 | Issue: | EMEA 2007 |
| Article no.: | 9 | |
| Topic: | Making the right transition | |
| Author: | Daniel Kurgan | |
| Title: | CEO | |
| Organisation: | Belgacom International Carrier Services | |
| PDF size: | 212KB |
About author
Daniel Kurgan is the CEO of Belgacom International Carrier Services. During his career at Belgacom, Mr Kurgan has served in a series of increasingly responsible positions, including: VP Commercial in charge of Sales, Stream Management, Marketing and Product Management; VP International Wholesale, Sales & Marketing, Buying & LCR, Customer Service and Network; Sales Director, Domestic and International Wholesale Division; and, Head of International Relations & Sales. He joined Belgacomís Carrier Division as an International Account Manager after having gained extensive commercial and business development experience in various SMEs. Mr Kurgan earned his degree from the Solvay Business School of The University of Brussels.
Article abstract
The telecom industry is moving through a major, at times painful, transition from traditional legacy networks to IP-based networks. IP-based networks bring a long list of benefits both for operating companies and users, especially more, better and much cheaper services. The market, the competition from newer operators offering IP-based services, has given existing operating companies a ëchange or dieí mandate. Companies tied to legacy networks are working rapidly to prepare themselves for the IP era.
Full Article
The book, The World Is Flat, by Thomas Friedman states that all markets, products and labour in todayís world are closely interconnected by information technology. The world is becoming increasingly flat, with various barriers gradually diminishing. The Internet is increasingly posing a challenge for telecom carriers, thereby forcing them to carve out new opportunities elsewhere. The revolution brought about by information technology has not only changed the way the world works but the telecoms industry as well. The Internet has made its way into the telecoms industry and has had a great impact on it. As a result, the telecoms industry is facing an unprecedented challenge that affects not only fixed network operators; the mobile network operators are also facing similar challenges. In the modern world, mature telecommunications service providers are facing a few hard truths. Legacy core networks have grown unsystematically over the years by adding capacity and functionality; the result, in many instances, is a sprawling complexity that is difficult and expensive to administer. Telecommunications service providersí network architecture needs to become more efficient and flexible to secure future revenues. There is general agreement now that all-IP networks are the solution for the future. IP networks deliver any service – voice, data or multimedia – using a simple protocol to any device and over any access network facilitating the tasks of operators and users alike. Of course, the road towards the full implementation of IP wonít be easy. The challenge facing operators, developers and telecoms equipment providers is that the majority of their existing service infrastructure is still TDM, time division multiplex, circuit switched, and they must be able to deliver services on existing infrastructure, while steering a steady course to the all-IP environment of the future. In addition to the migration to IP networks, there is a parallel shift going on in the form of the convergence of networks and applications that IP makes possible. Buoying up this tide of convergence is the IP Multimedia Subsystem, IMS. IMS is a convergent application service architecture built on IP and Session Initiation Protocol, SIP, which is access networkagnostic. IMS, standardized by 3GPP in Europe, grew out of the carriersí market, driven need for an open architecture. The scope of IMS is broad and the ambition held for it impressive. IMS has turned into a grand, unifying concept for telecommunication services, joining mobile and fixed networks – voice, data and video and network operators and service providers. Coherence is needed to join together the elements of the increasingly complex communications landscape, and IMS is being hailed as the glue that will stick it nicely together. There are a number of factors driving the industry towards IMS, including the reduction in operational and capital expenses it offers. IMS makes it possible to implement and introduce new services faster, and facilitates the convergence of diverse core and access networks so that all users no matter where they are located can access the same services. The telecom industry is encouraged by the potential of IMS-based platforms to deliver new applications that combine voice and data and facilitate FMC, fixed mobile convergence, which allows people to use the same phone number, address book and voicemail whether at home, in the office or while travelling outside the coverage of their mobile or fixed network. IMS makes it easier to offer just about any IP-based service, including VoIP, voice over IP, push to talk over cellular, PoC, videoconferencing, instant messaging, and the like, no matter what the location or user access technology. One challenge that arises is how to migrate legacy network users to the next-generation of mobility. The key for the industry right now is to provide service continuity during the transition to the new IMS network. Users need to be able to stick to their trusted and familiar services while switching to new IMS devices. For a carrier, this means not only preparing and upgrading your network to an all-IP environment while continuing to serve your customers in the legacy environment, but also how to bridge the gap between both. The merger of some European carrier operations, facilitated by IP-based networks, has generated economies of scale, and multiple market and technological synergies that allows them to compete with the larger players. One of the objectives to be dealt with during the initial steps of the post-merger integration of these carriers was to serve the customer – from the beginning – in the best possible way, with the best price/quality ratio and increased, customised, service and flexibility. One of the ways to achieve this is by optimising the telecom network and resources. Migrating together with customers towards a hybrid solution and the next generation network, NGN, creates a flexible, optimal foundation for future growth. The projected outcome is a large NGN/IMS network with a fully integrated OSS and BSS, operational support system and business support system. During the first phase of the merger the objective is to improve customer services, quality and price. The joining together of legacy switches and IP-based network routing, using an IMS-based open architecture IMS, can facilitate the flexible, responsive offering of new IMS-based services. Hybrid solutions composed of legacy and NGN elements permit offering services such as VoIP with a perfect bridge to the legacy world. The next steps can include combining the carrierís international nodes in a NGN environment, while maintaining full customer service at all times, and implementing remote monitoring and management platforms. This sort of strategy lets the carrier serve both their legacy and new IP customers with a flexible and scalable network ready to address their current and future needs while introducing them to the services of the future. However, there are several lessons to be learned as well and there are still some roadblocks to overcome. There are, for instance, two VoIP protocols in the market. The old protocol H.323 was based on the ISDN, Integrated Services Digital Network, standards and therefore transparent. The new protocol SIP has the advantage of being a fairly simple way of signalling calls over the Internet; however, this has its disadvantages as, due to the relatively simplified SIP translation procedure, the mapping of signals for the legacy (TDM) equipment world is not as good as with H.323. Consequently, there are still real interoperability issues between the IP and TDM for most services, including voice, fax and data. Step by step, these interoperability problems must be resolved to boost the move toward an all-IP environment that provides customers with the same quality of service – voice-over- IP and other services – we get today via TDM networks.
