Next Generation Network
A Path to the Future
The Next Generation Network – in brief NGN – stands for a new trend in the communications industry: convergence. Next generation networks will bundle voice, data and video; the user will then need only a single access point to handle television, telephone and Internet needs.
In close examination, NGN is the infrastructure with which Triple Play – the bundling of data, video and voice services – can be implemented. Carriers, Internet service providers (ISPs) and hardware manufacturers are cooperating closely to accomplish this. Companies like Funkwerk Enterprise
Communications GmbH offer products that provide an intelligent network connection. These so-called Integrated Access Devices (IADs) are access devices that provide bundled services – such as Internet telephony, Internet TV and conventional Internet access – over a DSL line and route appropriate signals to connected telephones, televisions or computers. Carriers and ISPs typically place these IADs at their end customer's premises. This new technology not only means some changes for hardware manufacturers, NGN will also force IT administrators to redefine their scope of
activities.
The launch has been made…
The first steps on the path to NGN have already been taken. Data transmission via Internet has long been established. The integration of voice communications is now being pursued. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is slowly penetrating everyday commerce. And even VDSL (Very High Speed
Digital Subscriber Line) is ready for takeoff. One important aspect of all this is data prioritisation; even though a great deal of bandwidth may be available, the data must still be transmitted and reach the recipient with the desired level of quality.
The convincing argument for communicating exclusively over a network is its cost advantages. For example, IP telephony has already proven to be more economical than conventional telephony. The next network generation and its reliance on Internet will make the entire spectrum of
communications more economical – both for providers as well as for customers. Billing systems will have to reflect the infrastructure, scalability and service level agreements (SLAs) guaranteed by carriers and ISPs.
Individual systems, differentiated devices NGN access technologies are based on established
technologies. The standards for fundamental communication protocols have already been established – all of which are layered onto the Internet protocol. Nevertheless, conventional telephone functions are to be preserved. Since all services are to be offered by the carrier/ISP, they must be made available to the customer over the network – telephony too. But present protocols, for example SIP, are not yet completely ready for these additional functions. Carriers and providers will therefore develop proprietary solutions. This will create systems which only permit the use of certain terminal
devices. A change of carrier therefore becomes more difficult – in part because more services are supplied by a single provider. Call duration and data volume can no longer form the core of the business model but rather the devices
the user's choice of services, these devices must maintain an intensive contact with the infrastructure. Because of this, these devices will generally exhibit increasing complexity.
New business models, simple and straightforward For the end-user, this means he must change his decision criteria; he no longer purchases according to the technology and functions offered by devices but rather according to the performance and services supplied by the carrier or ISP. Thus a company's IT administrator will have to pay more attention to which carrier he will be concluding a contract and how responsibilities are divided up rather than on the selection of devices. For their part, device manufacturers will no longer primarily develop equipment to satisfy end-user
requirements; instead, they will work together with carriers and ISPs to make decisions about device functions and interfaces. Product development will shift its emphasis toward the direct client – development will be less user-driven and more provider-user-driven. Over the long term this will move the software side of devices into the foreground such that it becomes the unique selling proposition (USP). Carrier-specific requirements for increasingly complex functions will have to be implemented in hardware by device
manufacturers. Expertise can be demonstrated, for example on the basis of interface implementations that will evolve into a decision criterion.
Complete-suppliers, such as Funkwerk Enterprise Communications, already possess all necessary base
technologies: VoIP, WLAN or routing. This allows them to equip sophisticated devices with professional IP functions. For example, FEC has already incorporated video software options into its hardware devices – after all, the network
connection must also permit video transmission, a core element of Triple Play.
The customer profits from NGN because this Triple Play infrastructure will allow significantly more services and permit more precise differentiation of services. However, the necessary performance enhancement also means that Triple Play communications overhead between network and device will be considerably higher. The services that the customer chooses to obtain via NGN will then be covered by contract and registered in the terminal device's software. The carrier must capture the terminal device's data in order to deliver the services chosen – and paid – by the customer. Because maintenance is also handled by the carrier, the carrier must also know when, for example, time is opportune for a firmware update. Terminal devices with more intelligence will then also cost more – in terms of absolute numbers. In comparison to today's devices, this aspect is not so dramatic as it may sound. Because today, a router is for routing and a telephone is for telephone calls. In contrast, intelligent
network connections will bundle multiple functions, thus also replace a number of today's individual devices.
New infrastructure, new activities
The configuration, which the end-user must accomplish himself, should be simple – particularly for private
customers. Initial plans call for configuration activities to be accomplished via a web portal. IT administrators in
companies using NGN will be confronted with additional tasks. They will have to change their way of thinking; their maintenance and system-configuration duties will partially be taken over by the carrier. Those who take an advanced look at the new infrastructure will also discover discretionary
flexibility there. For example, company-internal NGNs represent an interesting variation. It is quite feasible for concerns to create virtual telephone systems by employing a so-called "hosted PBX" in combination with IAD functions to emulate a telephone system. Inter-site communications will also be simplified. E-learning programs and/or video conferencing can reduce the need for travel and associated travel expenses. Home offices or branch offices can be promptly supplied with important company information. When a NGN solution is to be implemented, the company should make decisions early on about which tasks are to be handled internally by the IT administrator and which tasks are better left up to the carrier.
For the company, greater convergence means simplification, on the other hand it does involve higher risks. If one of the system's components should fail, they all fail. From the user's perspective NGN is no longer available, he looses all services at once (Internet, telephony, television, video). Therefore reliability must improve and networks must become more stable. Company administrators must take precautions to prevent a complete stoppage of business operations in the event that the NGN should fail. This is a major challenge which will surely receive even more intensive discussion. In contrast, the subject of bandwidth will retreat into the background because it has, in the meantime, become adequate. Nevertheless, sufficiently large bandwidth must continuously be available in the future. This means that even during periods of heaviest data exchange, for example when a company simultaneously holds multiple video conferences, data exchange must still be uninterrupted and timely. This is the second great challenge for NGNs – which must be overcome by the ISPs and carriers.
Summary
The overall effect of NGN for users will be a simplification of tariffs and device operation. The problematic lies in a greater dependency on a single provider/carrier. Since the provider/carrier will also increasingly become a content and service supplier, a change of carrier will not only mean swapping hardware but also many services must would have to be re-established (keyword, hosted PBX). When a
transition to NGN is to be affected, company IT
administrators must precisely define their requirements for the carrier/provider as well as the division of responsibilities.
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Please address your queries to:
Bernd Büttner,
Product Marketing Manager
Funkwerk Enterprise Communications GmbH
Dr. Haffa & Partner Public Relations GmbH Burgauerstrasse 117 81929 Munich, Germany Tel.: +49 89 - 99 31 91-0 Fax: +49 89 - 99 31 91-99 Email: [email protected]
