A Time to Converge

Few major carriers today operate a single network or offer only one kind of service. Many larger carriers offer wireline, wireless and Internet access in multiple locations and countries. Most carriers use a variety of transmission technologies, standards and vendors, some of which are inherited during mergers and acquisitions.

To operate economically, you must converge operations to one easily manageable network. To compete in an increasingly crowded field, you must make applications and services available seamlessly across your entire collection of networks. Furthermore, customers should notice the continuity of the service they receive and nothing else.

Third-generation technologies will help you provide data capabilities and IP interfaces. The process, though, is an evolution: You will have to leverage legacy equipment as you incorporate new technologies.

A BUSINESS DECISIONThe multiservice network, which handles voice, video and data, is a hallmark of next-generation communications. Access to that network can be through wireless, wireline or data networks. But wireless is increasingly becoming the access method of choice because of its convenience and flexibility, giving carriers an advantage in the next-generation world. Although wireline still may play a major role for backbone transmission, access most likely will be wireless, whether mobile with global roaming or within a home or an office with a concept such as Bluetooth. Most likely, customers will use wireless as their primary interface with the communications network.

You will have to design a network transition as communications converge. It will not be enough to just have wireless access. Members of an increasingly mobile customer base demand seamless services wherever they go, no matter how they reach the network. Most customers won't take the time to learn different ways to use the same service for wireless, wireline and Internet applications. Customers also have an increasingly voracious demand for applications or services requiring a large amount of bandwidth that today's wireless networks must address. All of these market changes will require new technology.

Just as the wireline world is changing from circuit switching to packet switching, the wireless world is making a similar move. Through the use of specialized internetworking units, such as a media gateway, it will be possible to connect disparate access networks with a common IP-over-ATM backbone with separate control and service layers capable of handling multiple services. Rather than being tied to a specific switch for their services, customers can reach the network from any location and use the same features and services they are accustomed to.

COMPETITIVE SERVICESServices will be the crux of competition in the next-generation network. Voice service has become a commodity, with little price and service differentiation. You must set yourself apart by providing value-added services. Service creation and subsequent deployment, however, are more complex when you have multiple wireless networks, a wireline network and a data network. Further complicating matters is the fact that, despite customers' insistence on services that work the same way regardless of network access, each network currently requires its own service-creation and network-management tools.

The solution is a common service platform based on industry standards. Using intelligent-networking concepts, this platform allows you to create new services once, then deploy them across the entire network through the common platform. The core network connected to the access means via the media gateway will allow systems to connect to a single service platform. This platform will use a modern language such as Java to create a single service feature that an object broker would convert into ANSI-41, GSM-MAP, AIN or IP. This gives you the option of using off-the-shelf applications (Java beans) to create new services in a few days rather than vendor-developed services, which can take months.

With network-based services instead of terminal- or switch-based services, customers can get to their own information no matter how they reach the network. They can view Web-based e-mail services or use a single address book or speed-dial list from any location or terminal.

With next-generation networks, customers will be able to use Web-access appliances anywhere. The 3G network will provide always-on access to high-speed data services.

The industry is not there yet, but the pieces are falling in place. Multimode, multiband phones now are available to support global roaming. Consequently, carriers have to create international roaming agreements to support their customers. Mergers and acquisitions among major carriers also will help make global access easier. Intelligent common service platforms based on industry standards also are available. Today, you can create services and deploy them system wide regardless of access technology.

The next phase of evolution is adding data capabilities to the network. Circuit-switched CDPD is available and well-suited to most end users' needs, but is hampered by perceptions of slow speeds. Third-generation technology, which offers tenfold higher data speeds, is on the horizon. For example, GPRS market trials are scheduled for this year in Europe and next year in the United States. Even faster solutions approaching a 50-fold increase will be available within the next three years. Reliable, high-speed data access is crucial for wireless to play a primary role in the next-generation network.

Third-generation networks also will change how you bill customers for converged services. Today's circuit-switched networks bill based on location. They judge which numbers are local and which are long-distance, and they charge by service area of the dialing number and the number called, combined with the length of the call. In future networks, there will be more options for how calls are charged, ranging from flat rate to the number of packets to the call actions. Simple billing based on toll tickets no longer will be feasible. It may be possible to bill based on data-message handling, where each call activity is recorded, or based on packet activity. Packet measurement will allow users to be online all of the time, anywhere, and only be charged for the amount of traffic they create. This will require some significant changes to billing platforms and practices. Not only will you have to adjust business practices, but you will have to educate customers so they will accept new ways of service payment.

GET READYYou should prepare now for next-generation networks by acting as though convergence is already a reality. If you provide multiple services, you should provide a similar look and feel across wireless, wireline and data services. Customers should have similar experiences with sales, billing and customer service no matter what services they use.

You also can implement and offer existing technology to begin convergence. By making multimode phones available to customers who need global roaming and by developing international roaming agreements, you can help build a subscriber base for 3G's global-roaming capabilities. When developing new services, you need to keep convergence in mind and find ways to implement those services so they can be used in a variety of networks.

True 3G will reach its full promise of capability within a couple of years and by planning now, you will be prepared to face a new reality of telecommunications evolution. Those caught unprepared may be left behind.