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Perhaps there’s a little more scope there for network-based services in the area of service quality measurement and assurance. Certainly someone needs to know what is going on in the heart of the network and fix problems when they occur. But is this something the bit-carrier should do as a premium paid-for service, or is this just part of the job of moving bits around?
Meantime, smart technology at the edge of the network is continuously improving the ability of over-the-top service providers to deliver good quality, real-time voice and video services. Compression algorithms improve every year, resulting in better quality with lower bandwidth. Smarter DSP can reduce jitter and replace lost bits while actually reducing end-to-end latency by eliminating the need to wait for delayed packets to catch up. As a result, international calls using Internet-based voip can often be just as good as PSTN calls, and will likely be better than a mobile-to-mobile call using “carrier-grade” technology end-to-end. Application-ware VPNs can be set up from the edge, end-to-end, without requiring the network operator to do much other than transport the bits.
The reality is that the carriers no longer have a clear field to offer these services, which at
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Other players have already set some of the rules of the game. |
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one time were choice plums there for bit-carriers to pick. The opportunities are still there, but there are now other players, who have already set some of the rules of the game. Nothing should prevent the bit-carriers from joining in and competing in these areas; we just have to remember that customers now demand choices and when we offer these ancillary services, we are competing with others. And whatever we do, it mustn’t get in the way of that all-important role of delivering the bits.
As we have said before, carrying bits is in itself an honorable trade and a good business to be in. There’s a high barrier of entry for competitors in terms of both finance and expertise needed. Connecting people to each other and to service providers has become an indispensable service for consumers and businesses, because it has become part of our developed way of life. The evolution of the cloud will make the carriers’ role even more important, and the carriers’ new attitude of collaboration is what will make the cloud even more of a success.
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