal
connectivity, subscribers
andothersaredrivinganewroundof
networkparticipation.
Baseduponhandset-drivencommunicationssuchasSMSmessagestoweb
services, participants are forming
communitiesthatdrivechange,create
new businesses, new social services
andnewdiscoveries.
This network economy growth is
fuelled by sharing and collaboration
among communities interconnected
bytechnologyanddrivenbypurpose.
Sharing and collaboration in the
ParticipationAgewillstimulateinnovation
and help participants around
theworldgrowandprosper.
Global carriers look to their equipmentandsoftwaresuppliersforproductsandservicesthatwillhelppeople
aroundtheworldparticipateinsomething
bigger. Suppliers need to focus
uponhelpingcarriersimproveoperations,
cut costs in their data centres
anduponsupplyingtoolsandservice
deliveryplatforms,sothatcarrierscan
createcompellingnewapplications.
WhatEMEAcarriersface
While all can participate in making
things better as a community,
telecommunications executives, realistically,mustfocusuponthebottom
line.Costreductioniscurrentlyabig
concernforEMEAtelecomoperators.
They need ways to consolidate their
infrastructures, to save money and
freeupresourcestoinvestindevelopingnewservicesanddrivingmorerevenue.
Voicerevenuesaredeclining,sotelecom
operators need to reduce churn
and derive additional revenues from
existing customers. Accordingly, the
telecom operators’ top priority is
developing compelling and popular
servicesfortheirsubscribers.
Vendors can assist carriers with cost
reductionsandinnovativeofferingsof
incremental revenue-generating services.
Providing developers with powerful
software creation tools enables
them easily and rapidly to develop
compelling and marketable applicationsnotjust‘metoo’copiesofexistingservices.Thatiswhatparticipation
isabout.
Networkoperatorsbattleconstantlyto
increasetheirARPU(averagerevenue
peruser)andAMPU(averagemargin
peruser)whiledecreasingchurnrate.
EMEA’s wireless operators are working
to make it easy for customers to
discover and use the new data and
messagingservicestheyofferthatprovideaccesstoentertainment,informationandcommunicationchannels.
39

Africa’s most
comprehensive
RFID event
25 – 28 October 2005
Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
Keynote speakers
Raymond
Chegwidden
Solutions Architect
Nissan, South Africa
Johan Stoop
Senior Manager – MES
Assembly
Toyota, South Africa
Lynne Stewart
Manager
GS1, South Africa
Tracking
Co-located with
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Organised by
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Terrapinn0181

User and developer communities
Fixed-line telecoms are examining
waysofutilisingtheirnetworkstoprovideasmanynewservicesaspossible,
tocounteractvoicerevenuedecline.
Fixed-line operators are competing
against the decreasing price and
increasing reliability of mobile calls,
and the tendency of many mobile
userstochoosetohavejustonephone
andonenumber.Theyarealsofighting
the threat from cable companies
that offer triple play, television, telephone
and broadband, services combined.
Fixed-line operators are fighting
back with attractive bundles of
broadbandaccess,cheapervoicecalls,
soontocomeIPTV(InternetProtocol
television) and, at times, mobile
telephony.
Today,applications,servicesanddigitalcontentareincreasinglytargetedto
eachspecificcustomer,sotheimportanceofcustomeridentityandidentitymanagementisgrowingforoperators,
content owners and customers.
Today, too, telecommunications is
highly virtualised because of packetbased
communications, VoIP, GSM,
CDMA,etc.Thewirelineisgone,and
withitthedirectconnectionbetween
carrierandcustomer.Whatremainsis
thedigitalidentityoftheconsumer.
Telecommunicationsservicesareconverging,
and so are digital identity
services. For example, the IP
Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) architecture’s
HSS (Home Subscriber
Server), the network database that
identifies the user, especially while
roaming, to the local system, is the
growthareaforthemoderncarrier.
ThecarrierviewinEMEA
andUSA
In 2005, EMEA carriers are working
torebuildprofitability.Theyareevaluating
IMS deployment while maintaining
legacy networks. Many carriers
will also begin IPTV exploration
anddeployment.Thetopthreeissues
fortelecomsinEMEA,asforallbusinesses,
are: ways to reduce cost and
complexity, the quick and efficient
delivery of new services (i.e., voice,
data,pictureandvideo)andreturning
to,andmaintaining,profitability.
In the future, it will be the servers,
storage,softwareandservicesthatwill
make it possible to offer the ‘one-tomany’
or ‘machine-to-machine’ messagingservices,themobilewebservices
and the enterprise-class applicationsthatwilldriverevenueandusage
during the coming years. Partnering
"Today, applications,
services and digital
content are increasingly
targeted to each
specific customer, so
the importance of customer
identity and identity
management is
growing for operators,
content owners and
customers."
between equipment makers, software
vendors and carriers offering managed
services is alive and well in the
USA.Thefocusisuponbringingcapabilities
and services to market based
upon the IMS convergence architecture,VoIPapplications,videoconferencing,multi-playergamingandringtonedownloads,alltogivethecarriers
moretosellthanplainoldvoice.
Worldwide, rollouts of IMS are just
beginning.IMSrequiresanewgeneration
of carrier-grade hardware platforms,
next-generation blade platforms,capableofsupportingthehighbandwidth
telecom services that they
support. Blade server technology is
makinggreatinroadsintocarrierdata
centres. It is particularly suited to
optimise voice and data convergence
on next-generation networks.
Enterprise software, running on
advancedoperatingsystemsthatmanageidentityprofilesandpermissions,
provides operators with a solid foundationtodevelopIMSapplications.
Java,acasestudyfor
community
The community and participation
modelisevidentinthemanycompaniesandindustriesthathavespunoff
from Java. Java created an environment
that facilitated great growth in
applicationsdevelopment,byenabling
the communities of developers who
took open development platforms to
heart.Businessapplications,information
gateways and massively scalable
networkgames,whichsimplydidnot
exist before the widespread adoption
ofJava,arenowincommonuse.
Securitymustbebuiltintoeverything
these days, not just provided as
optional add-ons – you must bake
securityintoproductsatthedevelopment
stage. The Java platform, for
example,wasdevelopedwithsecurity
asafundamentalprinciple,soitcannotbeusedtocarryorspreadviruses
to the operating system or a phone.
Java’sopenmodelmakesitappealing
to developers and carriers, who seek
low development and ongoing operationalcosts.
Ovumprojectsworldwidemobiledata
servicesrevenuesofUS$137billionby
2008. That means the market will
growroughly21percentannuallyfor
the next four years! With more than
700 million Java-enabled handsets
deployed,theJavadevelopercommunity
will grow to develop the new
applications this growing market
demands.
Economicandsocial
progress
NotallofplanetEarth’scitizenshave
equal access to technology. Not just
governments, but large global firms
need to dedicate themselves to
improving network accessibility and
eradicating the digital divide.
Enablinganewwaveofnetworkparticipants,betheydevelopingapplicationsforhealthcare,education,manufacturing
or gamers, will deliver
untoldeconomicandsocialprogress.
AttheUnitedNationsthispastJune,
wejoinedotherscommittedtophilanthropiceffortstodriveparticipationin
this new age. China, India, Ethiopia,
South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya
received millions of dollars in
Academic Excellence Grants and
donations during the last two years,
and tens of thousands of students in
China now have free access to webbased
courses. These and other programmes
focusing specifically on
increasing participation will continue
under the Share the Opportunity
umbrella.
Today, those without an education
andthosewithoutaccesstocomputers
mustalsoplayapartinthegrowing,
interconnected,communitythatleverages
the Internet, technology and
tools.Theywillhelpdefinetheneeds,
the applications and services that
build better lives, a better economy
andabettersocietyforall.
They too, and their children, will be
part of the next generation of engineers,
scientists, diplomats, business
leaders, journalists, artists and consumers.Theyneedthenetworktoparticipateinthenewinformationsociety.Weareworkinghardtoexpandthe
opportunities for everyone irrespectiveofculture,nationalityoreconomicmeans.
41

Designing
Future Business
Think forward
Detecon International is one of the world’s leading consultancies in the field of
information and communications technology (ICT). Our consulting expertise is
based on a comprehensive understanding of markets, business transactions and
technologies that has been proven worldwide. On the basis of this unique expertise
in the ICT field and our integrated approach of management and technology
consulting we advise international telecommunication companies, high-tech firms
and governments as well as organizations that deal with regulation and competition
issues. We offer these clients a comprehensive, integral consulting portfolio over the
entire market life cycle - from the adaptation of regulation policies in the forefront
of the sector liberalization over top level management and technology consultancy
during start-up, growth and consolidation up to interim management.
To find out more about Detecon please visit us at:
www.detecon.com
info@detecon.com
Consulting
DETECON

Mobile convergence
Emerging opportunities in a destructive environment
by Raghu Rau, Corporate Vice President, Global Marketing and Strategy, Networks, Motorola
TheInternet-basedcommunicationsstandardsandthedigitisationofcontentunderpin
convergenceinthetelecomssector.Thesemergingtrendsareoftenconsidered‘destructive’becauseoftheimpactofconvergenceupontraditionalbusinessmodels.Traditional
mobileandfixed-linebusinessmodelscannolongerprotectandgrowbusinessinan
environmentthatismuchmorecompetitive.Convergenceisachallenge,butitalsoprovidesarangeofopportunities.TheintegrationofIPtechnologyintotelecomsnetworks
isahighlyconstructive,notdestructive,development.
RaghuRauisCorporateVicePresidentofGlobalMarketingandStrategyforMotorolaNetworks.Heis
involvedinthedevelopmentofstrategicplansforthenetworksbusinessaswellasmanagingtheglobal
marketing of communications solutions to wireless and wireline carriers worldwide. Mr Rau has
morethan17yearsexperienceinthetelecommunicationsindustry.HehasheldassignmentsinAsia,
EuropeandtheUnitedStates,andhaspriorexperiencewithmultinationalcorporationsandtheestablishmentofstart-ups.MrRauhasguestlecturedatreputeduniversitiesworldwideandhasspokenat
numerousindustryconferences.
Raghu Rau earned a bachelor's degree in Engineering and an MBA from the Indian Institute of
Management,Ahmedabad.
Of all the changes underway in network
development, two are very
important. The first is speed of connection.
Whether it is a mobile company,fixed-lineplayerornewentrant
seeking to provide wireless broadband,
speeds to the handset will
increasewithinthenext18monthsto
1-1.5Mpbs. That is comparable to
compressing the capabilities of a
fixed-line broadband-connected PC
intoamobilehandset.
Secondly, telecoms companies are
integrating IP technologies that can
marry previously independent networks
using the same IP core platform.Thisdevelopmentenablesusers
to access services in a more intuitive
andflexiblemanner.
Other advances are also important.
Digitisation of content is shrinking
moreintolessmakingiteasiertosend
video, music and images. Content is
becomingmorediverse.Mediaowners
areseekingfreshwaystodelivertheir
productwhileprogrammemakersare
seekingtobroadcastmini-versionsof
shows to mobile devices. Consumers
arealsobecomingmorefamiliarwith
digitaltechnologies.TheiPodanddigital
camera generation now expect
consumer devices to offer a richer
experience with multi-function applications.
Mobile devices with larger coloured
screens, higher-resolution digital and
video cameras, and hard disk capacitiesthatrivalMP3playersaremeeting
this demand. Devices are also more
intelligent, providing highly intuitive
interfaces that will influence user
behaviour,encouragingconsumersto
access content from their mobile
deviceratherthanfromtheirPC.
These developments will support
more advanced services and interactivity
for consumers that are tailored
totheirlocationandusagedemands.
Advancedservices
Services will especially improve in
three areas: person-to-person communication,
entertainment and businessapplications.
Thanks to exciting developments in
Push-to-X services, communication
between individuals and groups will
advance. Push-to-X utilises an
‘always-on’ handset to provide single
button access to a range of products,
toinstantlysnapandsendaphotoor
videotoanindividualorgrouporcontactpeopleintheirarea(whowillbe
visible on the handset) and receive
directionsonhowtofindthem.They
canconferencewithagroupoffriends
asifusingawalkie-talkie,andbeable
to Push-to-Ask their handset a question,
or to alert them to events when
theyhappen–astockpriceevent,the
snow’s falling, the surf’s up or when
plane tickets become available at a
predeterminedprice.
Entertainment will be enhanced
throughhigh-speedInternetaccess.A
consumerwillbeabletobuyatrackor
albumthatheorshehaslistenedtoon
ahandset’sradio,atouchofabutton
willdownloadthetrackinlessthana
43

Mobile convergence
minute. Enhanced data transmission
speedswillalsosupportrichergames,
similar in game-play to today’s dedicated
handheld consoles. With
enhanced video codecs (coderdecoders)
enabling movie clips to be
easilyaccessed,subscriberswilltravel
with a games console, jukebox, video
conferencingandvideolibrarydevice.
Wireless broadband, on the go, will
enable travellers to check traffic,
reviewlocalrestaurantsandreservea
table, and, whilst waiting for a meetingorplane,watchthenewsonbroadbandTVordownloadanewgame.
Businessuserswillbenefitfromubiquitous,
enriched, intuitive mobile
communication. There
will be one-button
access to mobile video
and voice conferencing,
while emails with
attachments can be
accessed and sent.
Fully mobile connections
will have an
always-on high-speed
link to the corporate
networkforimpressive
productivity and efficienciesgains.
The services outlined
are compelling productsinthemselvesand
offeragenuinechange
in performance for
businesses and consumers alike. The
‘seamless mobility’ environment will
offeruninterrupted,always-onaccess
to information, entertainment and
communication, when, where and
how consumers want it regardless of
device,networkorlocation.
Seamlessmobility
The newly integrated IP core technologiesattheheartofnetworkswill
connect new and legacy service systems.Networkswillbeabletohandle
a user request intelligently to ensure
thattheoptimumdeliverytechnology
is automatically assigned to the
device. For example, if a person is
accessingtheInternetusingamobile
device while walking down a street,
the wireless network will supply the
service.
As they walk into a coffee shop with
hot-spotaccess,thesessionwillautomaticallyswapover.Ifanexecutiveis
onaconferencecallandneedstodrive
thechildrentoschool,thecallcanbe
carriedovertothecar.Iftheyarelistening
to the car radio, users can
pausetheprogrammewhiletheypark
andwalkintothehousebeforepressing‘resume’onthehomestereo.
Such seamless mobility works with
users to meet their communications
demands with a range of rich and
compellingproducts,athome,atwork
or on the move. The new experience
theseservicesprovideaddressesconcerns
over its prospects, particularly
regarding voice ARPUs (average revenue
per user). Analysts, once again,
predict a strong period of growth for
telecomscompaniesinboththefixed
and wireless markets. Data services,
especially, show huge potential (see
Figure1).
Figure 1: Mobile broadband alone shows huge promise.
Services,however,aretheicingonthe
cake. The foundations of success will
rely on technology integration,
realignment of business models and
pricingstructures.
Enablingtechnologies–the
core
There are several important enabling
technologies at the heart of flexible,
high-speed service provision. The
increasing integration of IP systems
into network cores, in particular, the
Internet Protocol-based IP
Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), provides
flexibility for the automatic
transfer of services between
Bluetooth, mobile, wireless LAN and
fixed telecoms environments. Since
IMS uses common protocols, it
becomes easier for customers to
access–andoperatorstobillcontent
providedbymediaowners.Moreover,
IMS automatically connects to the
bestavailablenetwork.
Handsets will use another Internetsourced
technology, Session Internet
Protocol (SIP). The ‘session’ is effectivelyarequestforaservicefromthe
handset,beitforasimplevoicecall,a
video or a voice-only conference
between colleagues. SIP’s inherent
adaptability makes it attractive.
Services are available simultaneously
so a customer can select the most
appropriatecombinationofmediafor
their communications needs (video,
voice,textorinstantmessage)inreal
time.
Accesstechnologies
A range of new standards-approved
access technologies lets operators
increasenetworkefficiencyandspeed
connections to end users. The most
prominent are the
W o r l d w i d e
Interoperability for
Microwave Access
(WiMAX), CDMA
1xEV-DO and High-
SpeedDownlinkPacket
Access technology
(HSDPA).Allwilloffer
broadband, or higher,
speeds to devices.
HSDPA and EV-DO
will primarily be
applied to 3G-andbeyondnetworkswhile
WiMAXwillbeusedin
metropolitan areas to
support wireless data
andVoiceoverInternet
Protocol (VoIP) applications.
WiMAX permits fixed-line
companies to offer low cost broadband
and VoIP services, but can also
give mobile operators enhanced network
capacities and additional transportoptionstosupportdataandVoIP
services.
CDMA 1xEV-DO embraces convergencethroughanexpandingrangeof
IP-basedfeatures.Itenablestheprovision
of advanced wireless services
and applications and as it is a more
efficienttechnologyofferingenhanced
system capacity, lowers acquisition
and management costs. Peak downloadspeedsare2.4Megabitspersecond
– with average speeds of 300 to
500Kilobitspersecondtothemobile
device–letoperatorstakefulladvantageofmultimediaservicesandapplications.
In addition to high-speed data, the
threetechnologiespromiselowacquisition
costs due to their standardsbased
equipment, which will encouragecompetitionbetweenmanufacturers
and improve the ability of networkstoenhanceinvestmentreturns.
The technologies are at different
stagesofdevelopment.SeveralCDMA
44

Mobile convergence
1xEV-DO handsets and cellular gateways
are already available to operators.Thestandardisevolvingandthe
next release termed ‘EV-DO Rev A’,
that will commence carrier testing in
2006, will enhance quality of service
for low latency applications such as
Push-to-X services, instant messaging,fullmultimediacontentandinteractive
gaming. HSDPA trials are
underway now with networks in
Europe planning launches this year,
withmomentumbuildingin2006/7.
WiMAXequipmentiscurrentlybeing
installed to lower the cost of fixed
backhaul services. Trials are now
starting for the next generation of
WiMAXstandardstermed‘revisionE’,
thatwillextendthetechnologytosupport
data and voice mobility.
Commercialmarketlaunchisexpectedin2006/07.Theseservicescanbe
extendedbeyondthehomeandenterpriseasmobiledevicesthatarecompliant
with ‘revision E’ standards for
transmission equipment become
availablein2007andbeyond.
Thelaunchofnewhigh-speedservices
will gather pace over the next 12-18
months.Interestwillbedrivenbyconsumer
demand, demonstrated by
fixed-line broadband, for high-speed
dataservicesandthemotivatingeffect
ofcompetition.
Businessplanning
Attheheartofconcernsoverconvergenceliesflexibility.Theeaseofprovisioning
high-speed wireless networks
removes the traditional boundaries
thatrequireacustomertohavedifferentcontractsformobile,ISPandlandline
services. This development will
havealiberatingeffectonthemarket
– there is no doubt that competition
willencouragecompaniestoinvestin
newtechnologiestoprotectandgrow
subscribernumbers.
NewVoIPcompaniesareaconcernfor
traditional networks but it’s unlikely
that any one sector of the telecoms
market will secure clear dominance.
However, success can be achieved
throughastuteassessmentsofservice
requirements, coupled with flexible
servicepackagesandtariffs.Atthetop
endofthescalewillbeaservicelevel
thatprovides‘onenumber’communicationsencompassingallacustomer’s
requirements.
Individual products can also be marketed,
from broadband through to
voiceoverIPandmobilepackages.It
is likely that major fixed and mobile
brandswithlargenumbersofexisting
subscriberswillpushhardtoprovide
‘one number’ services. This will
become a highly competitive front as
thenewhigh-speeddatatechnologies
comeon-stream.
Constructivedevelopments
Convergenceisdramaticallychanging
thetelecomsmarketandmobile,fixed
andISPplayersfaceaperiodofuncertainty.
However, while it is understandable,
given the level of change,
that industry observers refer to the
‘destruction’ of traditional modes of
business. Astute risk assessment,
though,alongwithin-depthcustomer
profilingcanmitigateinvestmentrisk.
Moreover,asIPtechnologyprovidesa
modular investment option, companiescanscalequicklytomeetchanges
in service demand and to counter
competitoractivity.
It is a cliché that challenge brings
opportunity, but the statement certainlyappliestotechnicalconvergence
that, combined with the progress of
digitisation, brings unprecedented
opportunity for telecoms companies
to provide a new product that consumers
have already shown they are
keen to utilise. Indeed, networks can
create new ways to deepen customer
loyalty,attractnewcustomers,reduce
churnandrealisenewsourcesofrevenue.
Convergence provides creative freedomforcontentandmediaownersto
develop new ways to distribute their
products.Thisnewcycleofinnovation
may well exceed that achieved at the
startoftheInternetrevolution.
Convergence is also having a major
impactonsociety.Peoplewillcommunicate,
interact and collaborate on
personaldigitalcontentcustomisedto
personal preferences, location, circumstances
and availability. Vehicles
andtheiroccupantswillcommunicate
with the world they travel through
keeping them safe, informed and
entertained.
Convergence will also have a liberatingeffectonproductivityandefficiency.
Executives will access fully functioningmobileofficesthatprovidethe
sameuserexperienceasafixed,officebased,connection.Theywillbeableto
communicatewithcolleaguesthrough
voice, video and dedicated collaboration
applications that provide the
scopetoachievemoreinlesstime.Itis
alsohavingamajorimpactinstreamliningbusinessbysupportingubiqui-
tousaccesstodata,andbyintroducing
newwaystosense,monitorandcontrol
the physical world to enhance
supply chains and make manufacturingprocessesmoreefficient.
The impact of convergence suggests
that the ‘destruction’ of traditional
businessmodelsinthetelecomsmarketwillhavealiberatingeffect.Itconstructs
a new platform to create and
market products, attract and retain
customers, and apply technology to
transform the way people communicate
to make their lives easier. That,
after all, is the goal of technology
innovators.
An insight into
the future!
You are a decision
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Gain insight into how
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of us all.
46

Mobile value-added services
Voice-based value-added services: delivering on their
promises
by Marshall Kavesh, co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, European Computer Telecoms Group (ECT)
Voice-basedvalue-addedservicesareincreasinglypresentinourlives.Customisedringbacktones,numberportability,hotline-likeservicenumbersarebutafewoftheservices
readilyavailablethroughoutpartsofEurope.Mobileofficeservicesgiveusersmanyof
an office’s fixed-line features – switchboard attendant services, enterprise numbering
plansandcallforwarding–throughamobilephone.Newer,web-drivenvideoservices
includemobilevideoconferencingandvideomail.Telecomprovidersexpectthesenew
serviceswillgenerateanewrevenuegrowthwave.
Marshall Kavesh is ECT’s Board Chairman, CEO and one of its three founders. Together with Hans
Huber,thecompany’sCTO,hedevelopedthebasisforECT’snext-generationswitchingtechnology.Dr
KaveshpreviouslyfoundedRedShepherdSoftwareGmbH,whichdeveloped,amongothers,adatabase
systemtoadministerallofSiemens’Hicomproducts,aswellasaSalesAdministrationSystem.Heset
upatranslationservicecalledRedShepherdTranslationsGmbH,whichspecialisesintechnicaltranslationsandsoftwarelocalisationinover20languagesanddoesworkforavarietyofcompanies,includingSiemens,Oracle,DeTeWeandSoftek.Beforethat,hedesignedsystemsoftwareforIBMandSiemens,
and developed CTI systems based on technologies created by Natural Microsystems, Aculab und
Dialogic.
Marshall Kavesh earned a PhD in Social System Sciences from the Wharton School of Business in
Philadelphia,Pennsylvania,andcontinuedwithpostdoctoralstudiesinMathematicalLogicatLudwig-
MaximilianUniversityinMunich.HealsohasaMasterofArts(MA)degreeinGermanicLanguagesand
Literatures..
Voice-based value-added services are
everywhere you look and anywhere
you go these days. They are a major
success for operators and carriers
aroundtheworld.Voice-basedvalueadded
services are also increasingly
omnipresentinthedailylivesofboth
consumers and businesses. One way
oranother,theaverageconsumerregularly
comes into contact with voicebasedvalue-addedservices.
There are consumers who close their
eyestomobiletelephonyanditsvast
rangeofservices,butformostvoicebased
value-added services, it would
simplify and strongly enhance countlessareasoftheirlivesathomeandat
work.
Voice-based value-added services
meet crucial challenges that private
customersandbusiness-worldclients
alike pose to carriers and other telecomcompaniesandtothecompanies
that supply them. These days, consumers
expect customised, individualised
products and services. They
want to tailor or select the hardware
and software features that turn a
mobile phone into their unique
mobile.Forconsumers,themorepersonalised
a product or service is, the
better.
Ring-backtones
Infewareasisthistrendmoreprevalent
than in mobile telephony.
Services such as the ring-back tone
provide consumers with customisation
and individuality. Let us look at
the ring-back tone. For close to 100
years, callers have heard the same
monotonous ringing sound while
waitingforthereceivingpartytopick
up.Withcustomisedring-backtones,
mobile subscribers can now use just
about any sound file in place of the
traditionalring-backtone.
Using this service, subscribers can
customise the ring-back tone that a
caller hears as a call is being set up.
Thattonecanbeacurrentchart-toppingpopsong,ajokeorevenavoice
message. Moreover, ring-back tone
subscribers can fine-tune their ringbacktones,customisingtonesforindividualcallersorcallergroups.
When discretion is important, the
ring-back tone offers an important
advantage – a caller cannot identify
thesubscriber’slocationsince,instead
ofastandardnationalring-backtone
that gives away the caller’s whereabouts,sheorhehearsthecustomised
ring-back tone. In addition, the ringbacktoneisausefulwaytochannela
company’s advertisements. Over the
pastfewyears,thisvoice-basedvalueaddedservicehassoaredinpopularity.
Millions of mobile users across
Europe, from Scandinavia to Turkey,
are using the ring-back tone service,
which has emerged as a major revenue
maker for carriers across the
continent.
Conferencing
Another voice-based value-added
service, conferencing, meanwhile,
erasesalltypesofboundariesandbar-
47

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Dieter Staudacher, Senior Analyst, Legal Department,
Austrian Regulatory Authority for Broadcasting and
Telecommunication (RTR)
Bernhard Mayr, Head of Technical Regulatory Aspects,
Telekom Austria
Jukka Rakkolainen, Communications Expert, ERO
Mikko Mattinen, Product Director, Content Services, Elisa
Jon Haskins, Senior Regulatory Analyst , Orange
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Core Network Planning , T-Mobile Hungary
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Mobile value-added services
riers that distance and time zones
used to create for international companies
and their employees. These
days,acompany’sboardcan‘convene’
viateleconferencingwithouthavingto
flyaroundtheworld.Generally,voicebased
services, such as mobile office
and conferencing, add an entirely
new,previouslyunimaginable,dimensionofmobilityandmobileavailability
– a key benefit in an increasingly
fast-pacedandfluctuatingglobalbusinessenvironment.
Mobile office provides a user with a
complete range of his or her office’s
fixed-line features – switchboard
attendant services, enterprise numbering
plans and call-handling features
such as call forwarding –
through a mobile phone. As a result,
userscan,inessence,taketheiroffices
withthemwherevertheygo.
From a carrier’s or service provider’s
perspective,mobileoffice,afairlynew
service, and conferencing hold enormouspotentialfornewbusiness,since
they can enter entirely new markets
andgeneratebusinessbyofferingthis
attractiveservicetobusinessclientsat
atimewhenmobilityandglobalavailabilityareatapremium.
Numberportabilityandservice
numbers
Twootherservicesthatmaynotcome
to mind immediately, but which
stronglyaffectthelivesofmanymodern-day
consumers, are number
portability and service numbers.
Given the growing number of mobile
phone users, changes in European
regulations and increasing competitionamongoperatorsforsubscribers,
the ability to switch operators while
keeping the ‘old’ number is increasinglyimportanttomanymobileusers.
Europeanfixed-lineandmobilecarriers
are required to provide number
portability,aservicethatletsthecustomer
keep the same number when
switching providers. Special number
portability applications provide this
service.
IfyouhaveeverwonderedhowquicklypollresultsonaTVshowaregenerated,looknofurtherthantelevoting,
avoice-basedvalue-addedservicethat
allows calls from around the country
oreventhecontinenttobecomputed.
Televotingusestheverysameservice
numbertechnologyasthehotlinesyou
call to resolve a technical problem
with your PC or to book an airline
flight by phone. Over the last few
years,themarketforintelligentservice-number
solutions has grown significantly,andithasnowemergedas
themostimportantrevenuesourcefor
European carriers and service
providers,withfurthergrowthexpecteddowntheroad.
Today, intelligent service-number
solutionsmakeiteasierforcallersto
reachdirectlythepersontheyactually
want to reach in a company.
Consequently, service-numbers have
emergedasanimportantandeffective
instrument in customer relationship
management. They allow users to
strengthentheirrelationshipwithnew
and current customers. Complex and
advancedtechnologicalstructuresare
requiredtomakesuchahotlinehappenandmakeitrunsmoothly.
"The advent of voicebased
value-added
services has provided,
and still provides, a
great stimulus, a big
push, for mobile
operators, providers
and the developers of
solutions."
3Gvideomail
Among the latest cutting-edge developmentsintheindustryare3Gvideo
mail and other related video applications.
These applications offer
advanced video solutions with television-like
quality. Unanswered calls
aredirectedtothevideomailservice,
whichgivethecalleranopportunityto
recordavideomessage.
Theabove-mentionedconferencingis
nowalsoavailablewithvideo,providing
business users and individuals
with an attractive new service. Using
mobile video conferencing, business
conference participants on the move
can see each other no matter where
theyarelocated.
Nottoolongago,thesetypesofapplications
were strictly limited to wireline
communications systems. The
technicalpossibilitiesandthecircleof
potentialuserswere,therefore,limited.
The emergence of the Universal
Mobile Telecommunications System
(UMTS)hasdrasticallychangedthat.
Now used in numerous countries,
UMTShasgeneratedvastnewpoten-
tialformobileoperatorsandthepri-
vateandbusinessconsumerswhouse
theseservices.
The implementation of UMTS is just
oneofthemajorinvestmentsthatcarriers
have made in this important
upcoming market. Deregulation in
most countries has helped drive the
industry’sgrowth.Asaresult,numerous
new services have appeared, and
others will follow over the next few
yearsasnetworkstructuresandbandwidth
availability improves. In additiontowhatisalreadyavailable,there
willbeahostofexcitingandinnovative
new voice-based value-added
services.
www
Alloftoday’svoice-basedvalue-added
servicesgohand-in-handwithanother
major technological development
thatisnowsuchacrucialpartofour
life: the World Wide Web. So much
dependsupontheworldofcyberspace
these days, and just as the web has
simplifiedmanyaspectsofourlife,it
is also simplifying the use of voicebased
services. Administration, configuration,
and customisation of
value-added services can all be done
anywhere on the web in a few easy
steps.
The advent of voice-based valueaddedserviceshasprovided,andstill
provides,agreatstimulus,abigpush,
for mobile operators, providers and
the developers of solutions. The
increasing maturity of the mobile
market means there are less growth
andlessmoneytobemadewithsimple
telephony. Over the last decade,
this has meant that mobile players
needtogeneratenewrevenuestreams
to compensate for weaker voice revenues,andvalue-addedservicesoffer
thatpotential.
Private consumers and business
clients in Europe and other parts of
the world have responded very
favourably to the vast and diverse
range of voice-based value-added
servicesmadeavailabletothem.This
hasbeentrueinmostindividualtelecoms
markets, especially in highly
competitive regions, and to the telecomsindustryasawhole.
Undoubtedly,therearevastopportunities
for voice-based value-added
services, and they will continue to
influence strongly, and simplify, our
lives.
49

Mobile telepnony
Mobile in Botswana – the development edge
by José António Ferreira, CEO, Mascom Wireless, Botswana
Botswana’s mobile penetration is relatively high for Africa. Internet usage is low,
althoughthelatentdemandishigh.Internetgrowthislimitedbyhighprices,limited
access,lowPCpenetration,lackofelectricityinruralregionsandlowtechnicalliteracy.
Although VoIP is officially banned, Botswana has many registered Skype users. The
Botswana Telecommunications Authority is now planning to liberalise and create an
open,competitivemarketthatshouldpavethewayforIPbasedinfrastructureandsolutionsprovidersinBotswana.
JoséAntónioFerreiraistheChiefExecutiveOfficerofMascomWireless,Botswana.Heisamemberof
the ICT Consultative Council, chaired by the Minister of Communications, Science and Technology.
Previously,asHeadofCommercialandMarketingatMascomWireless,MrFerreirawasresponsible
forthelaunchofprepaidandSMSserviceinthecountry.AtPortugalTelecomformorethan20years,
JoséFerreira,wasresponsibleforseveralfixedandmobileareasfortheoperatorinPortugal,Guinea
BissauandBotswana.
Botswana is, for those who have forgottentheirgeographylessons,alandlockedcountryintheSouthernAfrica
and one of the largest producers of
diamondsinworld.TheGDPpercapita
is roughly US$3,000-3,500 per
year,whichishigherthanoursouthern
neighbour, South Africa. It is
about 1/10 of the GDP per capita in
many Western European countries,
but some 10 times higher than some
countries in Southern and Eastern
Africa. Its distribution of income is
amongthemostunevenintheworld.
Botswana has been severely hit by
HIV/AIDS.Officialestimatesindicate
that almost one in three adults
between 16 and 49 years, the most
‘productive’ age group, is HIV-positive.FightingHIV/AIDSisatoppriority
for government, communities,
businessesandcitizensinthecountry.
Botswana, however, is known for its
political and macro-economic stability.
Democratic elections have been
heldsinceindependencefromBritain
in 1966. The overall growth in the
economyhasbeensome5-6percent
in real terms over the last decade.
Moreover, Botswana ranks amongst
theleastcorruptcountries.
All this helps to explain the development
of the ICT sector thus far in
Botswanaandtoassesstheprospects
forthesectorinthefuture.
TheICTsectorinBotswana–
diagnosisandpossiblecure
(whereneeded)
Currently, the telecommunications
industryinBotswanaconsistsof:
- The Botswana Telecommunications
Corporation (BTC), a state-owned
fixedoperatorwhichhadamonopoly
on telecommunications services until
thelate1990s;
-Twomobileoperators,Mascomand
Orange, which compete on equal
termstosupplymobilevoiceanddata
services;
-11licensedpublicdataserviceoperators
and 11 licensed private network
operators. Public data service
providerscanprovidetheirowninfrastructure,
both national and international,andleaselinestoISPsandprivatedatanetworkoperators;
- 22 licensed ISPs, which include
Botsnet, a subsidiary of BTC, UUNet
Botswana, a subsidiary of MCI and
BytesTechnologyGroup.Manyofthe
ISPs also operate as data network
service and/or infrastructure
providers.
The regulatory body, Botswana
TelecommunicationsAuthority(BTA),
was set up in 1996 when the current
Telecommunications Act came into
force.AnewICTpolicyisunderdevelopment,
and amended sector legislation
is expected to take into account
technological and market convergence.
In past years, the number of mobile
subscribershasgrownstronglywhilst
the number of fixed line services has
remained rather static. Mobile penetration
overtook fixed penetration in
year2000(Figure1).
ByFebruary2005,mobilesubscribers
had increased to some 569,000 and
50

Mobile telepnony
claim there are now between 20,000
and 40,000 Internet subscribers in
Botswana, split roughly equally
betweenthecorporatemarketandthe
‘massmarket’ofconsumersandsmall
businesses.
A number of indicators suggest that
latent demand for Internet is high.
Botswana has a high level of literacy
and many people with international
activities; nevertheless, a number of
factors constrain Internet usage
growth.
Short-termgrowthconstraintsinclude:
-ThehighpriceofglobalInternetconnectivity;
Figure 1: Development of number of subscribers since 1999. Source: Botswana
Telecommunications Authority (BTA) (Figures are for end of March each year).
the number of fixed subscribers was
about136,000,accordingtotheBTA.
This implies a mobile penetration of
around34percentandafixedpenetration
of some eight per cent. The
mobile penetration puts Botswana
aheadofmostotherAfricancountries,
butwayshortofmostcountriesinthe
EU.
TakingintoaccounttheGDPpercapitaandcomparingthemobilepenetrationtosimilarcountriesinmacro-economicterms,revealsthatweareprettymuchinthemiddleofthebunch,as
Figure 2 shows. It must, though, be
remembered that Botswana is an
extremelysparselypopulatedcountry
withthanthreeinhabitantsperkm.
Fixedlinepenetrationgivesaslightly
different picture. Botswana has not
performed as well in increasing the
fixed penetration given the country’s
overall economic situation and businessactivity.AccordingtoITUstatistics,werankwellbelowaveragewhen
compared to countries with similar
GDPpercapita.
Lowfixedlinepenetrationisnotnecessarily
a problem when it comes to
voice services, since mobile penetration
is so relatively high, but it does
hinder public access to Internet and
web-basedinformationservices.
Currently, Internet penetration is
much lower than what could be
expected. Levels of Internet use in
Botswana are low compared with
othercountrieswithsimilarGDPper
head (Figure 4). ITU data from two
years ago indicates that there were
some 60,000 Internet users in
Botswana. Internet service providers
- Limited availability of global
Internet connectivity. Today, file
transfers from foreign servers are
oftenaslowas2-3Kbpersecond,but
upgradesoftheinternationalfacilities
areinprogress;
-Highcostsofenduseraccess–high
usage residential users often pay 100
per month or more including subscriptiontotheISP,usingeitherPSTN
dial-up service or fixed wireless
access, rebalancing of prices to cost
willstrengthenthisconstraint;
-ThelackofanInternetexchangein
Botswana means that a high proportionofemailsareroutedinternationally,usingscarceandexpensiveglobal
Internetconnectivity;
-Thelowlevelsoffixedlinepenetration.
Long-term growth is constrained by
otherfactorsincluding:
-LowPCpenetration;
- Lack of electricity to power PCs in
manyruralareahomes;
-Lowlevelsoflocalcontent;
-LowITandInternetliteracy.
Figure 2: A benchmark of mobile penetration in Botswana. Source: Ovum based on ITU statistics.
Currently,datanetworkoperatorsand
ISPs are banned, through a clause in
theirlicences,fromusingtheInternet
tocarryvoicecallseithernationallyor
internationally. However, there are
clear indications that end users are
ignoring this ban and making VoIP
callsanyway.Trafficstatisticssupport
thishypothesisandasignificantnumber
of Botswana’s Internet users are
registeredusersofSkype.Itisestimatedthat10-15percentoftheoutgoing
international traffic already is VoIP,
which, if accurate, raises concerns
52

Mobile telepnony
substantial investment considering
the small market in Botswana. There
is optimism, however, about the take
upofGPRSandEDGE-basedservices.
Acompellingofferandpricingmodel,
inaccordancewiththelocaleconomy,
willcontributetothewideravailabilityofservices,andpromotethespread
of the Internet and ICT among the
population – which is one of the pillarsofthecountry’s‘Vision2016’.
Figure 3: A benchmark of fixed line penetration in Botswana. Source: Ovum based on ITU statistics.
over what will happen when it is
allowed.
There is little doubt that IP-based
providers could take a significant
share of both international and
nationaltrafficoncefullyliberalised.
So,wheredowegonow
Following a major study and public
consultations,theBTAisnowformulating
its final plan for liberalisation,
which, once approved by parliament,
willshapethestructureoftheindustry
foryearstocome.Theplanistoliberaliseallmarketsegmentswithin12to
18 months. Expectations are that it
willleadtoafullyopenmarketmore
competitive market to the benefit of
users.
First and foremost, it will be important
to remove existing bottlenecks
and allow competition on facilities
and services that are currently
monopolised. This includes, amongst
others, allowing alternative international
gateway providers using IPbasedtechnology.
Amajorconcernisthelackofalternativesforinternationaltraffic.Thereis
only one international gateway.
Internationally, although the cost of
capacityhascomedowntremendouslyoverthelastyears,thathasnotyet
showninthewholesaleratesforinternational
traffic in Botswana.
Ultimately, the end users are losing
fromthissituation.
Therefore, once the plan for an open
market has been approved, the path
should be paved for IP-based infrastructure
and solutions providers in
Botswana, be it national or internationalservicesorboth.
GPRSandEDGEarejustabouttobe
launchedinBotswana;thiscalledfora
We welcome you
comments...
If you have any
comments or
opinions about this
issue’s theme, IP –
Intelligent Positioning
for the growth,
as it affects Africa
and the Middle East
and beyond,
we would like to hear
from you.
Send us your
comments.
Simply complete the
reply card and fax it
to our editorial team.
Fax number:
+44 20 7474 0900
or send an email to:
editorial@connect-world.com
Figure 4: A benchmark of Internet penetration in Botswana. Source: Ovum based on ITU statistics.
53

Mobile telephony
What mobile telephony brings to Uganda
by Noel Meier, CEO, MTN Uganda
NinetypercentofUganda’s1,200,000telephonesaremobile.Sevenyearsago,fewer
than 10 per cent of Ugandans had ever made a phone call. Today, access is available
throughoutthecountryand,despitethelow,fivepercentpenetration,almost90per
centofUganda’sinhabitantshaveaccesstoandusethesystem.Thisremarkableturnaroundisduemainlytowirelesstechnology.Today,thecompetitivemobileoperator,
whichbeganoperationsjustsevenyearsago,isnowthesecondgreatestsingletaxpayer
inUganda.
Noel Meier is the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Uganda. He served previously as the CEO of MTN
Swaziland,andheadedtheimplementationteamsthatestablishedMTN’sGSMoperationsinRwanda
andUganda.ActingasCEOforbothoperations,MrMeierinitiatedthestartupprocessuntilhandover
topermanentCEOappointees.HebeganhiscareeratMTNasRegionalGeneralManager,responsible
foroperationsinKwaZulu-NatalandtheEasternCape.
NoelMeierstartedhiscareerwiththeDepartmentofPosts&Telecommunicationswherehegaineda
wealthofexperienceintheTelecommunicationsindustry.
Ugandahasapproximately26million
peopleandaGDPperCapitaofsome
US$330. Its tele-density of five per
cent is impressive given that it grew
from0.2per100peoplein1998when
itstelecomsectorwasliberalised.
That mobile subscribers account for
90percentofthe1,200,000connections
highlights the importance of
mobiletelephonyinUganda.
The revolution in communications
thathascutacrossAfrica,givingitthe
reputation as the fastest growing
mobilemarketintheworld,hastransformed
Uganda, its people and their
wayoflife,economically,sociallyand
politically
Sevenyearsago,nomorethan10per
cent of Ugandans had ever made a
call.Today,thereverseholds.
Backthen,telecommunicationservices
were only available, almost exclusively
in urban areas of the country,
whiletoday,allthe56districtsinthe
countryhaveaccesstotelecomservicesthatmakeGSMcoverageavailable
in70percentofthecountry.
Although wire-line telecom services
were available before 1998, access to
serviceswasdifficultandthenumber
of people waiting to get a connection
was twice the number of those connected.
Today, the many distribution
pointssetupbymobileoperatorssell
GSMSIMpacksacrossthecounter.
ThegrowthofUganda’stelecommunicationsinrecentyearsisduepredominantly
to mobile technology. Whilst
the number of fixed line phones has
grown45percentsince1998,toabout
80,000 lines, mobile phones have
grownalmost100percentperyearin
the same period. In Uganda, mobile
technology has an enormous advantagecomparedtofixedwirelineservices,giventheabilityofwirelesstechnology
to reach remote populations
with a smaller investment than landlinesystems.
Thestrengthofmobilityand
wireless
The key to the success of mobile
telephonyinUgandaliesinthewirelessnatureofthetechnology.Thishas
spurred fast rollout of the services
eventotheremotestpartsofthecountry.Lookingback,weseethatthelack
of telecommunications growth that
African countries faced during the
monopoly era was due mainly to the
high cost and difficulty of rolling out
fixed wire-line services. Mobile technologyhaschangedallthis.
Improvedpolicyandregulatoryenvironments
and the focus of these on
promoting competition have played
an important role in the sector’s
growth. Although mobile telephony
wasintroducedinUgandain1994,by
1998 the country only had about
10,000 GSM subscribers. This was
mainlybecausethehighpricesadopted
by the, then, sole GSM operator
kepttheserviceasapreserveofafew
rich. Increased liberalisation, which
broughtintwoadditionalGSMlicenses,ledtoincreasedcompetitioninthe
market,increasedcoverageandlower
prices.Acquisitioncostsfellfromover
US$1,500tolessthanUS$60includingthecostofthehandset.Similarly,
astheresultofcompetition,retailuser
tariffshavefallensignificantly.Today
Uganda is probably the country with
54

Mobile telephony
the lowest tariffs anywhereontheAfricancontinent.
Equally important has
been the increase in
Uganda’s public access
services. Initially, the
telecoms operators’
Universal Access obligations
spurred the growth
of public access.
Subsequently public
access evolved into a
small-investoropportunityasindividualUgandans
begantoofferpaidpublic
access using their own
phones.
The country now has an estimated
50,000publicaccesspointslocatedin
grocery stores, barbershops and on
the streets. GSM mobile phones providemostofthisaccessand,onaverage,eachservestento50usersaday,
dependingonthelocation.
Mobiletelephonybenefitsin
Uganda
MobiletelephonyhasenabledUganda
andothercountriestoleapfrogseveral
generations of communications technology.Today,Ugandanshaveaccess
to services that previously were the
exclusivepreserveofthosewithaccess
tofixedlineservices.
The financing of telephone service
rolloutinruralareaswasonceconsideredwaybeyondthemeansofdevelopingcountriessuchasUganda.Asan
example,thecompetitivemobileoperator’slicenceinUgandarequireditto
install89,000linesinafive-yearperiodbeginningin1998.Atthetime,all
thoughtthisaformidable,difficultto
achieve, target. They based this
assumption on the fixed wire-line
model.
Taking a developmental approach,
using international development
grantsandloans,wasthoughttheonly
waytoaddressthechallengesofanatural
monopoly and of developing a
nationwidetelecommunicationsinfrastructure.
However, liberalisation,
based upon a progressive regulatory
regime, stimulated a mobile explosion.Todate,themarkethasslightly
over 1,000,000 mobile users, 65 per
cent of these are on the competitive
operator’snetworkalone.
Mobile Telephony has had a great
impactonUgandansystemsofgovernance.
Because of widespread GSM
Figure 1: Improved policy and regulation, as well as higher competition, have
played an important role in the sector’s growth.
deployment, e-Government is rapidly
becoming a reality. The country’s
recentlyapprovedICTpolicypointsto
e-Governmentasaspecificgoaltobe
achieved in addition to the goal of
effectively employing ICT to better
Uganda’seconomicsituation.
Mobiletechnology
The economic success that Uganda
hasenjoyed,withGDPgrowthofover
fivepercentperannum,mightnever
havebeenrealised,mightneverhave
reached the same level, without the
exponential growth of telecommunication
services made possible by
mobile technology. Indeed, the competitive
mobile operator, a company
thatstartedoperationsinUgandajust
seven years ago, is now the second
greatestsingletaxpayerinUganda.
"The financing of telephone
service rollout in
rural areas was once
considered way beyond
the means of developing
countries such as
Uganda."
Businesses of all sizes comprise the
country’s diverse economic sectors
and mobile telephony has connected
them all, from the small farm dealer
checking the price of produce, to the
stranded fisherman contacting the
collectionvanathisdock,tobusinessmen
negotiating off-shore investments,
and all have benefited as a
result.
Social interaction in Uganda has not
been the same since the advent of
mobile telephony. In a land where
social bonds are highly regarded,
accessible and affordable
communication, a text
messaging or a quick
phone call, is a welcome
additionanyday.
Futurechallenges
In spite of its rapid
growthinmobiletelephony,Uganda’sfivepercent
mobile penetration lags
behind its neighbours
Kenya with 12 per cent,
Tanzania with 10 per
cent, and many other
African countries. Still
Uganda’s prices are the lowest in the
EastAfricanregionandsteadygrowth
isexpected.
Uganda’spolicymakerswanttokeep
increasingcompetition,hencethenew
telecompolicy,upontheexpiryofthe
initialexclusivityperiodinJuly2005,
willprobablyaimhighandcallforthe
growth of tele-density to 20 per cent
by the year 2010. Mobile and fixed
wirelesstelephonyseemtobetheonly
ways to meet such an ambitious target,
given the time and investment
neededtorolloutwirelinecapacityin
ruralareas.
Thereare,however,certainmacrofactors
holding back the growth in
demandthatneedtobeaddressedto
meetUganda’sambitiousgoals.
The high taxes charged users for
mobile services are among the most
important inhibiting factors. These
taxes, including a 12 per cent excise
dutychargedonlyformobileservices,
totalapproximately30percent.Low
demand is also a direct result of the
country’sUS$330percapitaincome.
ThelowpenetrationofICT,including
thelackofresidentialPCs,greatlylimits
the use of enhanced non-voice
mobiletelephonyservices.
Mobiletechnologycandeliversomeof
these services and are being consideredbymobileserviceproviderswho
will soon introduce GPRS services to
both the pre-paid and post-paid customerbase.Mobileoperatorsarealso
driving the convergence of fixed and
mobiletelephonybyintroducingmore
advancedtechnologiessuchasCDMA
andfibreopticforconnectionstothe
network.
55

Mobile telephony
the lowest tariffs anywhereontheAfricancontinent.
Equally important has
been the increase in
Uganda’s public access
services. Initially, the
telecoms operators’
Universal Access obligations
spurred the growth
of public access.
Subsequently public
access evolved into a
small-investoropportunityasindividualUgandans
begantoofferpaidpublic
access using their own
phones.
The country now has an estimated
50,000publicaccesspointslocatedin
grocery stores, barbershops and on
the streets. GSM mobile phones providemostofthisaccessand,onaverage,eachservestento50usersaday,
dependingonthelocation.
Mobiletelephonybenefitsin
Uganda
MobiletelephonyhasenabledUganda
andothercountriestoleapfrogseveral
generations of communications technology.Today,Ugandanshaveaccess
to services that previously were the
exclusivepreserveofthosewithaccess
tofixedlineservices.
The financing of telephone service
rolloutinruralareaswasonceconsideredwaybeyondthemeansofdevelopingcountriessuchasUganda.Asan
example,thecompetitivemobileoperator’slicenceinUgandarequireditto
install89,000linesinafive-yearperiodbeginningin1998.Atthetime,all
thoughtthisaformidable,difficultto
achieve, target. They based this
assumption on the fixed wire-line
model.
Taking a developmental approach,
using international development
grantsandloans,wasthoughttheonly
waytoaddressthechallengesofanatural
monopoly and of developing a
nationwidetelecommunicationsinfrastructure.
However, liberalisation,
based upon a progressive regulatory
regime, stimulated a mobile explosion.Todate,themarkethasslightly
over 1,000,000 mobile users, 65 per
cent of these are on the competitive
operator’snetworkalone.
Mobile Telephony has had a great
impactonUgandansystemsofgovernance.
Because of widespread GSM
Figure 1: Improved policy and regulation, as well as higher competition, have
played an important role in the sector’s growth.
deployment, e-Government is rapidly
becoming a reality. The country’s
recentlyapprovedICTpolicypointsto
e-Governmentasaspecificgoaltobe
achieved in addition to the goal of
effectively employing ICT to better
Uganda’seconomicsituation.
Mobiletechnology
The economic success that Uganda
hasenjoyed,withGDPgrowthofover
fivepercentperannum,mightnever
havebeenrealised,mightneverhave
reached the same level, without the
exponential growth of telecommunication
services made possible by
mobile technology. Indeed, the competitive
mobile operator, a company
thatstartedoperationsinUgandajust
seven years ago, is now the second
greatestsingletaxpayerinUganda.
"The financing of telephone
service rollout in
rural areas was once
considered way beyond
the means of developing
countries such as
Uganda."
Businesses of all sizes comprise the
country’s diverse economic sectors
and mobile telephony has connected
them all, from the small farm dealer
checking the price of produce, to the
stranded fisherman contacting the
collectionvanathisdock,tobusinessmen
negotiating off-shore investments,
and all have benefited as a
result.
Social interaction in Uganda has not
been the same since the advent of
mobile telephony. In a land where
social bonds are highly regarded,
accessible and affordable
communication, a text
messaging or a quick
phone call, is a welcome
additionanyday.
Futurechallenges
In spite of its rapid
growthinmobiletelephony,Uganda’sfivepercent
mobile penetration lags
behind its neighbours
Kenya with 12 per cent,
Tanzania with 10 per
cent, and many other
African countries. Still
Uganda’s prices are the lowest in the
EastAfricanregionandsteadygrowth
isexpected.
Uganda’spolicymakerswanttokeep
increasingcompetition,hencethenew
telecompolicy,upontheexpiryofthe
initialexclusivityperiodinJuly2005,
willprobablyaimhighandcallforthe
growth of tele-density to 20 per cent
by the year 2010. Mobile and fixed
wirelesstelephonyseemtobetheonly
ways to meet such an ambitious target,
given the time and investment
neededtorolloutwirelinecapacityin
ruralareas.
Thereare,however,certainmacrofactors
holding back the growth in
demandthatneedtobeaddressedto
meetUganda’sambitiousgoals.
The high taxes charged users for
mobile services are among the most
important inhibiting factors. These
taxes, including a 12 per cent excise
dutychargedonlyformobileservices,
totalapproximately30percent.Low
demand is also a direct result of the
country’sUS$330percapitaincome.
ThelowpenetrationofICT,including
thelackofresidentialPCs,greatlylimits
the use of enhanced non-voice
mobiletelephonyservices.
Mobiletechnologycandeliversomeof
these services and are being consideredbymobileserviceproviderswho
will soon introduce GPRS services to
both the pre-paid and post-paid customerbase.Mobileoperatorsarealso
driving the convergence of fixed and
mobiletelephonybyintroducingmore
advancedtechnologiessuchasCDMA
andfibreopticforconnectionstothe
network.
55

Business communications
Positioning business for global commerce
by Brian Day, Vice President, Carrier Voice and Multimedia, Nortel, Europe, Middle East and
Africa
Advanced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has revolutionised the
workplaceandmadeitmoreflexible.Twentyyearsago,officesrelieduponpaperfiles,
memos,telephoneandexpensivehighlycentralisedsystems.Today,withlaptopcomputers,PDAs,mobilephones,widelyavailablefixedandwirelessbroadbandconnections
andtheInternet,evenforvoice,aworkerathomeoronatripisbetterconnectedtohis
workandcolleaguesthanmostworkerswereyearsagoatthecentraloffice.
Atpresent,BrianDayisNortel’sVicePresidentresponsiblefortheCarrierVoiceandMultimediaportfoliobusinessinEurope,MiddleEastandAfrica.Previously,hewasresponsibleforproductmanagementofthecarrier-switchingportfolioinEurope,AsiaandLatinAmerica.MrDayhasworkedinNortel
for20yearsinanumberofrolesrangingfromproductplanningtomarketing,workingwithNortel
Networks’mobileandenterprisedivisions.
Twentyyearsago,workerscommunicatedusingtelephonecalls,lettersand
telexes.Faxes,curlingpiecesofpaper
with indistinct text and hand-drawn
diagrams, were the cutting edge of
instantaneous business communication.
Internal communications relied upon
the ubiquitous interoffice memo.
Documentswerestoredinpaperfolders
and files circulated with a small
slip to initial after you had read it.
Typing was done in typing pools and
computersresidedinresearchlaboratoriesordataprocessingdepartments
that controlled what end users could
or,usually,didnotdo.
The available communications technologyimposedcertaintypesofmanagement
structures. Centralised decision-making
was hierarchical, with
communication channelled through
rigidpathsintheorganisation.
The processes were long and drawnout,somanylocalpracticesdeveloped
ineachpartofanylargeorganisation
to enable business to continue on a
day-to-daybasis.
Once in place, those processes were
largelystatic,evolvingataglacialrate.
Newcomers who pointed out obvious
inadequacies were told "we’ve always
doneitlikethat".Thenewideaswere
rejectedasbeing"toorisky",because
following the current processes consumedalloftheavailableeffort.
Innovations
Slowly,thepenetrationofstandalone
personalcommuters,followedbynetworked
PCs, then internal email,
shared file servers, external email,
Internet and Intranet began to dissolve
barriers that once seemed
immovable.
The innovations made it possible to
challenge accepted organisational
norms.Datawasmanagedandmanipulatedinwaysmorerelevanttoparticular
groups. Communications channelsbecamemoreadhocandthebest
companies learned how to use technology
to reform their organisations
continuously to meet new challenges
and opportunities. Local teams felt
empowered to create communication
solutionsthatmettheirneeds,breakingfreefromcentralisedcontrol.
Still,therewasadownside;freedomof
choice also means freedom to make
the wrong choice. As technology
options multiplied, many organisations
lost their way, as individual
departments made unco-ordinated
decisions on buying, implementing
andusingcomputingandcommunications.
Although some innovation
flourished, extending the benefits to
thewholeorganisationwashampered
byincompatibilitiesbetweensystems,
database structures and networking
technologies.
Waveofconvergence
Eventually, all this was centralised
again, but this time, it was different.
First, users were reluctant to give up
57

Business communications
their freedom. Second, the marketplacehadforcedcompetitorstostandardise,
so that even with different
suppliers in different departments,
incompatibleislandsoftechnologyno
longerexisted.TelephonesandPABXs
from different suppliers worked
together,anyPCrananysoftwareand
networking components could be
selected upon price and performance
ratherthanbrand.
This was the first wave of convergence,
and it was spectacularly successful
in cutting costs and boosting
performance,butfromtheenduser’s
pointofview,therewerestilltwobig
issuesunresolved.First,eachapplicationandservicewasstillisolatedfrom
theothers.Anemailcontactlistcould
notdialphonecalls.Aword-processing
address database could not send
emails. A website could not enable
customers to call a contact centre. A
PC could not play back voice mail
messages.
Thesecondissuewasavailability.The
costofthehardwareandbandwidthto
support separate networks and systems
meant that people needed to
work near the centralised hardware.
Thosewhoworkedatalargeofficesite
were well served, but those in small
branches,workingathomeortravellingwerenot.
Mobileandlaptop
The next wave of convergence was
much quicker. Only five years ago, a
typicalmobileemployeehadamobile
phone and a laptop PC. The mobile
phonewassomewhatintegratedwith
theofficenetwork,butthatwasabout
all.
Similarly, with dial-up networking,
travellingemployeescouldconnectto
the corporate network to collect and
send emails, but large PowerPoint
attachments had to wait until they
returnedtotheoffice.
Frequent business travellers found
thattechnologicallimitationsnotonly
affected them, but the work of their
teamandofotherswhoneededtocontactthemforinformationorfastdecisions.
Today, technology has transformed
thewaymanagerswork.TheuseofIP
and Ethernet for communications
applications and services has freed
communications from the tyranny of
multiplenetworksandprovidedlevels
of integration between applications
unachievablejustfiveyearsago.
Broadband is no longer restricted to
majorcorporatesites;relativelyhighspeedconnectivityisnowavailableto
home-basedworkers,tobranchoffice
workers, to travelling workers in
hotels, airports and convention centres.
Travelling workers can now set up a
securebroadbandIPconnectiontothe
corporate network from most places
and use an integrated VoIP and
MultimediaSIPclientontheirlaptop
to see which members of their teams
areavailable,onthephoneoroutwith
customers.
They can send secure Instant
Messages to address minor issues or
set-upaVoIPphonecallwithasingle
click. When they need to address a
groupofpeoplequickly,anaudioor
videoconferencebridgeisimmediately
available. During the conference,
they can refer to emails or download
documents from the corporate
Intranet.
Whentheyarenotonline,urgentvoice
calls or emails are directed to their
smart-phone or PDA. In short, they
can work in exactly the same way,
irrespectiveofwheretheyarelocated.
When travelling they can use previously
dead time to make sure that
theirworkdoesnotgrindtoahalt.
Higherproductivity
Widespread use of technology gives
employeesmorechoiceoverwhenand
howtheydotheirwork,andimproves
their productivity. Many corporate
workers are now permanently homebased.
Therearesignificantbenefitsforboth
employers and employees for these
arrangements.Surveysofteleworkers
showthat15percentreportimproved
productivity and that 11 per cent are
moresatisfiedwiththeirjobsthanthe
overallworkforce.
One Market Development manager
explained the benefits like this: "for
me, it’s the feeling you get when you
candoeverythingyouneedto,talkto
anyone you need to, from wherever
youhappentobe,whenyourworking
dayactuallystartsatnineandactually
finishesatfive-thirty.
“Not wasting time trying to get in
touchwithpeople,orgetholdofinformation,meansyoucanconcentrateon
the job in hand. And that, in turn,
means you don’t have to put in the
extrahourstofinishyourday’swork.I
enjoymyjob,butwhenyoucanactuallyfinishontime,itfeelsreallyliberating,
like somehow you’ve stolen
someofyourlifeback."
Significantsavings
Ahome-basedworkforcecanbringbig
realestatesavingstolargecompanies,
andVoIPcanprovideadditional,very
significant,savings.
Governmentsarealsopromotingflexibleworking.SinceApril2003,allUK
parentsofchildrenundersix,anddisabledchildrenunder18,havehadthe
righttoapplytoworkflexibly,aright
thatmustbefairlyconsideredbyany
employer,andamovebeingreplicated
throughout Europe and beyond. In
Germany, employees of six months
servicecanapplytoworkonaflexible
basis.In1996,Hollandpassedlawsto
encourage flexible working agreementsandseveralScandinaviancountriesaremovinginthesamedirection.
Itisunderstandablethatsomeorganisationsseethisasjustonemoreregulatory
stick with which to beat business.Many,though,believethattobe
competitive in a globalised market a
company must use this kind of technologyeffectively–orriskbeingovertakenbythosewhodo.
Progresswillaccelerateoverthenext
five years. Broadband will become
more widespread and speeds will
increase as costs come down. Fixed
andmobilenetworkswillcontinueto
converge. New wireless technologies
suchasWi-Maxandfaster3Gmobile
data with HSDPA will make it easier
andcheapertoworkonline,irrespectiveoflocation.
Despitetheinnovationoftoday’smultimedia
products, we have barely
scratchedthesurfacewhenitcomesto
combining presence, instant messaging,VoIPandvideoconferencinginto
specialised vertical applications for
education, healthcare, retailers,
banks, engineering and manufacturing
industry. The possibilities are
almostendless.
More and more, business is about
groupsofpeoplecollaboratingacross
traditionalboundaries,betweencompanies,acrossnationalborders,across
timezones.Thewinnerswillbethose
who successfully match the capabilities
of the technology with the skills
and aspirations of their employees.
The rest, like the text on that old fax
paper,willsimplyfadeaway.
58

Cultural development and the Internet
Oman’s culture, the Internet and a changing world
by Mohammed Al-Wahaibi, Executive President, Oman Telecommunications Company
TheInternetischangingthecultureinOman.Inspiteoflanguagebarriersandlimited
computer availability, Internet use is rising. The government has contributed to this
growthbyaligningitsstrategiesandpoliciestoencourageInternetusage.Forbusinesses,
the main growth drivers are lower cost communications and access to the world’s
markets.OmaniyouthusetheInternettobeheardlocallyandinteractglobally.Omanis
tacklingthedigitalgapandcreatingtheinfrastructureforaknowledge-basedeconomy.
MohammedbinAliAl-WahaibiistheExecutivePresidentoftheOmanTelecommunicationsCompany
(S.A.O.C).HeisamemberoftheOmaniGovernmentITexecutiveCommittee,theChairmanofOman
OpticFiberCompany,theChairmanofOmanMobileTelecommunicationsCompany,amemberofBank
Muscat Investment Fund Steering committee, Deputy Chairman of the Arab Regional Group and
ChairmanoftheAffiliatedInfrastructureInvestmentandServicesGroupandamemberoftheIEEE.
MrAl-WahaibiearnedhisBSdegreeinElectricalandElectronicsEngineeringfromtheUniversityof
Toledo,USA,andaMSinTelecommunicationsfromtheUniversityofPittsburgh,USA.Heiscurrently
workingonaPhDinInformationTechnologyattheUniversityofSunderland,UK.Hisresearchinterest
includes IT risk management, the role of culture in IT deployment and IT/IS success and failure
issues.
TheInternetwasformallylaunchedin
Oman in 1997. By 2004, the number
of subscribers exceeded 50,000. This
growth is reflected by, and perhaps
attributedto,thelowercostsofhome
computers, commercial growth and
investment in Oman, Internet cafés,
onlinechatandgamingculturesand,
morerecently,wirelessnetworks.
However, the roots of this growth
existedinOmanasearlyasthemidto
late ‘80s, even before the formal
launchoftheInternetinOman.This
wasintheformofInternetRelayChat
(IRC)andBulletinBoardSystemsthat
wererunbyInternetenthusiastusing
conventionalphonelines.Inarapidly
evolvinganddevelopingcountrysuch
asOman,itisthereforenotsurprising
thatthistechnologyhasbeensoreadilyembracedbyitspeople.
Thereisstillpotentialforgrowth.Ina
countrywithapopulationofabout2.3
million (2003 statistics), of which
around 0.55 million are expatriates,
there is scope for expansion.
Therefore,highobjectivesweresetby
the government to increase Internet
penetrationwithintheOmanisociety
andpromotethedigitaleconomy.To
start, a high level committee for the
information society, including e-
Government and e-Commerce, in
Omanwasformed.Manyofthestrategies
promoted by the government,
nowatdifferentphasesofimplementation,
will be fully functional before
theendofthisyear.
Furthermore, a state-of-the art informationhighwaybasedonIP/MPLSis
being implemented for the government
by Omantel. Other initiatives
include adopting Internet within the
educationalcurriculumandbuildinga
securedbankingnetworkcalledBank
Net.ThesechangeswillsoonrestructurethewaytheOmanisocietyworks.
Convenienceforusers
Everything from water bills to traffic
offenceswillsoonbepayableoverthe
Internet. Travel forms, work permits
and passport renewals are currently
online. This should have a double
impact. It will increase convenience
for the users and will automate the
centralisation of official information.
It is just a matter of time before
Internet access at home is transformedfromaluxurytoautilityjust
as essential as conventional phones
areformanytoday.
A great amount of growth is being
envisagedinOman’seconomicstructure
and its society. With opportunitiesforforeigninvestmentandseveral
industrialprojectsinthepipeline,the
Internet is playing a crucial part in
communication and information
transferwithoverseascontractorsand
customers. This dynamic, intercontinental,
phase of business growth
brings,withitalargedemandforcost
effective, fast and reliable communication.Mostcompaniesnowusewebbasedconferencingfacilities,reducing
theirtravelcostsaswellasincreasing
theirexposureandmarketawareness.
Onanationallevel,agoodnumberof
small businesses are benefiting from
Internet advertising and the number
ofwebsitesisrapidlyincreasing.Also,
theInternetwillplayacriticalrolein
the development of tourism in the
countrybyreachingpotentialvisitors
globally in a cost effective way.
60

Cultural development and the Internet
Already, several tourist projects and
propertiesarebeingadvertisedonthe
web at the very early stages of construction.Omanisopenforbusiness,
andwhatcouldbemoreopenthanthe
Internet
Usersofthefuture
LookingatthedemographyofOman’s
population, 70 per cent of Omanis
startingtousetheInternetareunder
the age of 18. From Internet cafes to
gaming, to chatting, to buying CDs
online,theyouthofOmanarenotonly
today’smainusersoftheInternet,but
alsothemainusersofthefuture.Itis
thereforevitalthattheirneedsaremet
intermsofreliabilityandavailability
ofservicesthattheyexpect.
Inaddition,theInternetisalsoplayinganactiveroleinthedevelopment
of Oman’s younger generation. Many
youngstersnowchatandmeetonline,
keepintouchwithfriendsandfamily,
discuss current issues. From this,
manygroupsandeventshavesprung
upsuchasphotographycompetitions
andthelike.
Also, many teenagers and young
adults,whootherwisewouldnothave
the time or the resources for further
studies,arenowtakingonlinecourses
offeredbyuniversitiesabroad.
Theonsetofthemobilephoneculture
hasseenanincreaseintheuseofthe
Internet for downloading ring-tones
andimages.TheInternetisplayingan
important role in shaping a more
proactiveandinformedgeneration.
Mostimportantly,Omantelismaking
anefforttotacklethedigitalgap,create
the proper infrastructure for a
knowledge-based economy and further
enhance awareness among the
public of Internet usage. Omantel is
currentlydeployingbroadbandservicesbasedonADSLandATMtechnologieswithultimateobjectivestofanout
andfacilitatetheuseoftheInternetin
schools, in universities and among
ordinarypeople.
Other initiatives that would help
bridgethedigitalgaparethedeployment
of Wi-Fi, Wireless Local Loop
(WLL) and video on demand.
Providingbasictelecomservicestothe
remote areas will develop the infrastructureforthefutureuseofInternet
andbroadenthecustomerbase.
Expansion
Figures 2: The Internet is playing an important role in shaping a more
proactive and informed generation.
Figures 1: Seventy per cent of Omanis starting to use the Internet are under the age of 18.
In brief, there is still opportunity for
expansionoftheInternetinOmanfor
both business and personal use. This
isparticularlytrueforpeoplewholive
in the suburbs or in villages.
Considering the trends discussed
above,wecanseethattheInternetis
entering into
and, to an
extent,aidingin
the cultural and
financial redefinition
of modernOmanisocietyaswellasof
the Middle East
asawhole.
The success
these changes
have already
achieved shows
the great influence
the
Internet can
have on our
evolvingsociety.
However, it is
our role as the
decisionmakersintheprogressionof
thistechnology,tomakesurethatthis
influence is not abused or misused,
notonlyonalocallevelbutonagloballevelaswell.
TheArabworldhasanestimatedfour
percentoftheworld’spopulation,but
has only one per cent of the world’s
Internetusers.Thisisaclearindicator
ofthepotentialgrowthtocomeinthe
region.
Wenowliveinamorepoliticallyand
financially fragile world. Decisions
and planning for growth should,
therefore,takeplacewiththisfragility
in mind. Accordingly, growth should
progress at a rate that is suitable for
societytoabsorbandadjustto.Bytakingthesefactorsintoaccount,wecan
lookforwardtoincreasinggrowthand
enrichment of our society for a long
timetocome.
InOman,Internetpenetrationisconstantlyincreasingamonggovernment
organisations, consumers and businesses
alike, and demand for highspeedbroadbandInternetserviceshas
neverbeengreater.
In conclusion, the popularity of the
Internetcontinuestogrowlocallyand
internationally.TheInternethasgone
farbeyondbeingatechnologyassuch,
butneedstobeconsidered,onitsown
merits, as a cultural phenomenon,
which although constantly evolving
andchanging,isleavingapermanent
imprintonallculturesfornowandfor
thefuture.
61

Cultural development and the Internet
Already, several tourist projects and
propertiesarebeingadvertisedonthe
web at the very early stages of construction.Omanisopenforbusiness,
andwhatcouldbemoreopenthanthe
Internet
Usersofthefuture
LookingatthedemographyofOman’s
population, 70 per cent of Omanis
startingtousetheInternetareunder
the age of 18. From Internet cafes to
gaming, to chatting, to buying CDs
online,theyouthofOmanarenotonly
today’smainusersoftheInternet,but
alsothemainusersofthefuture.Itis
thereforevitalthattheirneedsaremet
intermsofreliabilityandavailability
ofservicesthattheyexpect.
Inaddition,theInternetisalsoplayinganactiveroleinthedevelopment
of Oman’s younger generation. Many
youngstersnowchatandmeetonline,
keepintouchwithfriendsandfamily,
discuss current issues. From this,
manygroupsandeventshavesprung
upsuchasphotographycompetitions
andthelike.
Also, many teenagers and young
adults,whootherwisewouldnothave
the time or the resources for further
studies,arenowtakingonlinecourses
offeredbyuniversitiesabroad.
Theonsetofthemobilephoneculture
hasseenanincreaseintheuseofthe
Internet for downloading ring-tones
andimages.TheInternetisplayingan
important role in shaping a more
proactiveandinformedgeneration.
Mostimportantly,Omantelismaking
anefforttotacklethedigitalgap,create
the proper infrastructure for a
knowledge-based economy and further
enhance awareness among the
public of Internet usage. Omantel is
currentlydeployingbroadbandservicesbasedonADSLandATMtechnologieswithultimateobjectivestofanout
andfacilitatetheuseoftheInternetin
schools, in universities and among
ordinarypeople.
Other initiatives that would help
bridgethedigitalgaparethedeployment
of Wi-Fi, Wireless Local Loop
(WLL) and video on demand.
Providingbasictelecomservicestothe
remote areas will develop the infrastructureforthefutureuseofInternet
andbroadenthecustomerbase.
Expansion
Figures 2: The Internet is playing an important role in shaping a more
proactive and informed generation.
Figures 1: Seventy per cent of Omanis starting to use the Internet are under the age of 18.
In brief, there is still opportunity for
expansionoftheInternetinOmanfor
both business and personal use. This
isparticularlytrueforpeoplewholive
in the suburbs or in villages.
Considering the trends discussed
above,wecanseethattheInternetis
entering into
and, to an
extent,aidingin
the cultural and
financial redefinition
of modernOmanisocietyaswellasof
the Middle East
asawhole.
The success
these changes
have already
achieved shows
the great influence
the
Internet can
have on our
evolvingsociety.
However, it is
our role as the
decisionmakersintheprogressionof
thistechnology,tomakesurethatthis
influence is not abused or misused,
notonlyonalocallevelbutonagloballevelaswell.
TheArabworldhasanestimatedfour
percentoftheworld’spopulation,but
has only one per cent of the world’s
Internetusers.Thisisaclearindicator
ofthepotentialgrowthtocomeinthe
region.
Wenowliveinamorepoliticallyand
financially fragile world. Decisions
and planning for growth should,
therefore,takeplacewiththisfragility
in mind. Accordingly, growth should
progress at a rate that is suitable for
societytoabsorbandadjustto.Bytakingthesefactorsintoaccount,wecan
lookforwardtoincreasinggrowthand
enrichment of our society for a long
timetocome.
InOman,Internetpenetrationisconstantlyincreasingamonggovernment
organisations, consumers and businesses
alike, and demand for highspeedbroadbandInternetserviceshas
neverbeengreater.
In conclusion, the popularity of the
Internetcontinuestogrowlocallyand
internationally.TheInternethasgone
farbeyondbeingatechnologyassuch,
butneedstobeconsidered,onitsown
merits, as a cultural phenomenon,
which although constantly evolving
andchanging,isleavingapermanent
imprintonallculturesfornowandfor
thefuture.
61

Service assurance
Service assurance – defining the way
by Asif Naseem, Board Member, Service Availability Forum, and Senior Vice President and Chief
Technology, Officer GoAhead Software
Competitionhasfuelledconsumerdemandforincreasinglysophisticatedtelecommunicationsservices.Operatorsandcarriersneedtoupgradetheirlegacysystemstomeet
consumer demand. They are pushing telecom equipment manufactures (TEMs) to
deliverrapidlyadvanced,morecosteffectiveequipment.Oldproprietarysolutionswere
costlyandtookyearstodevelop,butindustrystandardshaveopenedthewayforspecialised
companies to produce efficiently lower-cost specialised systems, components,
bothhardwareandsoftware,thatcanbequicklyassembledtomeettheneedreliably.
AsifNaseemisaBoardMemberoftheServiceAvailabilityForumandtheSeniorVicePresidentand
ChiefTechnologyOfficerofGoAheadSoftware.DrNaseempreviouslyservedastheGeneralManager
andDirector,ICSD,EMEAofMotorola,asDirectorofEngineeringatAT&T/NCRand,mostrecently,as
VicePresident,BusinessOperationsatIospanWireless,abroadbandwirelesscompanylateracquired
byIntelandL3.HestartedhiscareeratAT&TBellLaboratories,whereheheldavarietyoftechnical
andmanagementpositions.HehasservedontheAdvisoryBoardsofseveralstart-upcompanies.
Asif Naseem received his MS in Electrical Engineering and a PhD in Computer Engineering from
MichiganStateUniversity.
Consumers of telecommunications
services demand increasingly sophisticated
services from their service
providers. The mobile phone is no
longer a speak-listen instrument.
Consumers are using their mobile
phones as converged devices for a
varietyofreal-timeandasynchronous
communication, to capture and send
pictures,forinstantmessaging,pushto-talk,games,aspersonalorganisers,
etc.
ThefirstvideosoftherecentLondon
tubebombingsdidnotcomefromtelevision
crews or reporters, but from
passengers with cameras on their
mobilephones.Thisisjustoneexample
of today’s consumer driven communicationrevolution.
The growth of multimedia services, a
global phenomenon, is especially
impressiveinemergingmarketssuch
asIndiaandChina,wherethenumber
of mobile phone subscribers has surpassed
the wireline subscribers.
Worldwide, mobile subscription has
long surpassed the one billion mark,
andstronggrowthisexpectedforthe
foreseeable future. This impressive
growthandspendingcreatestremendous
opportunities for the telecommunications
industry and unique
challengesforallindustryplayers.
Businesschallenges
Pricepressures
Thefastestgrowthinwirelessservices
is occurring in emerging markets
where the average revenue per user
(ARPU) is low – US$11in India and
US$10 in China; the ARPU is US$57
in the USA and US$40 in Europe.
According to the Telecom Regulatory
AuthorityofIndia,thehighsubscriber
growth rates in 2004, of more than
Telecomspendingseemstohavestabilised.Growthisatbestanaemicand
a far cry from the go-go years of the
late 90s. Service providers are focusing
upon their capital expenditures
andoperationalcoststoprotectprofitabilityandreturnoninvestment.
100percent,wereduetotheexpansion
of the addressable market each
timethetariffwascutduringtheyear.
Carrier consolidation, such as the
AT&T/Cingular and Sprint/Nextel
mergers, left fewer service providers
andincreasedthenegotiatingleverage
oftheremainingcompaniesoversuppliers
and telecom equipment manufactures(TEMs).Consequently,TEMs
are faced with mounting price pressuresandmustconstantlyre-evaluate
theircapitalandoperationalexpenses
tomaintainprofitability.
Enhancingrevenues
Duetocompetition,traditionalcircuit
switched voice and best-effort data
services are now commodities. These
services still generate cash, but they
no longer generate profits.
Consequently, service providers are
forcedtofindnewsignificantsources
ofrevenuetoboosttheirARPUs.
IPnetworksletserviceprovidersbundle
voice, data and video services or
triple play into single low-cost pack-
63

Service assurance
agesandofferacompellingsetofservicessuchasIPTV,onlinegaming,distancelearningandmanynewapplications.Thisappealstobothconsumers
and service providers. The convergence
of IP networks with both fixed
and wireless networks facilitates the
delivery of rich multimedia content,
traditionallydominatedbycablecompanies,bytelcos.
Telecomserviceprovidersareencouraged
by technology, now available,
that lets them cost effectively deliver
advanced services to users. There is
still some time for telcos to roll out
suchservices.Thechallengeistotake
advantageofthelimitedtimewindow.
Adoptionofnewtechnologies
Todeliverthesenewconvergedservices,
networkoperatorsmustupgradetheir
legacy equipment at unprecedented
speedandgettheirIP-basedservices
tomarketquickly.Thisputspressure
upon the TEMs to meet the network
operators’ speed and cost requirements.
Traditionally, TEMs have developed
proprietary systems that have been
costly,andtookyearstogettomarket.
Giventhecostandspeedconstraints,
this approach no longer works. So
TEMsaremovingawayfrombuilding
proprietary telecom systems to systems
based upon commercially
available,pre-integratedpre-tested,
standards-basedcomponents.
The challenge for TEMs is to decide
where they must add core value, and
wheretheyshouldrelyuponpartners
and suppliers to deliver the components
quickly to build systems that
addressthecarriers’service,costand
time-to-market requirements. This is
notatemporarysituation.Thesechallengeswillcontinuetodefinethetelecom
environment for the foreseeable
future.
Aparadigmshift
In the early days of enterprise computing,
single source computer systems
suppliers provided a full, vertically
integrated, computing solution.
They would design, manufacture and
deliver their own silicon, hardware,
operating systems, middleware and
thecustomerapplication.
The supplier’s differentiating factors
were usually distinct features, functionality
and speeds and feeds. Such
proprietary offerings locked the customerintothesolutionfortheforeseeable
future with little flexibility to
changeorupgradethepieceswithout
payingthesupplierpremiumprices.
Realising that they were locked into
expensive proprietary, single-supplier,
solutions, companies sought the
flexibilitytopickandchoosesolution
components from best-of-breed suppliers.
This encouraged the developmentandadoptionofstandardsforall
manufacturerstouseandhelpedcreate
an eco-system of suppliers specialised
in producing individual systems
elements better, faster, cheaper
thananyotherplayer.
Since the elements are standards
based,theyworkperfectlywithother
complementary systems elements
provided by other standards based
suppliers to create a cost effective
solution for the customer. This gave
birthtoasuccessfulhorizontalindustrymodelandanefficientcommercial
off-the-shelf supplier (COTS) ecosystem
for enterprise computing.
Industry players that successfully
adopted this model have benefited
fromit.Otherseitherexitedthebusinessorwererelegatedtoniches.
Thetelecomindustryisjustbeginning
tobenefitfromthehorizontalindustry
model with a COTS ecosystem of its
own.TheemergenceofIPinthetelecom
industry is accelerating the convergencebetweenITandthetelecom
network.Theshiftismadepossibleby
the adoption of a few key standards
thatdefineinterfacesbetweenthevarious
layers of the telecom equipment
systems.
Hardwareplatformstandards,suchas
AdvancedTCA, specify carrier-grade
hardware architecture to provide the
reliability,performanceandscalability
required for telecommunication
applications. The Open Software
DevelopmentLaboratory(OSDL)now
hasaworkinggroupspecificallydedicatedtodefiningCarrierGradeLinux
(CGL) feature roadmaps and specifications
to use in telecommunications
architectures.
Serviceavailability
One of the most significant recent
developmentshasbeentheadventof
the Service Availability Forum, an
industry consortium dedicated to
developingspecificationsforstandard
interfaces necessary to enable the
delivery of highly available carriergradesystemswithCOTScomponents
including hardware platforms, middlewareandserviceapplications.The
ServiceAvailabilityForumisdeveloping
three sets of specifications that
apply to various layers of a highly
availableserviceplatform.
HardwarePlatformInterface
specification
The Hardware Platform Interface
(HPI) specification separates the
hardware from management middlewareandmakeseachindependentof
the other. It specifies services which,
when implemented by the hardware
platform manufacturer, simplify the
integrationofthird-partymiddleware
thatcomplieswiththeHPIspecification.
The interface allows portability of
middlewarecomponentsbetweenvarioushardwareplatformsthatprovide
servicesspecifiedbytheinterface.
ApplicationInterfaceSpecification
The Application Interface Specification
(AIS) standardises the interface
between Service Availability Forum
compliantHighAvailability(HA)middlewareandserviceapplications.Just
as the HPI interface allows hardware
platformabstraction,theAISenables
compliant applications to be ported
across AIS compliant middleware
fromvariousvendors.
SystemsManagementSpecification
TheSystemsManagementSpecification
(SMS), a complementary specification,
acts as an umbrella to tie together
existing HPI and AIS specifications.
The overall goal of the SMS is to
addresstheadministrativeoperations
andmanagementofvariousaspectsof
thehighlyavailablesystem.
The IP telecom network is creating
unprecedented demand for new and
converged consumer telecommunications
services. This in turn is forcing
TEMstorethinktheirsystemdevelopment
strategies and develop telecom
network systems quickly and cost
effectively.
The emergence of a set of key standards
is enabling an ecosystem of
COTS suppliers. The COTS suppliers
help TEMs to build, quickly and cost
effectively, highly available systems
using standards-based components.
TheServiceAvailabilityForum’sspecificationsareplayingapivotalrolein
the transition from proprietary to
standards-basedsystems.
64

Service assurance
agesandofferacompellingsetofservicessuchasIPTV,onlinegaming,distancelearningandmanynewapplications.Thisappealstobothconsumers
and service providers. The convergence
of IP networks with both fixed
and wireless networks facilitates the
delivery of rich multimedia content,
traditionallydominatedbycablecompanies,bytelcos.
Telecomserviceprovidersareencouraged
by technology, now available,
that lets them cost effectively deliver
advanced services to users. There is
still some time for telcos to roll out
suchservices.Thechallengeistotake
advantageofthelimitedtimewindow.
Adoptionofnewtechnologies
Todeliverthesenewconvergedservices,
networkoperatorsmustupgradetheir
legacy equipment at unprecedented
speedandgettheirIP-basedservices
tomarketquickly.Thisputspressure
upon the TEMs to meet the network
operators’ speed and cost requirements.
Traditionally, TEMs have developed
proprietary systems that have been
costly,andtookyearstogettomarket.
Giventhecostandspeedconstraints,
this approach no longer works. So
TEMsaremovingawayfrombuilding
proprietary telecom systems to systems
based upon commercially
available,pre-integratedpre-tested,
standards-basedcomponents.
The challenge for TEMs is to decide
where they must add core value, and
wheretheyshouldrelyuponpartners
and suppliers to deliver the components
quickly to build systems that
addressthecarriers’service,costand
time-to-market requirements. This is
notatemporarysituation.Thesechallengeswillcontinuetodefinethetelecom
environment for the foreseeable
future.
Aparadigmshift
In the early days of enterprise computing,
single source computer systems
suppliers provided a full, vertically
integrated, computing solution.
They would design, manufacture and
deliver their own silicon, hardware,
operating systems, middleware and
thecustomerapplication.
The supplier’s differentiating factors
were usually distinct features, functionality
and speeds and feeds. Such
proprietary offerings locked the customerintothesolutionfortheforeseeable
future with little flexibility to
changeorupgradethepieceswithout
payingthesupplierpremiumprices.
Realising that they were locked into
expensive proprietary, single-supplier,
solutions, companies sought the
flexibilitytopickandchoosesolution
components from best-of-breed suppliers.
This encouraged the developmentandadoptionofstandardsforall
manufacturerstouseandhelpedcreate
an eco-system of suppliers specialised
in producing individual systems
elements better, faster, cheaper
thananyotherplayer.
Since the elements are standards
based,theyworkperfectlywithother
complementary systems elements
provided by other standards based
suppliers to create a cost effective
solution for the customer. This gave
birthtoasuccessfulhorizontalindustrymodelandanefficientcommercial
off-the-shelf supplier (COTS) ecosystem
for enterprise computing.
Industry players that successfully
adopted this model have benefited
fromit.Otherseitherexitedthebusinessorwererelegatedtoniches.
Thetelecomindustryisjustbeginning
tobenefitfromthehorizontalindustry
model with a COTS ecosystem of its
own.TheemergenceofIPinthetelecom
industry is accelerating the convergencebetweenITandthetelecom
network.Theshiftismadepossibleby
the adoption of a few key standards
thatdefineinterfacesbetweenthevarious
layers of the telecom equipment
systems.
Hardwareplatformstandards,suchas
AdvancedTCA, specify carrier-grade
hardware architecture to provide the
reliability,performanceandscalability
required for telecommunication
applications. The Open Software
DevelopmentLaboratory(OSDL)now
hasaworkinggroupspecificallydedicatedtodefiningCarrierGradeLinux
(CGL) feature roadmaps and specifications
to use in telecommunications
architectures.
Serviceavailability
One of the most significant recent
developmentshasbeentheadventof
the Service Availability Forum, an
industry consortium dedicated to
developingspecificationsforstandard
interfaces necessary to enable the
delivery of highly available carriergradesystemswithCOTScomponents
including hardware platforms, middlewareandserviceapplications.The
ServiceAvailabilityForumisdeveloping
three sets of specifications that
apply to various layers of a highly
availableserviceplatform.
HardwarePlatformInterface
specification
The Hardware Platform Interface
(HPI) specification separates the
hardware from management middlewareandmakeseachindependentof
the other. It specifies services which,
when implemented by the hardware
platform manufacturer, simplify the
integrationofthird-partymiddleware
thatcomplieswiththeHPIspecification.
The interface allows portability of
middlewarecomponentsbetweenvarioushardwareplatformsthatprovide
servicesspecifiedbytheinterface.
ApplicationInterfaceSpecification
The Application Interface Specification
(AIS) standardises the interface
between Service Availability Forum
compliantHighAvailability(HA)middlewareandserviceapplications.Just
as the HPI interface allows hardware
platformabstraction,theAISenables
compliant applications to be ported
across AIS compliant middleware
fromvariousvendors.
SystemsManagementSpecification
TheSystemsManagementSpecification
(SMS), a complementary specification,
acts as an umbrella to tie together
existing HPI and AIS specifications.
The overall goal of the SMS is to
addresstheadministrativeoperations
andmanagementofvariousaspectsof
thehighlyavailablesystem.
The IP telecom network is creating
unprecedented demand for new and
converged consumer telecommunications
services. This in turn is forcing
TEMstorethinktheirsystemdevelopment
strategies and develop telecom
network systems quickly and cost
effectively.
The emergence of a set of key standards
is enabling an ecosystem of
COTS suppliers. The COTS suppliers
help TEMs to build, quickly and cost
effectively, highly available systems
using standards-based components.
TheServiceAvailabilityForum’sspecificationsareplayingapivotalrolein
the transition from proprietary to
standards-basedsystems.
64

Service assurance
agesandofferacompellingsetofservicessuchasIPTV,onlinegaming,distancelearningandmanynewapplications.Thisappealstobothconsumers
and service providers. The convergence
of IP networks with both fixed
and wireless networks facilitates the
delivery of rich multimedia content,
traditionallydominatedbycablecompanies,bytelcos.
Telecomserviceprovidersareencouraged
by technology, now available,
that lets them cost effectively deliver
advanced services to users. There is
still some time for telcos to roll out
suchservices.Thechallengeistotake
advantageofthelimitedtimewindow.
Adoptionofnewtechnologies
Todeliverthesenewconvergedservices,
networkoperatorsmustupgradetheir
legacy equipment at unprecedented
speedandgettheirIP-basedservices
tomarketquickly.Thisputspressure
upon the TEMs to meet the network
operators’ speed and cost requirements.
Traditionally, TEMs have developed
proprietary systems that have been
costly,andtookyearstogettomarket.
Giventhecostandspeedconstraints,
this approach no longer works. So
TEMsaremovingawayfrombuilding
proprietary telecom systems to systems
based upon commercially
available,pre-integratedpre-tested,
standards-basedcomponents.
The challenge for TEMs is to decide
where they must add core value, and
wheretheyshouldrelyuponpartners
and suppliers to deliver the components
quickly to build systems that
addressthecarriers’service,costand
time-to-market requirements. This is
notatemporarysituation.Thesechallengeswillcontinuetodefinethetelecom
environment for the foreseeable
future.
Aparadigmshift
In the early days of enterprise computing,
single source computer systems
suppliers provided a full, vertically
integrated, computing solution.
They would design, manufacture and
deliver their own silicon, hardware,
operating systems, middleware and
thecustomerapplication.
The supplier’s differentiating factors
were usually distinct features, functionality
and speeds and feeds. Such
proprietary offerings locked the customerintothesolutionfortheforeseeable
future with little flexibility to
changeorupgradethepieceswithout
payingthesupplierpremiumprices.
Realising that they were locked into
expensive proprietary, single-supplier,
solutions, companies sought the
flexibilitytopickandchoosesolution
components from best-of-breed suppliers.
This encouraged the developmentandadoptionofstandardsforall
manufacturerstouseandhelpedcreate
an eco-system of suppliers specialised
in producing individual systems
elements better, faster, cheaper
thananyotherplayer.
Since the elements are standards
based,theyworkperfectlywithother
complementary systems elements
provided by other standards based
suppliers to create a cost effective
solution for the customer. This gave
birthtoasuccessfulhorizontalindustrymodelandanefficientcommercial
off-the-shelf supplier (COTS) ecosystem
for enterprise computing.
Industry players that successfully
adopted this model have benefited
fromit.Otherseitherexitedthebusinessorwererelegatedtoniches.
Thetelecomindustryisjustbeginning
tobenefitfromthehorizontalindustry
model with a COTS ecosystem of its
own.TheemergenceofIPinthetelecom
industry is accelerating the convergencebetweenITandthetelecom
network.Theshiftismadepossibleby
the adoption of a few key standards
thatdefineinterfacesbetweenthevarious
layers of the telecom equipment
systems.
Hardwareplatformstandards,suchas
AdvancedTCA, specify carrier-grade
hardware architecture to provide the
reliability,performanceandscalability
required for telecommunication
applications. The Open Software
DevelopmentLaboratory(OSDL)now
hasaworkinggroupspecificallydedicatedtodefiningCarrierGradeLinux
(CGL) feature roadmaps and specifications
to use in telecommunications
architectures.
Serviceavailability
One of the most significant recent
developmentshasbeentheadventof
the Service Availability Forum, an
industry consortium dedicated to
developingspecificationsforstandard
interfaces necessary to enable the
delivery of highly available carriergradesystemswithCOTScomponents
including hardware platforms, middlewareandserviceapplications.The
ServiceAvailabilityForumisdeveloping
three sets of specifications that
apply to various layers of a highly
availableserviceplatform.
HardwarePlatformInterface
specification
The Hardware Platform Interface
(HPI) specification separates the
hardware from management middlewareandmakeseachindependentof
the other. It specifies services which,
when implemented by the hardware
platform manufacturer, simplify the
integrationofthird-partymiddleware
thatcomplieswiththeHPIspecification.
The interface allows portability of
middlewarecomponentsbetweenvarioushardwareplatformsthatprovide
servicesspecifiedbytheinterface.
ApplicationInterfaceSpecification
The Application Interface Specification
(AIS) standardises the interface
between Service Availability Forum
compliantHighAvailability(HA)middlewareandserviceapplications.Just
as the HPI interface allows hardware
platformabstraction,theAISenables
compliant applications to be ported
across AIS compliant middleware
fromvariousvendors.
SystemsManagementSpecification
TheSystemsManagementSpecification
(SMS), a complementary specification,
acts as an umbrella to tie together
existing HPI and AIS specifications.
The overall goal of the SMS is to
addresstheadministrativeoperations
andmanagementofvariousaspectsof
thehighlyavailablesystem.
The IP telecom network is creating
unprecedented demand for new and
converged consumer telecommunications
services. This in turn is forcing
TEMstorethinktheirsystemdevelopment
strategies and develop telecom
network systems quickly and cost
effectively.
The emergence of a set of key standards
is enabling an ecosystem of
COTS suppliers. The COTS suppliers
help TEMs to build, quickly and cost
effectively, highly available systems
using standards-based components.
TheServiceAvailabilityForum’sspecificationsareplayingapivotalrolein
the transition from proprietary to
standards-basedsystems.
64