IPsphere Forum White Papers
The network and services of the future will, by all accounts, be created by a diverse set of technologies
and an equally diverse set of stakeholders, making the concept of “convergence” truly multi-dimensional.
While the benefits of network facilities convergence are undisputed and much has already been done to
address the technical challenges involved in assembling capabilities from the IT and network worlds, some
significant business challenges remain largely unresolved.
The IPsphere framework addresses both the operational and business challenges of convergence by
recognizing that services will embrace the competencies of multiple stakeholders, and that the flexible,
cost-effective assembly of resources will be the key to the satisfaction of business and consumer user
needs, and the future sustainability of network operator and service provider businesses overall.
No one could deny that the telecommunications industry is in a state of transition worldwide. Traditional
wireline voice service, long the revenue bastion of providers, faces competition from both wireless
technology and from voice over IP and the Internet.
The telecommunications market needs a successful IP business model, not to replace the Internet but to
supplement it, to capture higher-value applications in a way that rebuilds profit for the providers. It
seems clear that the model will not emerge from the current business of the Internet or the current
standards process. Technology evolution is not necessarily profit evolution. A new approach to the
challenge...the opportunity...of public IP services is needed, and one has now emerged. |
