Business Strategies for the Next-Generation Network

314 Pages·2004·4.562 MB·English

by  Seel N.

BUSINESS STRATEGIES
FOR THE
NEXT-GENERATION
NETWORK
SSeeeell__AAUU88003355__CC000000..iinndddd ii 1111//22//22000066 33::5588::2277 PPMM
OTHER TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOOKS FROM AUERBACH
Architecting the Telecommunication Security in Distributed, Grid, Mobile,
Evolution: Toward Converged Network and Pervasive Computing
Services Yang Xiao
Vijay K. Gurbani and Xian-He Sun ISBN: 0-8493-7921-0
ISBN: 0-8493-9567-4
TCP Performance over UMTS-HSDPA
Business Strategies for the Systems
Next-Generation Network Mohamad Assaad and Djamal Zeghlache
Nigel Seel ISBN: 0-8493-6838-3
ISBN: 0-8493-8035-9
Testing Integrated QoS of VoIP:
Chaos Applications in Packets to Perceptual Voice Quality
Telecommunications Vlatko Lipovac
Peter Stavroulakis ISBN: 0-8493-3521-3
ISBN: 0-8493-3832-8
The Handbook of Mobile Middleware
Context-Aware Pervasive Systems: Paolo Bellavista and Antonio Corradi
Architectures for a New Breed of ISBN: 0-8493-3833-6
Applications
Seng Loke Traffic Management in IP-Based
ISBN: 0-8493-7255-0 Communications
Trinh Anh Tuan
Fundamentals of DSL Technology ISBN: 0-8493-9577-1
Philip Golden, Herve Dedieu, Krista S Jacobsen
ISBN: 0-8493-1913-7 Understanding Broadband over
Power Line
Introduction to Mobile Communications: Gilbert Held
Technology, Services, Markets ISBN: 0-8493-9846-0
Tony Wakefield
ISBN: 1-4200-4653-5 Understanding IPTV
Gilbert Held
IP Multimedia Subsystem: Service ISBN: 0-8493-7415-4
Infrastructure to Converge NGN,
3G and the Internet WiMAX: A Wireless Technology
Rebecca Copeland Revolution
ISBN: 0-8493-9250-0 G.S.V. Radha Krishna Rao, G. Radhamani
ISBN: 0-8493-7059-0
MPLS for Metropolitan Area Networks
Nam-Kee Tan WiMAX: Taking Wireless to the MAX
ISBN: 0-8493-2212-X Deepak Pareek
ISBN: 0-8493-7186-4
Performance Modeling and Analysis of
Bluetooth Networks: Polling, Scheduling,
Wireless Mesh Networking: Architectures,
and Traffic Control
Protocols and Standards
Jelena Misic and Vojislav B Misic
Yan Zhang, Jijun Luo and Honglin Hu
ISBN: 0-8493-3157-9
ISBN: 0-8493-7399-9
A Practical Guide to Content Delivery
Wireless Mesh Networks
Networks
Gilbert Held
Gilbert Held
ISBN: 0-8493-2960-4
ISBN: 0-8493-3649-X
Resource, Mobility, and Security
Management in Wireless Networks
and Mobile Communications
Yan Zhang, Honglin Hu, and Masayuki Fujise
ISBN: 0-8493-8036-7
AUERBACH PUBLICATIONS
www.auerbach-publications.com
To Order Call: 1-800-272-7737 • Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
SSeeeell__AAUU88003355__CC000000..iinndddd iiii 1111//22//22000066 33::5588::4422 PPMM
BUSINESS STRATEGIES
FOR THE
NEXT-GENERATION
NETWORK
Nigel Seel
Boca Raton New York
Auerbach Publications is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
SSeeeell__AAUU88003355__CC000000..iinndddd iiiiii 1111//22//22000066 33::5588::4422 PPMM
Auerbach Publications
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2007 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Auerbach is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-8493-8035-9 (Hardcover)
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-8493-8035-8 (Hardcover)
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted
material is quoted with permission, and sources are indicated. A wide variety of references are
listed. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author
and the publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or for the conse-
quences of their use.
No part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or utilized in any form by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying,
microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written
permission from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.
copyright.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC)
222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that
provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a
photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and
are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Seel, Nigel.
Business strategies for the next-generation network / Nigel Seel.
p. cm. -- (Informa telecoms & media ; 4)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8493-8035-8 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8493-8035-9 (alk. paper)
1. Computer networks. 2. Business planning. 3. Strategic planning. I. Title.
TK5105.5.S389 2007
004.6--dc22 2006034583
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
and the Auerbach Web site at
http://www.auerbach-publications.com
SSeeeell__AAUU88003355__CC000000..iinndddd iivv 1111//22//22000066 33::5588::4433 PPMM
Contents
Acknowledgments ............................................................................vii
Introduction ......................................................................................ix
About the Author ...........................................................................xiii
PART I: TECHNOLOGY
1 Th e Strange Death of Broadband ISDN ............................................3
2 Th e Next-Generation Network and IMS .........................................13
3 Th e Next-Generation Network and TV ...........................................51
4 Th e Next-Generation Network and IT Systems ...............................73
PART II: TRANSFORMATION
5 Bureaucracy and Treacle ..................................................................93
6 Telecoms Market Structure ............................................................109
7 Choosing the Right People ............................................................119
8 Case Study: A Transformation Program .........................................139
PART III: BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY ISSUES
9 Worrying about Skype ...................................................................155
10 Spectrum Auctions ........................................................................169
11 Th e Trial of Rete Populi ................................................................185
12 Machines Who Talk ......................................................................207
PART IV: BUSINESS STRATEGIES
13 NGN Strategies for Incumbents ....................................................225
14 NGN Strategies for Alternative Network Operators ......................241
v
SSeeeell__AAUU88003355__CC000000..iinndddd vv 1111//22//22000066 33::5588::4433 PPMM
vi (cid:132) Contents
15 NGN Strategies for Capturing the Consumer Market ...................263
16 Conclusions ...................................................................................277
Glossary ........................................................................................281
Index .............................................................................................291
SSeeeell__AAUU88003355__CC000000..iinndddd vvii 1111//22//22000066 33::5588::4433 PPMM
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all of the following whose advice I relied upon implicitly as
I put the book together: Sue Davidson for her advice about how NGN carriers
can address the SME market; Rob Evans for an insightful discussion of NGN
transition issues in an alt-net; David Hilliard, formerly CEO at Mentor and a
source of great encouragement; Andy MacLeod, formerly CEO at Verizon Europe,
interviewed in chapter 12 and a source of deep insights into the telecom industry
and its possible futures; Mike McTighe, formerly CEO of a number of carriers,
for his strategic insights into industry evolution; Carol Olney for her authorita-
tive views on the challenges of IT modernization; Bob Partridge, interviewed in
chapter 13, for the enormous experience and industry wisdom he shared with me;
Stephen Pulman, professor at Oxford University, who is interviewed in chapter 12
and provided an authoritative source on all aspects of natural language processing;
Mick Reeve, formerly BT’s chief architect, who reviewed a draft of chapter 13
and provided much advice; Alex Seel, who reviewed a number of chapters from
the point of view of a telecom programmer (not entirely the intended audience);
Dr. Ian Taylor, who reviewed a draft of chapter 11 and whose book on P2P is
recommended reading; Yuda Tuval of Mentor for initial encouragement; Andrew
Wheen for valuable feedback; Clare Youell for support all the way through, and
the fi gure in chapter 8; and those contributors who have to remain anonymous,
all of whom gave so generously of their time.
In regard to the original commissioning of the book and its production, I
would like to thank Gavin Whitechurch of Informa, who fi rst suggested that I
might write this book; Rich O’Hanley, publisher at Auerbach Publications (part
of the Taylor & Francis Group), who commissioned the book and supported me
throughout the year-long writing process; Catherine Giacari, project coordinator,
who helped me with layout and fi gures; Marlyn Littman of Nova Southeastern
University, for a thorough, helpful review of the fi rst draft, which led to a number
of additional topics being included in the fi nal text; Julie Spadaro, Taylor & Francis
project editor, for so expeditiously organizing the overall production of the book;
vii
SSeeeell__AAUU88003355__CC000000..iinndddd vviiii 1111//22//22000066 33::5588::4433 PPMM
viii (cid:132) Acknowledgments
and Lynn Goeller of EvS Communications for handling the copy editing, page
layout, indexing and proofreading.
All responsibilities for any omissions or errors are, of course, my own.
SSeeeell__AAUU88003355__CC000000..iinndddd vviiiiii 1111//22//22000066 33::5588::4433 PPMM
Introduction
Th is is not the fi rst attempt to build the Next-Generation Network (NGN). Back
in the 1980s, when the carriers controlled innovation, they had come up with a
wonderfully complex architecture for voice, data, and video services, called the
Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (Broadband ISDN). Th is archi-
tecture was layered upon a standard protocol called ATM—Asynchronous Transfer
Mode—and those 53-byte cells were deceptively simple. All the real complexity
was in the multiple adaptation layers, which allowed very diff erent services to
be successfully adapted to and carried by the relatively uncomplicated ATM
transport layer, and in the signaling required to make, manage, and tear-down
connections.
As we all know, Broadband ISDN took years of preparation, as the standards
bodies tried to design in every conceivable requirement before the standard
could be fi nalized and equipment could be built. In the meantime, the Internet
happened, using a good enough protocol which couldn’t do one tenth the things
ATM was supposed to do. But the things it could do were what were needed back
then, and it was extensible in service.
Th e current concept of the NGN is emphatically not the Internet. Th e NGN
is in reality Broadband ISDN mark 2, leveraging Internet technologies. So is it
all going to end in tears again? Hard to say—the NGN specifi cation roadmap
is now in the hands of all the usual carrier standards bodies, the ITU-T, ETSI,
ANSI, etc., and stretches out past 2009. However, unlike with ATM, the new
NGN is leveraging protocols and standards that have some real-world experience
behind them, and it’s tackling problems of multimedia service networking that
we actually have. So it’s got to be in with a chance.
Let’s assume the new NGN is one of the right answers to the world’s networking
problems right now (many would disagree, but the premise of this book is that
it is near enough). A related question is whether carriers will be able to make the
transition from their current networks, processes, and systems to the next-genera-
tion network. It will neither be easy nor cheap, and some certainly won’t make
it. Let me put it like this. Carriers are typically large, complex organizations with
ix
SSeeeell__AAUU88003355__CC000000..iinndddd iixx 1111//22//22000066 33::5588::4444 PPMM