By: Tim Young
Back in 2009, prior to the first commercial deployment of LTE, discussions surrounding the future of an all-IP 4G wireless network were still sketchy. LTE hadn’t fully emerged as the 4G
technology of choice, and talk of standards and best practices was still largely theoretical or academic. However, in November of that year a promise of emerging standards appeared to take
shape. Industry leaders like AT&T, Orange, Telefonica, Vodafone, Verizon, TeliaSonera, Nokia, Ericsson, and Samsung signed on to a joint technical profile for the development of LTE voice
and SMS…
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By: Susana Schwartz
TM Forum Focused on Multi-Cloud Service Delivery and End-to-End Management for All Stakeholders A few years ago the “tele” in Telemanagement Forum’s namesake was removed, making it the “TM
Forum,” and this was done for a reason. The reason being that “telcos” participating in a digital ecosystem could no longer constrict or limit themselves with rigid boundaries or definitions of
what they are in the moment or will be in the future. It was an acknowledgement that the roles among different stakeholders will continue to rapidly change, sometimes positioning friends as
competitors or foes as partners – or, in some cases, both…
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By: Scott St. John - Pipeline
One can’t look back over the last 12 months without noticing the advancements Microsoft has made in the Communications and Entertainment (COMET) marketplace. Perhaps even more remarkable is the
time frame in which it has been able to make such significant headway. I know how this might sound. Some of you are clenching your iPhones in disbelief as you read this article, and a year ago I
might not have blamed you. But you simply can’t ignore the impact Microsoft has had on communications information technology (CommIT), its ecosystem of partners, its customers, or the standards
that drive interoperability between them…
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article
By: Tim Young
The communications industry is awash with standards development organizations (SDOs), from industry trade associations to regulatory agencies. As this month's issue is devoted to standards and
frameworks, we thought we'd take some time to speak to one of the oldest and most globally connected SDOs: the ITU-T. As the standards arm of the International Telecommunication Union, a United
Nations agency composed of hundreds of member nations, private-sector firms, and academic entities, the ITU-T is in a special position to observe global communications growth and make
recommendations on policy and best practices that can reverberate around the world…
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By: Russ Housley, Steve Mills
Standards have proven to be a key facilitator in the growth of the Internet, and now lessons learned during the Internet’s development are fueling a transformation in standards. The processes
that produced the global standards that have helped render the Internet and the Web the premier platforms for worldwide social impact, technological innovation and borderless commerce have revealed
a flexible and efficient model for standards development and adoption. This model is emerging as broadly applicable across more and more technology spaces, and it is this model that the newly
announced “OpenStand” principles seek to define…
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By: Jesse Cryderman
Navigating the sea of standards is not unlike spooning through alphabet soup. CDMA. 802.11n. 4G LTE. Can I get a YOLO? Which acronyms will be with us in five years, and which will fall to the
bottom of the soup bowl and down the drain? Although all standards play an important role in enabling the communication technology we use every day, not all standards are created equal. Naturally,
some recently developed standards are driving more than just better signal processing or faster billing; these standards are fundamentally changing the way we will communicate in the future…
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By: Becky Bracken
For the purpose of this discussion, let's agree that humans—and their industries—have a harmful effect on the environment. Al Gore’s cherry picker and your reusable grocery bags aside, networks
and CSPs are arguably in the best position to lessen mankind’s negative impact on the environment by the sheer size and energy requirements of their operations and the ubiquitous nature of the
services they provide. “From a service-offering perspective, sustainable telecoms providers can reduce customers’ business travel and energy consumption through solutions such as video
conferencing, cloud computing and smart metering,” says Emily Hobbs of Verdantix, an analyst firm focused on issues surrounding the environment, energy and sustainability…
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By: Jesse Cryderman
Consumers have shown a willingness to pay more for goods and services that adhere to standards of quality, interoperability, safety, and social responsibility in industries outside of
telecommunications, such as consumer electronics, automotive, food service, and home appliances. These customers rely on certain industry standards to make their choices, as they may not understand
or have the time to understand all the attendant operations for the good or service they are purchasing. In fact the chances that you will buy a product today based on a standard that has been
effectively monetized are very high…
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By: Becky Bracken
Standards are the OSS/BSS international language of love. And the more the industry collectively loves standards, the more it's going to get back. Standards help communications service
providers (CSPs) make better procurement decisions and actually encourage more spending. Standards alleviate the anxiety of interoperability even in the face of the old mousetrap,
silos-but-converged-with-bailing-wire-and-duct-tape legacy networks. Standardized systems are like a big, warm hug and a cup of cocoa for IT managers across industries and continents because
standards make their jobs easier, and more secure…
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By: Catherine Michel
Who Cares? Collective groan. In trying to keep pace with technology evolution and agile development, when one hears “standards” one automatically thinks: pointless bureaucracy. And frameworks?
Useless job aids. But it needn’t be that way. It can’t be that way. In our increasingly connected world (a la apps, M2M, over-the-top services, and so forth) standards and frameworks are ever more
critical. They are easily the fastest way in which an independent capability becomes interoperable with the supporting infrastructure…
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By: Jesse Cryderman
Ericsson made a significant addition to its OSS/BSS portfolio with the purchase of ConceptWave in late September. The acquisition, combined with its Telcordia integration, moves Ericsson closer
to having the industry’s most comprehensive OSS/BSS portfolio. The deal will certainly help it compete against rivals like Accenture, Amdocs and Huawei, as the company now serves more than 1.7
billion people and leads in billing and charging. According to Gartner, Accenture led the overall telecom operations management systems market in 2011, with Ericsson in second place…
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By: Tim Young
n an industry
dedicated to helping people communicate, some modicum of standardization is not only helpful, it’s imperative. What is language itself if not a standardized form of communication? This
series of grunts and growls means something, and its meaning is shared, in a basic sense, between all who speak and understand the language…
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