EUROPEAN communications

www.eurocomms.com Summer 2009

www.eurocomms.com

SMART CITY
Developing an urban competitive edge

GREEN COMMUNICATORS
Telcos push the eco message

SUPER-FAST BROADBAND TAKES ROOT

Ethernet standards stimulate the market

MOBILE TV FOR THE MASSES

Finding the right model

Efficiency Drive
Summer

Rui Paiva, CEO of WeDo technologies, talks to Alun Lewis

2009

about business process management and the need to take a

fresh approach to business assurance

Incorporating Broadband World Forum Europe and IBC 2009 Previews

Contents
7/ FOREWORD
8/ NEWSPEAK
Update on the latest developments in
communications
10/ CONVERGED MARKETS
THE BUSINESS OF
COLLABORATION
John Konczal examines how telecom
providers must accommodate the explosive
demand for digital content through busi-
ness alliances
14/ LEAD INTERVIEW
EFFICIENCY DRIVE
Rui Paiva, CEO of WeDo Technologies, talks
to Alun Lewis about business process
management and the drivers that are taking
the telecommunications industry towards a
fresh approach to business assurance
18/ OPENING UP SCPS
THE SERVICE PASSKEY
Unlocking the service layer will encourage
a new market of innovation and competi-
tion says Jonathan Bell. But how can it
be done?
22/ GREEN TELECOMS
GREEN COMMUNICATORS
Environmental issues are impacting prod-
uct development across a range of tele-
coms offerings says Alix Morley
26/ ETHERNET ALA
SUPER-FAST BROADBAND
TAKES ROOT
Broadband standards are stimulating
investment and competition, says Robin
Mersch
30/ CARRIER ETHERNET
FUTURE PERFECT?
Ser vice providers are moving to Carrier
Ethernet in response to the need to handle
fast-growing traffic from consumers and
business says David Noguer Bau
34/ INFRASTRUCTURE
SMART CITY
Governments and communications compa-
nies can work together to give urban devel-
opments a global competitive advantage
say Peter Elliot and James Bennet
36/ FTTH
DRIVING THE FTTH HYBRID
With VDSL2 running over the copper portion
of hybrid fibre/copper networks, service
providers can deliver a range of broadband-
intensive applications says Venkat
Sundaresan
40/ DIGITAL TV
COMBINED ELEMENTS
The future of pay-TV future is hybrid says
Francois Pogodalla. What hybrid means
is the combination of DVB reception
techniques for receiving broadcast digi-
tal video, with IP capability to receive
video or other multimedia content over
Ethernet.
42/ MOBILE TV BUSINESS
MODELS
MOBILE TV FOR THE MASSES
The mobile TV industry continues to search
for the elusive business model that will
drive mass adoption., Diana Jovin notes
that it remains unclear how we will reach
future heights when compared to where
we are today
46/ MOBILE MARKETING
HEADING FOR GROWTH?
Despite a marked reticence among many
brands to take the mobile marketing
plunge, Daryn Wober believes its potential
is considerable, and take-up imminent
48/ MOBILE DATA
CONFRONTING SUCCESS
David Sharpley looks at how the mobile
industry can manage the current mobile
data explosion, prevent mobile bill shock
and impress its customers in the process
50/ ENUM
AN ABUNDANCE OF CHOICE
In the future, Phil Kingsland contends,
consumer demand will drive the develop-
ment of new and specific communications
services, a key enabler of which could well
be Public ENUM
54/ MOBILE BANKING
BANKING ON THE
OPERATORS
Rodrigue Ullens feels that a number of
converging factors have come together to
enable mobile operators to take the initia-
tive and become our banks for everyday
transactions
56/ OPEN MOBILE
THE PERFECT RECIPE
Matt Bancroft argues that an open wireless
marketplace drives huge benefits for all
59/ OPEN SOURCE
THE FUTURE IS FLOSS
Jean-Nol de Galzain explains how devel-
oper communities, business leaders and
policy makers will attend Open World Forum
2009 to ensure open software plays an
active role in the digital recovery
61/ COST EFFECTIVE
CONFERENCING
TIME TO HEED
CONFERENCINGS CALL
Introducing transformational tools may just
keep your business afloat, says Aaron
McCormack
64/ APPLICATIONS
ASSURANCE
RAISING THE
PERFORMANCE BAR
Baseline connectivity VPNs are becoming
commodity products. Many carriers have
leveraged their network assets and intro-
duced ser vice-aware VPNs. Application
assurance is the next evolutionary step,
says Bob Emmerson

www.eurocomms.com e u r o p e a n communications 3
Contents Visit us online at:
www.eurocomms.com

67/ EVENT PREVIEW

Editor: Lynd Morley
BROADBAND WORLD FORUM EUROPE Tel: + 44 (0)1545 590208
2009 Editorial e-mail: lyndmorley@mac.com
Mail: Gwynfryn Hall, Pontsian, Llandysul,
Themed "Delivering the Promise," this year's Broadband Ceredigion, SA44 4UP
World Forum Europe will feature more than 250 speakers in
Web Editor: Robert Riggs
over 50 breakout sessions, keynote addresses, plenar y Tel: +44 (0) 208 851 2055
panels, and workshops E-mail: RobertR@stjohnpatrick.com

Editorial Director: Melony Rocque

68/ IBC 200 PREVIEW
Publisher: John Owen
CONSIDERING CONVERGENCE Tel: +44 (0) 207 933 8972
It is becoming increasingly clear that everyone in the commu- E-mail: JohnO@stjohnpatrick.com
nications industry is going to have to collaborate to turn the Publishing Director: Chris Cooke
idea of content anytime, anywhere into a reality
Advertising Sales Manager: Mark Bradbury
Sales Tel: +44 (0) 1462 743731
71/ CASE STUDIES/COMMENT Sales Fax: +44 (0) 1462 743602
Sales e-mail: MarkB@eurocomms.com

72/ COLUMN: REGULATION Sales Exec: Samuel Franco

Tel: +44 (0) 1923 464381
PIRACY STALEMATE E-mail: SamF@eurocomms.com
By Benoit Reillier
Design: Alex Goldwater

73/ COLUMN: MANAGEMENT For circulation enquiries contact:

Database Services
OUTLOOK: CLOUDY WITH St John Patrick Publishing Ltd
SUNNY INTERVALS PO Box 6009
Thatcham
By Keith Willetts Berkshire RG19 4TT

Tel: +44 (0)1635 879361

74/ EVENTS LISTING E-mail: europeancomms@circdata.com

St John Patrick Publishers Ltd

(ISSN 1367 9996) All Rights Reserved. No portion
of this magazine may be reproduced without written
consent. The opinions expressed are not
necessarily those of the publisher, who accepts no
COVER v2
16/7/09
15:09
Page 1 liability of any nature arising out of or in connection
n05
EC Autum
er.qxp:
with the contents of this magazine.
EUROPEAN

European Communications is published quarterly by

communica

Summer 2009

St John Patrick Publishers Ltd, 6 Laurence

tions

www.eurocom
ms.com
Pountney Hill,
London EC4R 0BL

Paid Subscriptions
Tel: +44 (0) 870 428 1426
www.euroc

Email saintjohnpatrick@servicehelpline.co.uk
omms.com

One year SMART

Develop
CITY
ing an urba
n competi
tive edg
e
European Communications Subscriptions
UK 44.00 GREEN
Telcos pus
ICATORS
COMMUN message
h the eco
TAK ES ROO
T
Dovetail Services (UK) Ltd
ADBAND e the market
AST BRO
Europe 61.00 SUPER-F standards stimulat
Ethernet
THE MAS
SES
800 Guillat Avenue
Drive
TV FOR
MOBILE t model
ROW 61.00 righ
Kent Science Park
Efficiency
the
Finding
Lewis
to Alun
s, talks
hnologie and the need
to take
a
Sittingbourne
Summer

WeDo tec ent

CEO of managem nce
Two year Rui Paiva, ess process
sin
about bu roach to busin
ess assura
2009 Previe
ws Kent
2009

and IBC
fresh app um Europe
For
UK 80.00 Incorpora
ting Broadb
and World ME9 8GU UK
Europe 110.00
ROW 110.00

Three Year 1 yr 2 yr 3 yr
UK - 105.00 UK44.00 80.00 105.00
Europe - 145.00 61.00 110.00 145.00
ROW -145.00 61.00 110.00 145.00

4 e u r o p e a n communications www.eurocomms.com

CRIME STOPPERS
The increase in cybercrime is spawning new defence
initiatives explains Lynd Morley
R
ecent revelations in the UK national news-
paper, The Guardian, that the mobile
phones of public figures had been system-
atically hacked by journalists and private
detectives, not only set the cat amongst the pigeons
with regard to this particular personal privacy issue,
but raised the spotlight to focus, yet again, on the
growing problem of cybercrime, and the many and var-
ied forms it can take.
Or at least it did for those who have been concerned
about the growing threat of cybercrime for some time.
One aspect of the reaction to The Guardian story that
was a little disturbing was that while the public (and
press) outrage was directed at the invasion of privacy
(quite rightly so) there was little discussion (or out-
rage) around the topic of securing mobile
communications against any hackers.
There has, in fact, been a chorus of warnings about
the growing threat of cybercrime over the past few
months. And the continuing poor economic climate is
only serving the make matters worse, as redundant
(and disgruntled) employees can pose a considerable
threat to sensitive information on company networks.
At the beginning of this year, for instance, par tici-
pants and speakers at the World Economic Forum in
Davos were getting exercised about the subject.
During debates, the vulnerability of the internet
(which has always been recognised), it was
stressed, has potentially huge consequences, given
that it is now par t of societys central ner vous sys-
tem and attacks could therefore threaten whole
economies.
Cybercrime comes in many shapes and sizes,
including the theft of credit card or bank details, as
well as identity, and intellectual property, much of
which is committed by large and well-organised
gangs, and the cost of all of which (including repairing
the damage) runs to around $1 trillion a year accord-
ing to a report from anti-virus specialists McAfee
entitled Unsecured Economies: Protecting Vital
Information.
At the same time, cyber war fare within which
www.eurocomms.com
FOREWORD
denial of service attacks could bring a country to it
knees in a very short time is also high on the list of
concerns, particularly for the state national security
services around the world.
In response to these widening threats, weve seen
a flurry of announcements, including President Barak
Obamas statement that he was making the protec-
tion of the US computer network a national security
priority, and was setting up a cyber security office in
the White House.
The UK Government also highlighted the importance
it places on cyber security within the whole national
security framework when it launched its Cyber Security
Strategy 2009, alongside the annual update of the
National Security Strategy. Noting that as he UKs
dependence of cyber space grows, so the security of
cyber space becomes ever more critical to the health
of the nation, the UK Home Office statement adds:
Cyber space cuts across international borders, it is
largely anonymous, and the technology that underpins
it continues to develop at a rapid pace.
The Strategy includes the setting up of two new
organizations, both of which will be established in
September this year, and will be operational by the
end of March 2010. The Office of Cyber Security will
provide strategic leadership for government depart-
ments, co-coordinating a shared view of possible
threats. The Cyber Security Operations Centre will
bring together existing security functions to monitor,
coordinate response and provide advice and informa-
tion about risks to business and the public.
Neither the US, nor the UK, can possible act alone,
the international nature of cyber space and cybercrime
dictating that any initiative say the development of a
cyber security legal framework for instance requires
close cooperation across the globe.
Raising awareness of the issues also plays no
small par t in defense against cybercrime.
Indifference, lack of action, and the lack of surprise
at the vulnerability of communications systems
resulting in a certain level of cynical acceptance can
only serve to strengthen the hand of the perpetrators.
e u r o p e a n communications 7
NEWSPEAK
NEWSPEAK
European Communications presents its regular round-up of the
latest developments in the world of communications
Mobile Marketing
The number of European users of mobile location-based
services will grow from 20 million users in 2008 at a com-
pound annual growth rate of nearly 37% to reach 130
million users in 2014, according to a new report from
Berg Insights. Local search, navigation services and
social networking are believed to become the top appli-
cations in terms of number of users.
According to senior analyst Andr Malm: The key
enablers for LBS are rapidly falling into place. On-device
application stores allow easier access to mobile services
for a broader audience at the same time as flat-rate data
plans make pricing more transparent. In conjunction with
more operators opening their location platforms to third
parties, location aggregators have started to provide com-
mon APIs for accessing location data from multiple
operators. This together with ever growing GPS handset
sales will allow more application developers to create
location-enabled mobile applications.
Berg Insight estimates that more than 20% of mobile
handsets shipped in 2009 will feature GPS and that the
installed base in Europe will surpass 50% of total hand-
sets in 2013.
Many of the most popular services will primarily rely on
advertising revenues. However, revenues may not grow at
the same rate as usage because the mobile marketing
and advertising ecosystem is highly fragmented and
immature. It will take several years before a successful
model has been established that can reach out to a criti-
cal mass of active users. At the same time, service
categories including navigation and tracking can be
expected to remain premium services to a large extent
also in the future.
Besides monthly subscriptions and per-use fees, ser-
vice providers will increasingly offer one-time fees,
service bundles or device bundles to match consumer
expectations, says Malm.
www.berginsight.com
8 e u r o p e a n communications
Telecom execs online
Telecom executives are spending an extra 11 hours a
month online sharing their professional experiences and
learning from their peers, according to a study run by online
business networking service www.MeettheBoss.com.
MeettheBoss surveyed 15,000 of its 200,000 executive
members to understand more about what effect Web 2.0
has had on the business world.
The survey asked its executive users what direct value
they gained from spending time running blogs, writing
tweets and connecting with other executives on sites such
as Linked-In, Xing, MeettheBoss, Ryze, Facebook and
Twitter.
The answers revealed that the telecom executives profi-
cient with online activities are spending an average of 11
hours more per month online than this time last year and
over 90% of respondents said they felt their time online
was very valuable to their daily role.
Professionals are going to the web for immediate
answers to their most pressing questions. I find online
business hugely beneficial, says MeettheBoss member
Jacob Lee, Project Director at Vodafone. It allows me to
create or join active discussions and get immediate
answers and experiences from colleagues and like-minded
professionals on a range of issues.
Finding answers for your business is one thing, but most
executives have spotted more individual advantages to
this new phenomenon.
Everyone knows that building contacts in the industry
can strengthen your career prospects, but sharing your
knowledge with the world is a very effective personal brand-
ing exercise, says Adam Burns, Editor-in-Chief of online
business channel, MeettheBoss.TV.
Many thought leaders agree with him. Ed Candy - Group
CTO for Hutchison 3G and Dr Felix Wunderer - SVP Fixed
Mobile Convergence for Deutsche Telekom, have all shared
their expertise on the site.
Though most of these executives agree there is no sub-
www.eurocomms.com

stitute for face-to-face networking, using social media tools
correctly can bring substantial return on your time invest-
ment. You can become a thought leader in your niche
environment overnight and even pull business to your door.
The challenge is finding the best one for you.
www.MeettheBoss.com
Transforming business
The latest in a series of books describing how to adopt
and apply the TM Forum's Solutions Frameworks as
par t of cost-base transformation for communications
ser vice providers, is now available.
Business Transformation with TM Forum Solution
Frameworks and SOA is co-authored by Iwan
Gramatikoff and Serge Garcia of Edelweiss Consulting
and John Wilmes, Chief Technical Architect,
Communications Sector, Progress Software and co-
chair of the TM Forum's Information Framework
Collaboration Program. The authors asser t that to
move towards the "next generation" business model
suppor ted by the TM Forum Solution Frameworks,
enterprises must first undergo a business transforma-
tion. With that transformation they will acquire the
ability to use business processes more effectively to
attain strategic goals.
Business transformation requires more than just
introducing a new IT and process architecture. To move
for ward, ser vice providers need to transform their orga-
nizations from technology-driven to market-driven. The
purpose of the new is to guide and assist ser vice
provider transformation towards this next generation
world.
Recognizing and overcoming the challenges involved
can result in:
Effective business processes to help reach strategic
enterprise goals
Agile resource management that can evolve as
needed
Efficient resource allocation to meet expected results
Ser vice-Oriented Architectures (SOA) and TM Forum
Solution Frameworks offer complementar y approaches
for managing complexity and ensuring success. This
book is intended to enable organizations to find the
best path to follow for their own successful business
transformation.
www.tmforum.org
www.eurocomms.com
NEWSPEAK
LTE growth
The number of LTE next generation networks is set to grow
significantly with the number of subscribers exceeding 100
million by 2014, according to a new report from Juniper
Research.
The LTE report found that these market numbers will be
buoyed by the embedding of broadband capabilities within
consumer electronics devices such as MP3 players,
Netbooks and digital cameras.
Juniper Research forecast that whilst subscribers will
largely use handsets such as smart phones, and laptops,
consumers will be motivated to connect devices in the
home by LTE.
Report author Howard Wilcox comments: "There is
intense activity in the LTE market right now, with in excess
of 30 network operator commitments. Operators and ven-
dors alike are moving rapidly to jump on the road to LTE,
attracted by the connectivity-based opportunities that the
technology offers. Sony, for example, announced that net-
work connectivity is one of three top priority actions."
However, the report determined that there are still sev-
eral open issues that need addressing before the market
takes off. One of these is the issue of device convergence:
what will a smart phone look like, and be capable of, in
three years' time?
Further report findings include:
Whilst early LTE adopters will be enterprise subscribers,
consumers will begin to take up LTE based services
towards 2012/2013.
There will be multiple millions of LTE subscribers as early
as 2011.
Embedded LTE chipsets will become the second most
popular means of access behind SIM cards by 2014.
The report provides a balanced assessment of the oppor-
tunity represented by the rapidly developing and very topical
LTE mobile broadband technology. It includes a compre-
hensive six year forecasting suite of critical figures, data
and analysis on enterprise and consumer subscriber take-
up, devices, network access via dongles, cards and
embedded capability, chipset shipments, arpus and service
revenues. The report also evaluates the key mobile opera-
tors and vendors pioneering in this developing market.
LTE Mobile Broadband Strategies: Consumer &
Enterprise Markets; Devices & Chipsets 2009-2014 can be
freely downloaded from the Juniper Research website.
www.juniperresearch.com
e u r o p e a n communications 9
 CONVERGED MARKETS
The business
of collaboration
John Konczal examines how todays telecom providers must
accommodate the explosive demand for new digital content
through business alliances
C
onsumer demand for digital content and
value-added ser vices is transforming
telecom ser vice providers into the new
super-enablers of the digital economy.
While revenue oppor tunities from these new
products and ser vices are sizable and promising,
introducing them to the telecommunication ser-
vice providers current business platform is not
without its operational challenges.
If the telecom service providers are going to grasp
the new revenue opportunities of the digital economy
they will need to have secure, flexible business
10 e u r o p e a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
processes and systems to collaborate and connect
with new value-chain partners and drive new offers,
such as personalised digital content, to consumers.
To offer new products and services to consumers,
a new market of converged sectors of communica-
tions, media, and entertainment has had to emerge:
something that can be termed as the mediacosm.
This mediacosm is now forcing the telecom service
providers to restructure the business models and
processes they rely on to source, market, sell and
deliver products and services. In fact, to compete
effectively in the new market, telecom ser vice
www.eurocomms.com

providers business strategies are now beginning to
mimic those of world-class retailers rather than that
of manufactures.
Telecom service providers have traditionally relied
on manufacturing-driven business models using a
flat business flow and revenue model. This means
that the communications service provider buys equip-
ment and services from suppliers, integrates them
into the service providers network, and bills the end-
user for products and services delivered. In such
single-dimension models, there is very little, if any,
development collaboration with business partners on
what products, services and content are delivered to
customers.
However, significant changes in service provider
strategy, backed by new open network technology,
such as service delivery platforms, are driving tele-
com ser vice providers to embrace a telecom service providers and vendors, content own-
multi-dimensional business collaboration model,
much like what world-class retailers use, as the core
enabler of the mediacosm. World-class retailers,
whose end products are an amalgam of intermediate
goods and end products from partners and suppliers
rely heavily on business collaboration to drive their
revenue stream.
For telecom service providers to become the super
enablers of the digital economy involves thinking,
operating and measuring progress like a retailer. For
example, an electronics superstore may collaborate
with a personal computer manufacturer to develop a
laptop with specific features, branding, and supply-
chain integration for the store to market and sell the
laptop to consumers. In this case, the value-added
product provider (the computer company) and the
direct-to-consumer retailer (the electronic superstore)
connect, communicate, and collaborate throughout
the product introduction process in order to bring the
custom laptop to market.
Realisation of the Mediacosm involves having in
place business collaboration platforms where third
party organisations, such as digital media compa-
nies, can plug their products and processes into the
telecommunication service providers business plat-
form. This will enable seamless integration and the
A proper multi-enterprise integration solution should
allow service providers to react to market dynamics
quickly and with very little effort
www.eurocomms.com
CONVERGED MARKETS
delivery of new offers to the consumers with the
telecommunication service providers network. A
telecommunication service providers transformation
into a super-enabler, as well as one which generate
increased revenue, will depend on its ability to diver-
sify its product portfolio by building a broad and deep
business collaboration network of digital content and
value-added service providers.
To generate these new revenue streams and to
offer new services to consumers, many telecom ser-
vice providers will embrace new business
relationships and partnerships with content and ser-
vice vendors, partners, and suppliers in order to bring
a diversified set of products and services to market.
As a by-product of this strategy, a complicated mix
of inter-relationships will evolve where both simulta-
neous collaboration and competition between
ers and application/software providers will emerge.
Expertly managing this rich and complex ecosystem
of partnerships will be an essential objective for tele-
com service providers. Those that will be successful
in capitalising on the opportunity of the mediacosm
will be the ones that deploy and employ technology
and business capabilities that allow a telecom ser-
vice provider to seamlessly integrate with multiple
enterprises and enable automated collaboration
between value chain partners. This will enable them
to source content and value-added service from mul-
tiple points and manage business relationships in a
flexible manner.
To become super enabler, telecom ser vice
providers like AT&T and British Telecom are focusing
greater attention on multi-enterprise integration or
building an extended community of business partners
and suppliers to bring new products and services to
market and enhance how products and services are
sold and distributed.
The best companies are the best collaborators. In
the flat world, more and more business will be done
through collaborations within and between compa-
nies, for a very simple reason: The next layers of
value creationwhether in technology, marketing,
biomedicine or manufacturingare becoming so com-
e u r o p e a n communications 11
CONVERGED MARKETS
A telecommunication service providers transformation
into a super-enabler, as well as one which generate
increased revenue, will depend on its ability to diversify
its product portfolio
plex that no single firm or department is going to be
able to master them alone.
The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman, 2005
Thomas Friedmans observation above is actually
an accurate description of the environment in which a
successful telecom service provider operates in the
age of the mediacosm. No business works as a sin-
gle unit. Each one is comprised of partners and
suppliers with whom it connects, communicates and
collaborates with to drive positive business results for
all involved.
This business collaboration produces greater effi-
ciencies throughout the organisation and, more
importantly, allows innovation to emerge to a degree
that would never be possible under traditional organi-
sational structures. It is the secure, reliable and
seamless integration of people, processes and tech-
nologyand the vast potential this integration holds
for a business to optimise existing resources through-
out its value chain that gives a company the power
to reshape its strategy and remain competitive.
Not only has technology levelled the playing field by
making the exchange of information a universal capa-
bility, but this capability empowers companies to work
together in ways that were unimaginable a generation
ago. Telecom service providers now rely more and
more on business collaboration networks to connect,
communicate and collaborate with their partners and
suppliers to bring new content and value-added ser-
vice to market. This means that every participant in
the network not just the organisation at the hub
reaps the benefits of orchestrated business collabo-
ration that allows them access to expertise and
information from beyond their own corporate walls. It
also enables innovation that drives and optimises
customer experience and ultimately, revenue growth.
In summar y, a proper multi-enterprise integration
solution should allow ser vice providers to react to
market dynamics quickly and with ver y little effor t. As
a gateway, it must be able to talk to any system a
12 e u r o p e a n communications
provider has in place today and any communication
method a providers business par tners might sup-
por t. As a process enabler, it should allow a ser vice
provider to quickly assemble offers to meet the
needs of fickle consumers. As a visibility and collab-
oration tool, it should enable more efficient ways of
giving a ser vice provider and the providers par tners
better insight into your business operations. As a
means to governance, it should track and record
ever y transaction end to end, at any granularity need-
ed to suppor t the business. And, finally, as a security
tool, it should protect against fraud, theft, revenue
leakages, and liability.
Multi-enterprise integration isn't the goal, but it
supports the goal Automating such business activi-
ties helps drive bottom-line revenue via reduced
errors, reduced cost of operations and faster process
execution... It also drives top-line revenue via lowering
barriers to automation, improving customer and exter-
nal business partner satisfaction, and increased
stickiness once automated processes and data
exchanges are implemented.
Gartner, Inc., Key Issues for Multienterprise B2B
Integration, February 2009.
The emergence of the mediacosm is transforming
how telecom service providers are structured and
how they operate. In the near future, most telecom
service providers are likely to be more virtual than
physical. Companies may be composed of alliances
among many different providers that come together to
offer products and services, rather than doing most
things in-house. As the pace of change continues to
accelerate, one thing is certain for business in the
21st century: successful telecom service providers
will be those that have productive business collabora-
tion, inside and outside their enterprise, to deliver the
right products and services to their customers the
way they want to receive them.
John Konczal is Global Industry Executive,
Communications & Media, Sterling Commerce
www.eurocomms.com
 LEAD INTERVIEW
efficiency drive
J
ust as was predicted long ago, much of the
technology underpinning telecoms networks
these days has become a commodity. As a
result, the areas that service providers now
need to concentrate on instead involve finding the
most efficient ways to set up, manage and control the
myriad processes and events that take place on top
of those enabling technologies.
Even the most high performance and cost-effective
network infrastructure is next to useless if the vari-
ous management systems that control services, fulfil-
ment, tariffing, billing, customers, resellers, and
third party content providers are not able to interop-
erate efficiently. Business rules and logic that require
the interaction and consolidation of data from differ-
ent points in different systems will remain impotent
abstractions in the world of day-to-day business.
Missing or inaccurate data mean lost revenues and
exposure to potential fraud, while the existence of
fault-lines in what should be seamless and highly-
automated processes ultimately degrade the entire
customer experience.
14 e u r o p e a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
It was with these somewhat daunting issues in
mind that Alun Lewis recently sat down with Rui
Paiva, CEO of business process specialist WeDo
technologies, to get a feel for the scope of work
ahead for the industry in these areas - as well as
the kinds of solutions that WeDo has built a prof-
itable business from across the planet in the space
of only a few years.
AL: Rui Business Process Management - as such
and the subsequent need to take an entirely fresh
approach to business assurance is a comparatively new
discipline for the telecommunications sector to engage
with. What do you see as the drivers that are taking the
industry on this journey?
RP: In a single word complexity ! The telecommunica-
tions infrastructure that covers the globe is complex
enough by itself but, when you add onto that all the
other business processes and systems that turn the phys-
ical network into a viable business, then you have to step
out from a world of comparatively well-understood tech-
www.eurocomms.com
 LEAD INTERVIEW

nologies into a far more fluid and fast changing environ-

ment. That also involves marketing, managing third and
fourth party relationships, corporate hierarchies and
strategies as well as serious financial discipline.
The comparatively flat structures of traditional telecom-
munications networks and their related business
processes are having to become increasingly multi-dimen-
sional and management systems are accordingly having
to evolve to manage that transition successfully. Service
providers are having to move from the one size all model
that served the industry for nearly a century into some-
thing that far more closely resembles a modern retail envi-
ronment with customer choice, competition and churn
being a sometimes harsh reality.
That therefore means that the whole back office envi-
ronment is going to have to change and change fast -
but with the least capital and operational expenditure
possible, given the difficult times that the whole industry
is going through at present.

AL: A broad range of challenges indeed but how does

WeDo technologies see the industry facing these?

RP: WeDo essentially began life in the early 2000s

focused largely on revenue assurance issues and our first
customer in this area was Oi of Brazil logical enough
given our Por tuguese origins. Now, the core issues
involved in building and managing revenue assurance
systems and processes are highly representative of the
wider problems that the industry faces across the whole
range of both back and front office functions.
For a start there are obviously the billing and tariffing
activities. On top of that you have to add systems that
manage the relationships, revenues and rewards with
the dealer and reseller communities. Finally there are
systems that support the actual customer relationship
and these naturally have to extend into both financial
and operational areas if churn is to be minimised and
service agreements fulfilled successfully. All of these obvi-
ously also have to be seen in the context of the mobile
industry which brings in even more complexity through the
need to manage and reconcile roaming issues, as well
as the ever-growing portfolio of value-added services
that make up the marketing mix - such as ringtones,
content and games.
The result of this work then was our RAID solution
now available in version 5.1, released earlier this year,
and deliberately engineered to resolve difficulties around
assuring cost-margin relationships and make sure that
prepaid accounts and activities are properly validated to
ensure that revenue leakage or fraud is eliminated.
That work - and all the subsequent contract successes
that weve won from a range of Tier One and Two service
providers in other par ts of the world these clearly
showed us that while a service provider might have the
best sub-systems available, if these werent able to
interact efficiently and provide appropriate management
information to higher level commercial and operational
management systems then the entire enterprise would
suffer.
AL: So whats the specific WeDo strategy for resolving
these issues?
RP: At the top level its all about making sure that the
right information, in the right format, is available through
the right system, to the right people, at the right time.
Lets take a typical company structure, with board
members at the top, departmental directors next and
line managers and operational units further down the hier-
archy with the usual cloud of consultants hovering
around at different levels. While the board members
decide on corporate strategy and investment levels and
oversee overall KPIs to meet specific business and finan-

www.eurocomms.com e u r o p e a n communications 15
LEAD INTERVIEW
cial objectives and ambitions, the actual systems that are
going to deliver on those KPIs are necessarily built and
managed at lower levels within the organisation.
Now, its one of those uncomfortable inevitables of
the often tricky relationship between IT and the entrepre-
neurial spirit that there ends up being a mismatch
between the actual systems in place and the wider
needs of the organisation. Even with the best designers
and system tools and platforms, corporate objectives and
processes will obviously change quite substantially over
time as market conditions change, new competitors enter
the fray and new services and technologies are intro-
duced. On top of that, the task of translating the corpo-
rate KPIs into metrics relevant for each operational activity
on a day-to-day basis is an implicitly non-trivial process
as is the reverse process of delivering appropriate and
relevant feedback to the board in a short enough time-
frame to support complex decision making.
Its all very similar to the classic analogy of steering the
supertanker but with the added complication that all the
different members of the crew are effectively speaking
different languages while some are also apparently deaf
and dumb and limited to a reper toire of basic sign
language! Its essentially an extremely serious game of
Chinese Whispers being played out here between differ-
ent experts, disciplines and departments.
As a result of all this, many ser vice providers are
drowning in data while simultaneously lacking the mean-
ingful information that has to be combined from differ-
ent lower level sources to ensure good decision making.
My original academic background in computing and statis-
tical science - as well as some early projects that I was
involved with in simulation and decision support systems
- ended up giving me an invaluable insight into issues
like these at a very basic level. When you scale up these
problems into a multi-million dollar organisation, it soon
becomes clear that they can have a hugely dispropor-
tionate effect on corporate performance and agility.
AL: If thats the strategic background what then is the
WeDo technology approach to solving the problem?
RP: Its basically about joining the gaps between the
different systems and functions in an intelligent way,
ensuring that information flows upwards into the higher
level management systems and provides both operational
and strategic management with a truly holistic perspec-
tive on performance. That perspective may be focused on
revenue leakage, for example, or on the profitability of
dealer and reseller relationships, the relationship
16 e u r o p e a n communications
between different handsets and profitability and service
take up and so on. By introducing a mid-level integration
module structure and using the extremely extensive range
of system interfaces that weve developed, it becomes a
straightforward process to extract data from the various
databases involved, associate it with other relevant infor-
mation - such as events - in a properly dynamic and flex-
ible way and then present it to the higher level business
process management systems.
Weve also developed a range of very powerful graphi-
cal interface tools that allow the creation, modelling and
management of different business processes and KPIs
in a drag-and-drop way to reduce the need to spend time
and money training staff in specialist techniques. Theres
no need to understand the underlying network or elements
to get the kind of information that people require to do
their day-to-day jobs. Its straightforward, for example, to
set alarms and alerts based on strategic or tactical
commercial criteria the RAID system and architecture
does the necessary interpretation and mediation.
In addition, we also find that this approach is starting
to pay dividends when it comes to addressing newer
issues, such as the growing legal requirement in many
parts of the world to provide law enforcement agencies
with access to customer data the so-called data reten-
tion systems. Were currently carrying now just such a
project for what was essentially our very first customer
Optimus Telecomunies in Portugal.
AL: WeDo is a comparatively recent entrant to the market-
place can you give us some background on how the
company got started and where you are now in terms of
growth and customers?
RP: Cer tainly. Perhaps the most impor tant thing for
people to understand is that were owned by the Sonae
Group the largest non-financial services company in
Portugal and that gives us a financial and commercial
stability and credibility thats very important in develop-
ing long term, mission-critical relationships with our
customers.
I became involved with their mobile brand, Optimus,
working as the CIO there in 1998, following an earlier
period in my career with HP where I learned a great deal
about how to set up and run a successful international
company. To cut a long stor y shor t, in 2000 Sonae
asked me to look at setting up a company to target the
growing opportunities in the IT and Telecom sectors. We
were essentially given a blank sheet of paper and a few,
very simple objectives: be multinational, be big, focus
www.eurocomms.com

on the telco industry at least initially and concentrate
on software.
Over the years, weve put a great deal of effort into
creating what we believe is a world-class model for busi-
ness operations. You often hear a lot of noise and high-
level dictats from many companies about the need for
transparency, investment in human resources, strategic
planning and so on that usually fail to be translated into
reality on the ground. In contrast, myself and my execu-
tive colleagues like to feel that weve built a corporate
structure and processes with the same rigor and reality
that we approach a customers problems and weve taken
the best from what weve learned working for companies
in the past like HP, Oracle and IBM.
Part of this approach involves what we call our White
Book a web-based tool that shares best practices,
processes, activities, job openings and employee skill
sets and even salary levels in an open and transpar-
ent way. Our employees seem to like it as around half of
those who leave the company end up returning!
Supporting this, we have a further set of subsidiary
sources that focus deeper across activities in specific
www.eurocomms.com
LEAD INTERVIEW
operational areas like HR, marketing and sales. We also
invest in constant, iterative business modelling and
scenario planning exercises to ensure that we remain
focused in what is such a fast changing and increasingly
interconnected industry hence our recent and success-
ful expansions into other areas such as retail, finance and
the utilities where they are experiencing ver y similar
problems to those that we were set to address in
telecommunications.
This strategic perspective also extends to our
approach to acquisition, as exemplified by our purchases
of a telecom fraud specialist called Praesidium, from
the UK, Cape Technologies from Ireland, Tecnologica
from Brazil and Brainware from Portugal.
We now employ around 380 people at sixteen offices
scattered across the globe to suppor t our growing
spread of customers companies such as Digicel,
France Telecom, Oi in Brazil, Orange, Orascom,
Telefonica, Vimpelcom in Russia, Vodafone and many
others.
Alun Lewis is a freelance communications journalist and
consultant.
e u r o p e a n communications 17
 OPENING UP SCPS

The service
passkey
Unlocking the service layer will encourage a new market of
innovation and competition, both from application developers and
the operators says Jonathan Bell. But how can it be done?

18 e u r o p e a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s www.eurocomms.com

S
uperficially, todays fixed and mobile telephone
networks are not too different from those of
thirty or more years ago. You dial a number
it could be a special short number, or an 800
number, the principle is the same signalling takes
place to connect your call to the other party. Sure, the
numbers you dial look different now. And theyve added
some nice features that make things more convenient
like a built-in answer-phone service and caller identifica-
tion so you can filter out calls, find out who called and
when etc. For business users, theres even a little more
like calling circles, hunt groups and multi-party calling for
example.
We sense as service users that mobile telecoms provide
a more personal service with greater utility. Call the
number and you connect to the person, not the location.
Wherever they are, whatever the time. People of all
ages have adopted text messaging enthusiastically as
an additional, highly valued communication option.
Increasingly, mobile email and high-speed data are also
becoming more commonly used, blurring the boundary
between person-to-person telecommunications and the
web. People are nomadic, and now connectivity and
the device is mobile too, it is clear that extra attributes
such as location and presence can be utilised to create
services that are more user aware and therefore useful
to the user.
To adapt the rigid A to B model that we started with,
telecommunications engineers adopted a layered model
and ensured that the signalling aspects of a service
were separated from the actual communication channel.
Its called Signalling System 7 (SS7 for short), and the
same principles have been re-used in SIP the IP-based
equivalent that will, in all likelihood, eventually replace
SS7. The core network provides the signalling, switching
and channels to deliver the service. The layer above is
the Service Layer. It is in this layer where intelligence is
added to the signalling and basic switching function.
The Ser vice Layer is implemented by one or more
Service Control Points (SCP). SCPs are also commonly
referred to as an Intelligent Network Platform or IN
It means that the Communication Service
Provider (CSP) can only sell and market a limited
range of standard, utilitarian services. They
cannot experiment or innovate
www.eurocomms.com
OPENING UP SCPS
platform. When the network switch receives signalling
for any kind of telephone number other than a standard,
geographic number (which it will route directly), it passes
control of the call to a designated SCP. The SCP figures
out what to do. This might be to per form a number
translation, check and authorise the call depending upon
a prepaid tariff and balance, tr y several numbers in
sequence or parallel, or look-up additional information
such as subscriber ID, location, personal calling rules etc.
Throughout this process, the SCP is in charge and
controls the call.
So far, so good. So whats the problem? Essentially,
it is that SCPs are only available as a complete, verti-
cally integrated hardware and software system. In other
words, a box that you connect into the network to
perform predefined functions. They were designed in
the 1990s or earlier to provide the limited range of stan-
dard telephony services at that time and to comply with
the ITU and 3GPP standards. As the SCP is controlling
phone calls, it is engineered to meet the exacting require-
ments for network equipment (NE) five nines avail-
ability: resilience to failure, upgrade with no down-time,
hot swapping of components etc. The deployment
requirements, the restricted ambition in terms of the
range of services when the SCPs were designed, the
tight vertical integration and severe structural rigidities
mean that the end-user services are essentially pre-baked
into the SCP. Adaptation of services has to be done by
the SCP provider and is extremely expensive, often with
very long lead times. It means that the Communication
Service Provider (CSP) can only sell and market a limited
range of standard, utilitarian services. They cannot exper-
iment or innovate. They have only one supplier for any
changes that they require, the business case for which
often fails due to the high costs of SCP adaptation.
Uniquely in a highly competitive marketplace, CSPs are
handicapped in their ability to compete by differentiating
their offer in terms of its capabilities.
Traditional SCPs are characterised by high prices, inflex-
ibilities, single source for changes, slow evolution and
enhancement. As a CSP, once you have procured your
e u r o p e a n communications 19
The benefits of opening up SCPs

A radically lower price-point than traditional SCPs

Lower operational costs: Achieve rapid innovation, deployment,
integration and ease of administration of new and variant
services from an open marketplace of product and custom-build
application providers and a much lower cost than using the SCP
supplier.
Agile innovation of telecoms services: Services can be designed,
implemented and trialled in days rather than months resulting
in lower SCP OpEx spend.
Augment existing SCP: No need to rip-and-replace the existing
SCPs immediately, instead co-exist with existing SCPs as a
separate innovation platform to evolve and create new
applications faster and at a much lower price-point.
Service composition & interaction: Efficient, low-cost creation of
service variants, thus overcoming service-chaining complexities
and the associated administrative overheads.
SIP/IMS Connectivity as standard: Aligning SCP spend to
address todays problems and challenges cost effectively whilst
also aligning with longer-term strategy.

CSPs regain control of their roadmap

Reduce time-to-market: Achieve competitive differentiation by
quickly introducing innovative new and smart services into the
network. Services can be designed, implemented and trialled in
days rather than months.
Control your road map: CSPs can develop a road map of service
innovation at a rate that suits their company and customers.
New and variant services can be procured from an open and
competitive marketplace of product and custom-build application
providers.
Mitigate risk: Starting with IN augmentation, CSPs can innovate in
person-to-person services whilst retaining the existing SCPs for
existing services and hence eliminating unnecessary risk.
Segment: Segmenting the customer base and target markets.
Delivering targeted services for each segment; in turn, increasing
customer loyalty while decreasing churn.

Eliminate legacy SCP Lock-in

Eliminate vendor lock-in and transform the service layer: Break
down legacy barriers imposed by proprietary hardware vendors
and deliver an agile and low cost development environment in the
service layer; reduce and eventually eliminate the current IN as it
exists today.
Open standards platform: Open up the service layer to a host of
person-to-person application developers, to rapidly deliver
innovative new services to market, without the issue of
proprietary protocols.
Maximise value of existing infrastructure: delivery of an open,
scaleable platform that integrates with both open and proprietary
infrastructures to maximise existing investments.

www.eurocomms.com

With this approach, new services can be created
and delivered at a fraction of the cost and timescales
normally associated with the telecoms industry
SCP, you are a hostage to fortune. Well, at least every-
one is in the same boat. But meanwhile voice minute
price-points are in decline and all CSPs are under tremen-
dous price pressure. And the insurgent VoIP-based,
price-focussed competitors are chasing hard.
It used to be like this in Enterprise IT. Enterprises
bought a complete, vertically integrated stack of hard-
ware, system software and applications from a single
vendor. This has all changed now. There are commod-
ity hardware providers, system software providers and
application software providers. There is competition
within each layer. The competition has driven the price-
points down, platform performance and flexibility up and
application innovation up. There is something intrinsic
at the heart of all this: open systems and architectures
promote competition and result in lower prices and inno-
vation. Its the basis of all free markets.
Until now, this option simply hasnt been available to
the SCP.
www.eurocomms.com
OPENING UP SCPS
What is needed is a solution that enables service agility
in the telecoms network through an open, flexible platform
that utilises commodity server hardware...in other words,
a modern IT system designed explicitly for the tele-
coms network that unlocks the value of the telecoms
service layer.
With this approach, new services can be created and
delivered at a fraction of the cost and timescales normally
associated with the telecoms industr y. In turn, this
provides operators with the advantage needed to compete
with the plethora of new device oriented applications
currently hitting the market.
Opening up their SCP platforms to the burgeoning Java
developer community will see increased levels of innova-
tion in person-to-person communications the 95% of all
operator revenues today sustaining operator market
lead in these services.
Jonathan Bell is VP of Product Marketing at OpenCloud
www.opencloud.com
 GREEN TELECOMS
green
communicators
Environmental issues are impacting product development
across a range of telecoms offerings says Alix Morley
E
nvironmental concerns are quite clearly
becoming increasingly widespread, both
among consumers and across a considerable
variety of industries. Telecoms is no excep-
tion, determined to prove its high eco status through
a range of product and applications developments.
Certainly, the trend is making itself felt throughout
the cell phone industry with major producers compet-
ing to heighten their green credentials. Sony
Ericssons GreenHear t range is testament to these
concerns. Both the C901 GreenHeart and the soon
to be released Naite boosting the green image of the
company. Indeed, these phones will be sold in smaller
packages, thus reducing waste, while Sony Ericsson
also adver tise the C901 as including an in-phone
manual replacing the standard paper version; while
recycled plastics, an energy efficient display and water-
borne paint mean that the overall CO2 emissions of the
phone are decreased by 15%. This is cer tainly in
line with Sony Ericssons stated aim to cut 20% of its
carbon dioxide emissions by 2015.
In a recent interview with Reuters, Mats Pellback-
Scharp, Head of Sustainability at Sony Ericsson, high-
lighted that the company is not aiming at a niche
segment. We are taking this to mainstream and to a
22 e u r o p e a n communications
bigger audience. . . Naite is the lowest cost 3G phone
in Sony Ericssons por tfolio and we expect it to be
one of the biggest volume drivers in end-2009 to early
2010.
Sony Ericsson is cer tainly not alone in venturing
into the eco-friendly marketplace. Indeed, while
Samsung Electronics and ZTE have recently developed
a solar powered phone, Nokias 3110 Evolve is also
attempting to harness the eco concerns of the
consumer with increased green credentials. Nokia
states that: Innovative bio-materials have been used
in creating this handset while, even the sales box is
made from 60% recycled materials. Indeed, the
company has taken its eco thinking further to include
what it terms intelligent charging a device which
saves energy by only using electricity while actually
charging.
The notion of applying a green practices to the charg-
ing of phones is one which has recently been further
developed. With a believed 51,000 chargers remain-
ing unused, leading manufactures throughout the EU
reached a landmark agreement to produce a universal
charger, financially benefiting the consumer, and poten-
tially decreasing what is held to be thousands of
tonnes of wastage each year, created by old chargers
www.eurocomms.com

The use of energy is at the heart of any eco discussion
being thrown away when phones are replaced.
In marketing terms, the benefits of a good eco image
are undeniable. Indeed, ABI Research has suggested
that up to half of the US market takes environmental
factors into account when making a purchase. It may,
of course, be argued that such models as the Naite
and C901 GreenHeart are merely tapping into an already
growing phenomena, being produced just in time to catch
the eco friendly wave. Certainly it creates a positive
brand image, which, in an age of increasing public
concern over climate change and environmental policies,
is likely to positively impact sales.
And while the establishment of green credentials
may lead to increased sales profits, the implementa-
tion of environmental practices can also significantly
reduce costs within the individual company. A recent
Ovum report highlighted that the research and establish-
ment of such stratagems and policies may initially be
costly, but the long term operation of eco-friendly prac-
tices so the report suggests is certainly beneficial.
At the same time membership organisations such as
ATIS, which create solutions that support the rollout
of new products and ser vices into the information,
enter tainment and communications marketplace,
have cer tainly seen the benefits of boosting green
credentials. Indeed, in their Green Mission Statement,
the organisation asserts that ATIS and its members
are committed to providing global leadership for the
development of environmentally sustainable solutions
for the information, enter tainment, and communica-
tions industry. The development of these innovative
end-to-end solutions will: promote energy efficiencies;
reduce greenhouse gas emissions; promote reduce,
reuse, recycle; promote eco-aware sustainability and
support the potential for societal benefits.
The use of energy is at the heart of any eco discus-
sion, while energy costs, of course, are also a signifi-
cant part of a providers operating expenses. So for
example - Ericssons recent announcement that its
network IP edge and metro platforms deliver the indus-
In marketing terms, the benefits of a good
eco image are undeniable
www.eurocomms.com
GREEN TELECOMS
try lowest energy consumption based on new metrics
that measure how efficiently they can provide subscriber
ser vices, such as residential triple-play, not only
suggests economic solutions, but also ecological ones.
Ericsson stresses that because energy usage
accounts for up to 50% of operating expenses, and
energy costs continue to rise while the demand for
bandwidth-intensive ser vices increases day-by-day,
service providers need greater insight into how specific
platforms use energy.
Based on the functions per formed by each plat-
form, Ericssons new metrics provide practical views
into energy efficiency, mapping energy usage granu-
larly by subscriber and circuit. The new metrics are
the latest sustainability effort from Ericsson, which in
2008 committed to providing up to a 40 % reduction
in carbon emissions per subscriber across its product
portfolio within five years. In addition to the focus on
the IP edge and metro Ethernet, Ericsson has reported
significant reductions in energy usage for its WCDMA
radio base stations (an 80% improvement in energy
efficiency from 2001 to 2008), for its mobile softswitch
solution (60% more efficiency per subscriber), and for
site power management.
Climate change, it may be fairly confidently argued,
is now inevitable, so companies, as much as private
consumers, would do well to take measures to reduce
their carbon footprint. Indeed, Ovum claims that:
Estimates suggest that telcos can achieve a 1-2%
reduction in global carbon emissions by implementing
green initiatives within their operations. However, the
telecommunications industr y is expected to enable
other businesses to reduce emissions by up to five
times this amount, highlighting that telecoms has a
major role to play in enabling a green economy.
Certainly, it appears that this industry is in an ideal
position not merely to jump on the bandwagon but to
lead the way to an improved and green global economy.
Alix Morley is a freelance writer.
alixmorley@hotmail.com
e u r o p e a n communications 23
ADVERTORIAL
Ericsson:
Saving you
Money with
IP Convergence
Do you think the number of passenger seats is
a fair measure for a heavy duty truck? Of course not.
So why do we continue to measure Telecoms in terms
of the basic watts/bandwidth unit for each box?
With energy usage accounting for up to 50 percent of an
operators operating expenses, energy costs continuing
to rise, and IP technology delivering new bandwidth-
intensive services to an ever-growing number of fixed
and mobile subscribers, service providers need greater
insight into how specific platforms use energy and where
to find efficiencies without impacting service. Since the
IP edge and metro Ethernet platforms are responsible for
aligning, shaping and monitoring subscriber traffic and
the circuits that deliver that traffic, they are the logical hot
spots for service providers to target.
At Ericsson, we firmly believe in IP convergence: the
most efficient way to build the IP edge network for both
fixed and mobile is by converging as many functions as
possible into a single platform while retaining scalability
both in terms of bandwidth and number of users. This
applies equally to wireline (fixed) networks, wireless
(mobile) networks, and combined fixed/mobile
convergence networks.
Our SmartEdge Multi Service Edge Router (MSER)
already combines residential, business and wireless
functions in a single platform, making it extremely
competitive on watts/GbE, but this type of measurement
does not really give operators a complete view of how
energy efficient a solution is.
A more useful view would be to measure how well a
platform at the edge performs its function in delivering
services. For the IP Edge MSER platform it would be
useful to determine how much power is required to
deliver a residential service such as Triple Play to an
individual subscriber. For the metro Ethernet platform it
would be useful to determine how many circuits can be
sliced from the total Ethernet switch to deliver services
point to point or multipoint. For example, a triple play
solution typically needs a Service Edge Router (SER) and
a Broadband Remote Access Server (BRAS). Hence the
true measure of Greenness is the watts required per
subscriber for the combined SER/BRAS function.
For Ethernet business services, we should actually be
measuring the watts required per circuit, both in terms of
Virtual Leased Lines (VLL) for Ethernet point to point
services (E-Line) and in terms of MAC addresses for
Ethernet any to any services (E-LAN).
Ericsson commissioned Iometrix, a well-known network
testing authority to test and verify the results of the
SmartEdge Multi Service Edge Router and SM 480 metro
Ethernet platform using the new metrics. The Iometrix
test results are in line with the Telecommunications
Energy Efficiency Ratio (TEER) methodology and
standards set by ATIS, an industry standards body
providing technical and operations standards for information,
entertainment and communications technologies.
To find out how to apply Ericsson's energy saving capabilities
to your IP Edge network come and visit our stand at the
Broadband World Forum in Paris 7th-9th September and
Carrier Ethernet Word Congress in Berlin 21st-25th September.
ADVERTORIAL
Residential savings
Even we were surprised by the results !
The Ericsson SmartEdge consumed 5.16mW per subscriber
which translates to power savings of 70-92% when
compared to published data of our competitors platforms.
Business savings
For the metro, Iometrix evaluated the watts per circuit for
point to point Ethernet-Line services as well as the watts
per circuit for multipoint Ethernet-LAN services. The SM
480 consumed 5.375 mW per circuit per Virtual Leased
Line (VLL) for 256,000 service end points. This represents
a 72-77% power savings per circuit when compared to
published data of our competitors platforms. Power
consumption at the edge and metro has always been
important to carriers and a critical factor in OpEx, said
Glen Hunt, principal analyst at Current Analysis. As the
leading provider of telecom equipment and services,
Ericsson is leading the way in providing more relevant
and practical metrics for determining the efficiency of
carrier IP networking equipment. This is particularly
important as carriers transform their infrastructure to IP
and next generation service delivery. We welcome
Ericssons approach and anticipate strong traction from
the carrier community and recognized standards bodies.
2009, Ericsson AB. All rights reserved.
 ETHERNET ALA
Super-fast broadband
takes root
Broadband standards are stimulating investment and competition,
says Robin Mersch
B
roadband technology continues to change our
lives. We are so busy emailing, downloading,
twittering and updating our Facebooks and
LinkedIn sites (to name but a few) that weve
forgotten that barely a decade ago broadband users
numbered just a few hundred thousand worldwide not
the 400 million plus lines we enjoy today.
The new buzzword on the block today is Super-fast
broadband. While the term came to many in the UK for
the first time via the mass media when Ofcom the UK
regulator and BT the UK incumbent telco began
making announcements earlier this year, the capability
has already begun to take root around the world. Japan
and Korea are leading the way, according to Ofcom
research, but Sweden and Belgium are making their
mark, with other countries close behind.
26 e u r o p e a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
Super-fast broadband offers the prospect of real
consumer benefits, building on those of todays broad-
band services, while supporting high bandwidth applica-
tions like video. The services supported by super-fast
broadband bring individual, social and economic bene-
fits globally to households and businesses. We are
already seeing a massive increase in video communica-
tion over broadband and even more information and
entertainment content will continually become available.
The benefits will also extend to the wider economy,
supporting new ways for consumers and online busi-
nesses to trade, developing new applications and
services and driving creative industries everywhere.
To drive these benefits to the most people, organiza-
tions such as Ofcom are doing what they can to encour-
age an open competitive landscape for super fast
continued on page 28
www.eurocomms.com
 ETHERNET ALA

REQUIREMENTS
BBF TR-126, Triple-Play Services Quality of Experience (QoE) Requirements, December 2006
BBF TR-144, Broadband Multi-Service Architecture & Framework Requirements, August 2007
MEF 11, User Network Interface (UNI) Requirements and Framework, Defines a split demarcation function between the customer
(Subscriber), and the Service Provider

ARCHITECTURE & NODAL FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS

BBF TR-101, Migration to Ethernet Based DSL Aggregation
BBF TR-156, Using GPON Access in the context of TR-101
MEF 4, Metro Ethernet Network Architecture Framework Part 1: Generic Framework, Introduces the framework and terminology for
the services (Eth) layer
MEF 12, Metro Ethernet Network Architecture Framework Part 2: Ethernet Services Layer, Defines the Ethernet Services (ETH)
Layer as the specific layer network responsible for delivery of Ethernet Protocol Data Units across internal and external interfaces

CUSTOMER PREMISES EQUIPMENT

BBF TR-124, Functional Requirements for Broadband Residential Gateway Devices"
BBF TR-122 Issue 1.01, Base Requirements for Consumer-Oriented Analogue Terminal Adapter Functionality"
BBF TR-104, Provisioning Parameters for VoIP CPE"

CONTROL & MANAGEMENT

BBF TR-069 Amendment 2, CPE WAN Management Protocol v1.1
BBF TR-098 Amendment 2, Internet Gateway Device Data Model for TR-069
BBF TR-106 Amendment 2, Data Model Template for TR-069 Enabled Devices
BBF TR-111, Applying TR-069 to Remote Management of Home Networking Devices"
BBF TR-169, EMS to NMS Interface Requirements for Access Nodes Supporting TR-101"
BBF TR-147, Layer 2 Control Mechanism for Broadband Multi-Service Architectures"
BBF TR-142, Framework for TR-069 enabled PON devices"
BBF TR-141, Protocol Independent Management Model for Access Nodes Supporting TR-101"
MEF 7, "EMS-NMS Information Model"
MEF 15, "Requirements for Management of Metro Ethernet Phase 1 Network Elements"

SERVICE DEFINITIONS
MEF 6.1, "Metro Ethernet Services Definitions Phase 11"
MEF 10.1, "Ethernet Services Attributes Phase 2"

INTERCONNECT DEFINITIONS (UNI & NNI)

MEF 11, "UNI Framework and Requirements"
MEF 13, "UNI Type 1 Implementation Agreement"
MEF 20, "UNI Type 2 Implementation Agreement"

OPERATIONS, ADMINISTRATION & MAINTENANCE (OAM)

MEF 16, "Ethernet Local Management Interface E-LMI"
MEF 17, "Service OAM Requirements and Framework"

www.eurocomms.com e u r o p e a n communications 27
ETHERNET ALA
broadband. Ofcom's vision is of a wholesale bitstream
access that offers competitive communications providers
the chance to accommodate innovation and product
differentiation beyond the operational challenges of
passive access. This type of high quality, fit for purpose
bitstream has come to be known as Ethernet Active Line
Access or ALA for short.
So what is the difference of passive and active line
access? Passive allows for resale of the access facili-
ties but requires the competitive provider to provide their
own equipment.
Active Line Access (ALA) provides for the sharing of
access facilities and equipment, thereby minimizing
collocation complexities as well as unnecessary invest-
ment on behalf of the competitive provider.
There are a variety of benefits that are derived from ALA
which:
Is service neutral to the applications
Video, HDTV, voice, data
Is neutral to higher layers
IP-based applications, voice and video protocols
Is transport access agnostic
Point-to-point fibre, Passive Optical Network (PON)
options, copper, bonded copper, wireless
Benefits from the economies of scale of Ethernet
Allows for innovative and differentiated services to be
built
Improves distribution and management of next genera-
tion wholesale services
Customer acquisition by a competitive provider does
not necessitate truck roll
Competitive service providers can interconnect at differ-
ent points with the network provider
Ethernet was an obvious choice as the interface tech-
nology for ALA. It has proven to be simple, low cost,
ubiquitous and well developed. There is a wide availabil-
ity of low cost equipment that is already standardised and
Ethernet has flexible bandwidth capability, excellent inter-
operability and well-established security and Quality of
Service (QoS) protocols. Other factors making Ethernet
a natural choice were its operating mode at the low Data
Link layer of the Open Systems Interconnection Ref Model
(OSI), which allows innovation in services and has a
standard adopted by telecommunications companies
around the world, as well as the significant investment
and standardisation invested in it over past years.
Only last month, at the quar terly meeting of the
Broadband Forum (BBF) in Valencia, Spain, BBF
members were addressed by Chinyelu Onwurah,
28 e u r o p e a n communications
Ofcoms Head of Telecoms Technology. This was a
landmark meeting in itself, as it was the first occa-
sion that the new enlarged Broadband Forum had
met, following the union with the IP/MPLS Forum,
which has now created the global specifications body
dedicated to empowering end-to-end broadband
network specifications.
While praising the work of the Forum, she also high-
lighted that many of the Broadband Forum Technical
Reports are paving the way for Next Generation Access
solutions that meet the vast majority of ALA require-
ments. Although not written specifically for ALA require-
ments, these reports coupled with the work, largely in
the arena of Ethernet service definition, UNI/NNI defini-
tion and business end-user requirements, that have been
undertaken by another specifications body, the Metro
Ethernet Forum (MEF), are critical to ALA and open
competitive market success.
In a parallel development, the European Commission
endorsed the need for standards in relation to whole-
sale broadband access products in its most recent draft
Next Generation Access recommendation which went to
public consultation on the 12 June 2009. In the draft
recommendation, the Commission calls on national regu-
lators to work with each other and international standards
bodies to develop technical requirements that can be
turned into widely accepted standards. This follows the
work that Ofcom kicked-off in 2007 on Ethernet active line
access technical requirements and which were finalised
earlier this year.
So what are the requirements and the standards that
are already laying the foundation for ALA? The key require-
ments of ALA are security, QoS, multicast, flexible
customer premises equipment and flexible interconnec-
tion. These are already being addressed in a variety of
approved and available standards as listed in the box.
These reports represent a comprehensive list of spec-
ifications that can ensure a super-fast future and the
Broadband Forum is dedicated to continuing to serve
the industry with the specifications it needs to ensure that
consumers have a choice in ser vices and that the
communications evolution continues.
Whilst remaining neutral in regards to choosing any one
particular approach to broadband regulation and compe-
tition policy, the Broadband Forum believes that for
communications providers Ethernet ALA means the avail-
ability of a standardised wholesale access product
sooner, rather than later.
Robin Mersh is Chief Operating Officer, Broadband Forum
www.eurocomms.com
 CARRIER ETHERNET
Future
perfect?
Service providers are moving to Carrier Ethernet in response to the need to handle
fast-growing traffic from consumers and business, as well as to support wholesale
applications such as mobile back-haul says David Noguer Bau
C
arrier Ethernet - also known as transparent or
native LAN, Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, GigE,
metro Ethernet, Ethernet private line,
Ethernet virtual private line, Layer 2 virtual
private network, Ethernet access, and virtual private LAN
service - represent a large market. In recent years,
Carrier Ethernet has been widely adopted, responding to
a diverse demand: business services, broadband aggre-
gation, wireless backhaul, NGN deployments etc.
According to telecoms market watchers Insight
Research, US enterprises and consumers alone are
expected to spend more than $27 billion over the next
five years on Ethernet services provided by carriers. The
market is growing at around 25% per year to 2014 - a
rare double-digit growth spike in a telecoms market.
Indeed, some researchers think the current economic
downturn will give the technology a boost as its less
expensive to deploy than alternative legacy equipment
such as TDM and, as a consequence, is currently grow-
ing faster than overall telecom CAPEX.
But Carrier Ethernet demand has not always been the
same throughout its history and the network require-
ments have also been evolving.
Past
The early implementations of Carrier Ethernet by service
providers around the world were led by business ser-
vices and the demand to lower the cost of high-speed
data connections. With almost 98% of the data traffic
across the WAN originated and terminated on Ethernet
ports, an Ethernet optimized transport network offers
both cost savings and simplification by replacing costly
CPEs with basic Ethernet switch/routers.
The architecture of the Metro Ethernet Networks were
deployed as parallel infrastructures, completely separat-
ed from the existing networks and dedicated exclusively
to provide a simple enterprise data service. Carrier
30 e u r o p e a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
Ethernet networks were based on enterprise switches
relying on Spanning Tree protocols and simple VLAN
domains.
Present
The industry has realized the importance of Ethernet to
service providers success. As broadband was getting
more popular, the bandwidth requirements were growing
exponentially and DSLAM vendors introduced high-speed
Ethernet uplinks to reduce the cost of the infrastructure.
Therefore Ethernet was gradually deployed to every cen-
tral office extending availability for business users.
The architecture evolved from dedicated Ethernet
infrastructure to converged metro networks with full car-
rier grade attributes. Scalable Carrier Ethernet MPLS
platforms were introduced to provide layer 2 and layer 3
services including IP VPNs and a full range of Metro
Ethernet Forum services.
With the growth in wireless data services, Ethernet is
again being asked to solve the backhaul component.
Existing attributes such as scalability, huge bandwidth
and availability are insufficient and Carrier Ethernet is
now expected to provide clock synchronization and
stronger OAM techniques to effectively replace TDM in
this space.
Future
As weve seen, across its short history, Carrier Ethernet
is reinventing itself to become the technology of choice
for a variety of applications. It provides bandwidth at the
right cost for the booming, over-the-top traffic and rich
services from MPLS. But, whats next?
To avoid commoditization and thereby increase the
network monetization, service providers have to quickly
evolve their business models from being based around
connectivity to content and application models. As an
example content delivery networks and cloud computing
www.eurocomms.com
 CARRIER ETHERNET

are new areas to explore for their future success. The For our carrier respondents, the best strategies of
requirements for successful service provider networks growing profitability in wireline business, involved: cost-
have evolved once more. The nature of cloud computing cutting and creating new services followed by converging
services, built around data centres and virtualized services across Ethernet. All of these strategies are
servers, introduces elasticity as a new requirement. linked to the key attributes of Carrier Ethernet.
Demand is not predictable anymore as cloud computing
must be able to absorb the peaks and the subscriber will
not be paying just for the connection so an SLA will be
linked to the up time of the applications and their avail-
ability. Carrier Ethernet has the flexibility to allocate
bandwidth on demand and can be coordinated at any-
time with the cloud requirements. Extending server
virtualization across multiple data centers maximizes
the CPU utilization but it requires scalable layer 2 con-
nectivity to transport a large number of VLAN; this can
be achieved by integrating the data centres to the Carrier We also asked about the most demanding services
Ethernet network. for Carrier Ethernet. There doesnt appear to be any con-
Evolving the services towards content and applica- sensus over which services and applications put the
tions introduces new requirements forcing the network most strain on the networks as all attracted about the
to become content aware. A large number of network same proportion of votes. But business and residential
appliances have been introduced recently to perform services seems to be a popular choice.
such advanced functionalities as: deep packet inspec-
tion, video monitoring, session border control,
firewalling, intrusion detection and Prevention,.. but such
an variety of platforms adds to complexity and incremen-
tal opex.
In the same way that Carrier Ethernet helped the con-
vergence of multiple networks, it can now provide a
solution to simplify the advanced service deployment by
consolidating all the content aware appliances. During
the second half of 2008, Juniper Networks announced
as part of the Intelligent Services Edge initiative a large When asking about deployment drivers, broadband
number of layer 2 to layer 7 services for the MX and M aggregation attracted the greatest number of respons-
Series platforms including security (IPS and firewalling), es, although the other options werent far behind. Its
session border control, deep packet inspection leverag- interesting to see that data centre connectivity was a
ing the in-house technologies in this space. driver for just over a third of our carrier respondents,
Juniper Networks and TelecomTV recently ran a sur- which exemplifies the importance of Carrier Ethernet in
vey of service providers in Europe, Middle East and this area.
Africa region to identify the importance of Carrier
Ethernet in their networks. The survey covered business
aspects, services and technologies.

As to what were the greatest benefits from the intro-

duction of the technology: its ability to provide high

www.eurocomms.com e u r o p e a n communications 31
CARRIER ETHERNET
bandwidth is still rated high or very high by all the carri-
er respondents. Cost, simplicity and flexibility all came
in at roughly second equal.
As stated by Kireeti Kompella when discussing the
Purple Line story (see European Communications
2008), the traditional service provider organizational
structure separates transmission from IP groups. We
wanted to check the market on this know how are they
organized; so while there are many carriers in our sam-
ple still maintaining the separation there are nearly the
same number already with a converged group responsi-
ble for both transport and IP services.
On the technical side, the majority of the respondents
are running MPLS/VPLS in their metro networks. Its
also interesting to see they have plans to extend it
towards the access to gain full advantage of a seam-
less MPLS deployment.
32 e u r o p e a n communications
A couple of interesting points here on the services
deployment: although Carrier Ethernet services seems
to be widely available in the metro, its followed closely
by the nationwide services. But even more interesting,
the Ethernet services across multiple service provider
networks are gaining traction; this reflects the maturity
of these services.
When looking on future services to be delivered in the
Carrier Ethernet networks, the surprise comes by having
IP-VPN in the first position, followed by High Value ser-
vices to help full convergence of services and network
monetization.
Weve also asked service providers about the
advanced applications they would like to see running on
top of the Carrier Ethernet platforms. Around 70% of the
respondents would like to have IP services to avoid L3
overlay networks. Interesting as well, is seeing 40-50%
of the respondents looking to have integrated features
such as: Subscriber management, Firewall, SBC or
Video quality analysis.
Carrier Ethernet is a consolidated technology that
moved from being a simple solution for business ser-
vices to mainstream on NGN transformation. The future
seems to evolve towards having advanced services run-
ning on the same platforms to simplify the architecture,
consolidate devices and converge services.
David Noguer Bau is Head of Carrier Ethernet
Marketing, Juniper Networks, EMEA.
www.eurocomms.com
 INFRASTRUCTURE
Smart City
Governments and communications companies can work together to give
urban developments a global competitive advantage while offering new
revenue streams to CME companies say Peter Elliot and James Bennet
V
ibrant and creative cities drive economic,
social and cultural development. Governments
focus on renovating existing cities and cultivat-
ing new ones to act as a catalyst to develop-
ment. This is now taking place on an unprecedented
scale. The integration of ICT with development projects
can change the urban landscape by developing the Smart
City. The Smart City can enhance the lives of citizens,
encourage business to invest, and create a sustainable
urban environment. City governments have an opportunity
to ensure ICT infrastructure is integrated with the chang-
ing city, and communications companies can support this
vision to mutual advantage.
34 e u r o p e a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
The Smar t City requires a ubiquitous ultra-high
speed network infrastructure, fixed and wireless, that
allows people, business and government to connect
with each other and the systems that manage the
infrastructure and ser vices of the city. The network
provides valuable real-time data about the urban envi-
ronment to Smar t City applications and ser vice
providers.
Importantly, this information is:
context sensitive
location sensitive
personal
secure
www.eurocomms.com

This information can enable a myriad number of
services:
Transport traffic flow management, speed control,
congestion charging, information systems, vehicle
tracking, onboard safety
Public safety and security access control systems,
alarm monitoring, emergency warning and situation
management
Transactions electronic funds transfer
Public services remote patient monitoring, patient
records management, education/ learning networks
Identity biometric/smart card systems
Utilities facilities management, climate control,
meter monitoring, energy generation and storage
management, leak detection and network manage-
ment
Environment data collection and monitoring.
Many of these services are envisioned today and some
have been implemented in isolation with limited capabil-
ity. However the intelligence and integration of the Smart
City infrastructure can:
Enhance the social environment by integrating
community services such as health, education, iden-
tity and payment systems
Manage the built environment more efficiently
homes, buildings, public spaces, transport systems
and utilities to predict and respond to changing
conditions, enhancing quality of life and minimising
impact on the natural environment
Offer consumers innovative ser vices the fastest
internet access and innovative ser vices available
from any location, indoors and outdoors
Provide world-leading services to businesses zero
latency data connectivity, secure networks, low cost
hosting and storage that make the city an attractive
place to do business.
The Smart City infrastructure can therefore change the
way the city is managed, improving delivery of public
ser vices and enhancing the lives of citizens. It can
make a city a more attractive place to do business, not
only by providing the infrastructure and services required
by businesses but also by making a city a more attrac-
tive and prestigious place to live and work.
This is a key concern for multinationals that want to
attract talent from a global talent pool. ICT can also help
a city move to a sustainable future. Operational efficiency,
reducing commuting times for example, can help this,
but changing the way people live and work will also drive
the development of the 21st century urban environment.
www.eurocomms.com
INFRASTRUCTURE
Competitive markets for provision of ICT infrastruc-
ture and services have developed in most countries
around the world. However commercial ser vice
providers alone are unlikely to be able to deliver the
ubiquitous high-speed access and shared platforms
that will enable governments, business and citizens to
realise the benefits of the Smart City. Local monopoly
operators or duopolies have no incentive to create an
open access network infrastructure that disturbs a
potentially lucrative status quo. Competitive operators
may have difficulty making the business case stack
up without inter vention from the public sector inter-
ested in the broader benefits that a Smart City can
deliver. There may therefore be a role for the public
sector in directing investment.
City governments can respond in different ways,
reflecting different degrees of confidence in the ability
of a competitive market to deliver appropriate services
to end users. Examples of the implementation of open
access fibre networks show how approaches can differ:
In Stockholm a subsidiary of the municipality manages
a city-wide passive fibre network that is open for use
by all service providers to provide ultra-high speed
services to homes and businesses
In Amsterdam the city government is working with
commercial investors to build the passive fibre infra-
structure. The municipality has selected a commer-
cial operator to install equipment and provide capacity
to service providers on an open access basis
In Singapore the government is promoting a similar
model to Amsterdam, but offering subsidies to two
commercial operators to build a passive fibre network
and provide capacity to service providers. The govern-
ment has also split the island into three areas and
offered ISPs concessions to provide blanket WiFi
coverage of public spaces such as parks and shopping
centres.
The implementation of Smar t City infrastructure
creates opportunities for commercial service providers
to build new revenues, either by providing the support-
ing infrastructure for Smar t City applications, or by
using this infrastructure to offer ser vices to govern-
ment, business or consumer markets. Governments
and businesses can therefore work together to develop
the ICT sector at the same time as offering urban devel-
opments the opportunity to build a competitive advan-
tage in a crowded global market for cities.
Peter Elliot and James Bennet, PA Consulting
wireless@paconsulting.com
e u r o p e a n communications 35
 FTTH
Driving the FTTH Hybrid
F
or many service providers, the price tag of
a complete fibre network overbuild is too
steep to justify. An all-fibre network build
out is actually a rare undertaking. Many
incumbent service providers around the world includ-
ing those in Japan, Korea, North America and Taiwan
are utilizing existing copper infrastructure in some
portion of the last mile, or in the multiple dwelling
unit (MDU) risers, in order to eliminate construction
disruptions and hasten rollouts and return on invest-
ments (ROI) for new, advanced broadband services.
These hybrid architectures rely heavily on VDSL2
technology. With VDSL2 running over the copper
portions of the access network, service providers are
capable of delivering symmetrical speeds of up to 100
Mbps and support internet protocol television (IPTV),
networked gaming, peer-to-peer and a variety of other
broadband-intensive applications. Venkat Sundaresan
takes a look
36 e u r o p e a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
FTTH is the ideal future-proof network architecture
because optical fibre is connected directly from the
service providers network to the customers premises.
Fibre is capable of delivering extremely high bandwidth
and outstanding error per formance, while supporting
transmission over long distances without requiring expen-
sive repeaters.
However a full-fledged FTTH deployment is costly and
time-consuming. For example, both Verizon and NTT are
upgrading most of their infrastructure to all fibre push-
ing fibre as close to the consumer as possible in order
to ensure that they can deliver the most revenue-gener-
ating services well into the future.
Verizon and NTT are deploying fibre to single family
homes, where it can be installed relatively easily. In its
newsletter detailing financial results for the third quarter
of 2006, Verizon reports that its fibre to the home (FTTH)
initiative costs $1,745 per home $845 to pass a
premise with fibre and another $900 to connect fibre to
the home. In Japan, NTTs costs are slightly lower. In fiscal
year 2006, the company reported that incremental FTTH
investment per user was approximately 130,000 yen, or
about US$1,070. As a result of the high price tag of
fibre deployment, service providers must be patient to
earn a return on their investment.
Fibre to the building (FTTB) is used primarily in densely
populated settings in which MDUs are prevalent. Fibre is
terminated in the building and VDSL2 runs over the exist-
ing copper infrastructure in the building risers.
Verizon and NTT are using a hybrid approach in which
VDSL2 technology runs over copper deployed in the
risers to deliver broadband services to MDUs. VDSL2
is being used as the last mile technology because deploy-
ing fibre in restricted riser space is much more challeng-
ing.By deploying VDSL2 on the copper in the risers in the
FTTB architecture, service providers are able to maxi-
mize copper utilization. With VDSL2, service providers can
use the full 30 MHz spectrum and provide full 100 Mbps
symmetrical bandwidth, which is capable of supporting
IPTV and other advanced broadband services.
There are other deep-fibre architectures that when
www.eurocomms.com
 FTTH

combined with VDSL2 technology over last-mile copper Fig 2: A Representation of Service Provider Strategies
infrastructure can offer many of the same performance
advantages as a FTTH deployment. However, the advan-
tage of these architectures center around time-to-market
FTTB w/ FTTN/FTTR/
and reduced capital outlay. (See Fig 1 for a comparison). FTTH VDSL2 FTTC w/ VDSL2
These fibre-based architectures include fibre to the node Carriers Verizon KT AT&T
(FTTN) fibre to the remote (FTTR) and fibre to the curb deploying NTT NTT Belgacom
(FTTC). Swisscom
With FTTN/FTTR/FTTC, optical fibre is terminated in a Deutsche
remote terminal often a cabinet that serves an entire Telekom

neighbourhood. At the remote terminal, the signal is

then converted from optical to electrical so it can ride over by service providers around the world.
existing copper infrastructure using VDSL2. The vast Using a FTTN/FTTR/FTTC architecture enables service
majority of service providers worldwide have employed providers to deploy high-capacity fibre to a central location
this type of FTTN/FTTR architecture. Those carriers in a neighbourhood, where that capacity can be shared
include Belgacom, Deutsche Telekom and Swisscom in among all homes in a neighbourhood. Benefits include:
Europe and AT&T Corp. in North America. Figure 3 offers Less customer disruption service providers do not
a representation of the fibre strategies being employed have to dig up and install new wires to a home.
Faster time-to-market and return on investment (ROI)
Fig 1: Fibre Architectures A complete FTTH/FTTP overbuild takes a very long time,
and on average, will not yield a return
FTTB w/ FTTN/FTTR/ on investment for at least 15 years,
FTTH VDSL2 FTTC w/ VDSL2 according to Analysys, a UK-based
research firm. A cabinet-based VDSL
Pros Future proof No need to Less costly than deployment can achieve ROI in about
Maximum rewire buildings, FTTH and FTTC six years, Analysys noted.
bandwidth where riser approximately Cost containment compared to a
Superior space can be $300-$400 per complete fibre overbuild, an
performance limited home passed. FTTN/FTTR/FTTC deployment is
Supports Faster time to Faster time to significantly less expensive. AT&T,
bandwidth- market market than for instance, is using this type of
intensive triple Can achieve FTTH and FTTC architecture for its U-Verse service
play applications 100 Mbps Faster ROI in the United States. The company
(IPTV, networked symmetrical is building out FTTN, and using
gaming, etc). VDSL2 to turbo-charge the existing
copper loops entering the homes.
Cons Expensive cost For use in only Performance AT&T has publicly estimated that
ranges from densely limited by the FTTN architecture costs only
$1,000 to populated urban distance from about $360 per user to deploy.
$2,000 per areas, with node/remote to The primar y disadvantage to
home passed predominance of end user FTTN/FTTR/FTTC is that this architec-
Time consuming apartments, Performance ture is viewed by some as an inter-
Customer condominiums impacted by mediate-term solution. FTTC is similar
disruption and hotels noise/crosstalk to the FTTN/FTTR, but extends fibre
on copper pairs closer to each end user.
While the deployment costs var y

www.eurocomms.com e u r o p e a n communications 37
FTTH
Fig 3: A Comparison of Fibre and Copper Standards
EPON 1
Up to 1 Gbps data streams
Broadcast downstream and
TDM upstream
Supports 32 individual users
per single PON port
Can operate at distances of up
to 20 km between OLT and ONT
38 e u r o p e a n communications
FTTB w/
VDSL2
Symmetrical and asymmetrical
combinations of the following
speeds:
Downstream 1.2 Gbps and
2.5 Gbps
Upstream 155 Mbps, 622
Mbps, 1.2 Gbps and 2.5 Gbps
Broadcast downstream using TDM;
TDMA utilized for upstream
Supports 32 (possible 64)
individual users per PON port
Can operate at distances of up to
37 km between OLT and ONT
FTTN/FTTR/
FTTC w/ VDSL2
VDSL1 (G.933.1)
VDSL2 (G.993.2), scalable symmetrical and
asymmetrical data rates. 8 profiles defined for
different services.
30a profile. Aggregate data rate of 200 Mbps
DS/US: 100/100 Mbps Application: MxU/FTTB
17a: DS/US 100/50Mbps Application:
FTTN/FTTR
12a/b profile DS/US: 60/30 Mbps.
Application: FTTR/FTTEx
8a/b/c/d profiles. Aggregate data rate 60
Mbps Application: FTTR/FTTEx
Discrete multi-tone (DMT) modulation, FDD for
downstream and upstream
1:1 connection between CO and CPE. CO line
cards typically support 48 ports
Can operate at distances up to 6-7 km, though
is most effective in shorter loops
www.eurocomms.com

widely from FTTH to FTTB and FTTN/FTTR/FTTC, the
performance of each can be virtually comparable under
the right conditions.
Figure 3 details the three most common standards
being utilized as part of todays fibre build outs.
Service providers undertaking FTTH deployments are
relying on one of two common standards Ethernet
passive optical networking (EPON) and gigabit PON
(GPON).
EPON is popular in the Japanese market and is making
inroads in other Asian countries, including China and
Korea. EPON can deliver data streams of up to 1 Gbps
and operates at a distance of up to 20 km between the
optical line terminal (OLT) and optical network terminal
(ONT). EPON OLTs support up to 32 individual users on
each PON port.
GPON is being launched worldwide and is expected to
be the FTTH technology of choice in Europe and North
America. GPON delivers symmetrical and asymmetrical
combinations of speeds up to 2.5 Gbps and operates at
distances of up to 37 km between OLT and ONT. GPON
can support up to 64 individual users per PON port.
VDSL2 also is being incorporated into fibre architectures
to deliver high-speed access over existing copper loops
in the last mile. VDSL2 is a physical layer technology for
www.eurocomms.com
FTTH
access networks that uses discrete multitone technique
(DMT) modulation to offer high bandwidth to the
consumer. It has eight profiles defined for a variety of
applications, ranging from short loops to very long loops,
and therefore, is a universal technology for access deploy-
ment. As carriers push fibre closer to the consumer,
VDSL2 enables them to deliver revenue-enhancing, value-
added services quickly and cost-effectively over existing
copper infrastructure from the node, remote, curb, or
even in the risers of a multi-tenant building. VDSL2 is in
use today in Asia, by carriers in Japan, Korea and Taiwan,
as well as in European countries, such as Belgium,
Germany and Switzerland.
While FTTH offers service providers the best path for
establishing a network that is capable of meeting band-
width demands long into the future, the upfront costs
and lengthy deployment process are daunting. By employ-
ing a hybrid architecture, service providers can cost-effec-
tively and quickly deliver advanced broadband services
and generate revenue while establishing a migration
path for future fibre installation.
Venkat Sundaresan is the Senior Manager of Product
Marketing for the access products at Ikanos
Communications. He can be contacted via:
info@ikanos.com
e u r o p e a n communications 39
 DIGITAL TV

Combined
elements
The future of pay-TV is hybrid says Francois Pogodalla. What hybrid
means is the combination of DVB reception techniques for receiving
broadcast digital video, with IP capability to receive video or other
multimedia content over Ethernet. The opportunities for new services
enabled by hybrid products are immense

phones. This means that personal content can be shared

T
he benefits and drivers for the hybrid strategy
apply to both the wide area ser vices of
switched digital video, video-on-demand, over-
the-top and other interactive applications, and
the local area services, that is, the home network.
This is how we at ADB see convergence: not device-
centric, but content-centric. Hence the goal is to facili-
tate access to content, whatever its shape or origin.
The home network is a key element of true content
convergence, with set-top boxes interacting with the
devices in the home, including personal computers,
games consoles, portable media players and mobile
throughout the home, and played on the TV or the home
theatre system. Utilizing the home network, these prod-
ucts also allow for new applications such as multi-room
PVR and tuner sharing.
Connecting the home network with the content
providers network and the internet allows consumers to
access their content whenever and wherever they want.
They can even record content from wherever they happen
to be. The benefits of the hybrid strategy for wide and
local area applications, although different, can cross over
to some extent. Take a satellite broadcast network, with

40 e u r o p e a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s www.eurocomms.com

an installed base of PVRs: having an IP connection can
allow other applications such as uploading locally stored
content to the network, or to other boxes in the home,
with an opportunity for new VOD services that not only
include the programming the operator has pre-selected,
but the content the users themselves have recorded.
Adding hybrid technology onto the DVB platform opens
the doors to these types of services.
Customers demand plug and play. Bringing the world
of the PC and Internet to the television, means making
the system easy to install and use for TV viewers.
What lies behind simplifying the customer experience
is the knowledge that we has accumulated over the
years in managing the complex software involved in
providing many different kinds of services through the set-
top box. Hybrid technology is complex from the software
management perspective. It requires implementing the
full IP software stack in parallel with all the other soft-
ware that additional hybrid services demand. There is
the MHP middleware that takes care of terrestrial digital
video reception, the IP software stack sitting next to it
for receiving video over the IP connection. Then you add
the local area applications, the DLNA implementation for
home networking, plus DRM (security) and multi-room PVR
services. This combination of software can put a high
level of stress on the efficiency of the software stack.
Building a hybrid product by just adding different soft-
ware modules together can mean an unstable product,
thats difficult and slow.
It is very important to be able to stabilize the complex
solutions involved, and there is tremendous value in the
vertical control of the entire software stack. ADB is one
of the few companies that can write the complete set of
software from the low level operating system, up to the
high-end applications, in a hybrid environment. We are
leading the industry in software integration: the first set-
top box company to be certified to use the new DLNA
home networking standards, and the first in the world to
deploy the new MPEG-4 video codec back in 2005
The best approach to hybrid technology is to deploy
proprietary implementations of open standards. Using
open standards, such as DLNA, is the best way of guar-
anteeing interoperability and ensuring the industr y
remains dynamic, with devices being able to interact
with one another. Using a proprietary implementation of
an open standard also ensures that all elements are
fine-tuned for optimal performance.
When we designed the hybrid box for customers back
in 2005, there were no chips performing MPEG-4/H.264
www.eurocomms.com
DIGITAL TV
decoding at the time, so we implemented our own MPEG-
4 decoding software, based on the standard, using an
off the shelf digital processor.
We have developed our own implementation of the
MHP standard which is merged with the customers IP
stack. We have gone even further now adding local area
applications home networking through implementing
the DLNA standards that suppor t picture and music
exchange and multi-room PVR throughout the home.
ADB is also implementing technology from partners such
as Stream Group, whose product Solocoo opens up the
wider world of Internet videos.
Making it easy for the TV viewer to access a multitude
of new services means providing these services as part
of the TV and not a PC experience. Its important to
retain the simplicity of the TV experience in this compli-
cated environment. ADB is constantly striving to make
improvements in order to present the additional choices
to the consumer, in as straightforward way as possible.
For example, to assist viewers in navigating the additional
content, all services provided through the box are made
available as channels, Another innovation is the use of
3D graphics in the user interface, so navigation on the
services available becomes a more pleasant and intuitive
experience for the end-user.
For the operator, the use of hybrid techniques means
the extra services provided can increase subscriber reten-
tion, hence reduce churn and offer oppor tunities to
increase revenue.. There is a definite interest from oper-
ators in hybrid technology, in making better use of their
assets.
The addition of IP to the DVB digital video set-top box
opens up endless possibilities for added value content
VOD, access to user specific content, whether from the
Internet or the users own content. Theres no doubt
that hybrid solutions feature outstanding tools to limit
churn for instance adding access to the users own
content makes the box a personal device. IP also enables
the operator to free up broadcast bandwidth, thus limit-
ing future investment in infrastructure.
Different markets worldwide may be going at different
speeds, but theyre all moving in the direction of a hybrid
strategy bringing the Internet to the TV and adding
local area applications will happen everywhere. Digital will
do for television what its done for telecoms, which is to
open up endless possibilities. The industry can now be
really creative in exploring all the opportunities that a truly
converged TV experience brings.
Francois Pogodalla is CEO at ADB SA
e u r o p e a n communications 41
 MOBILE TV BUSINESS MODEL

Mobile TV for the masses

For several years now, the mobile TV industry has been searching for the
elusive business model that will drive mass adoption. Analysts continue to
paint a rosy picture of mobile TV in the future, with Juniper Research
predicting that the global user base for mobile broadcast TV services is likely
to exceed 330 million by the end of 2013. But despite the optimistic outlook,
Diana Jovin notes that it remains unclear how we will reach these future
heights when compared to where we are today

42 e u r o p e a n communications www.eurocomms.com

I
n most countries today mobile TV in its current
form represents a complex interaction between
content owners, network operators and standards
organisations.
Broadcasters own the relationships with the content
owners, mobile operators own the consumer relation-
ships, spectrum and network infrastructure, and there are
a myriad of competing standards being pushed by a vari-
ety of commercial organisations and regulators. Amidst
the discussions of content rights, standards, spectrum
and infrastructure that is how to deliver mobile TV it
is little surprise that the industry has struggled with a
more important question what does the consumer
want from mobile TV?
In this last year a clear answer to the consumer ques-
tion has emerged, and it is one that simplifies the compli-
cated relationship between broadcasters, content owners
and operators. Over the last year, consumers have indi-
cated a strong preference for a free-to-air model, which
provides them with the same terrestrial over-the-air
programming that they know and watch on their TV at
home, but simply received on their mobile phone rather
than their living room television set. This gives the
consumer content using existing broadcast infrastruc-
ture that does not require the operator to make consid-
erably outlay on capital expenditures. From a commercial
perspective, it has the potential to stimulate a variety of
related service and premium markets.
Following on the heels of successful free-to-air mobile
TV rollouts in Japan and Korea, frequently cited as the
industrys leading mobile TV success stories, more than 20
million consumers in analogue broadcast TV markets chose
to purchase TV handsets that receive free-to-air terrestrial
broadcast signals all in a brief eighteen month period
between mid-2007 and the end of 2008. In response to
this burgeoning consumer interest, several of the leading
operators in operator-controlled markets, such as Latin
America, have now included these handsets in their mobile
phone portfolio. This is a clear indicator, when compared
to the more sluggish adoption of subscription mobile TV
services in other parts of the world - over the same period
of time - that the free-to-air mobile TV model works and
can appeal to both the consumer and the operator.
When talking of mass adoption of mobile TV, it is
important to think about consumer uptake globally
and not just in those parts of the world where
digital mobile TV trials have led to deployments
www.eurocomms.com
MOBILE TV BUSINESS MODEL
In Europe, the mobile TV industry has been preoccu-
pied with decisions regarding which standard should be
the dominant one to drive mobile TV adoption forward,
citing fragmentation of standards as impeding progress
towards viable consumer solutions. Early in 2008 Viviane
Reding announced that the European Commission would
be endorsing DVB-H as the preferred technology for
terrestrial mobile broadcasting. Yet by late 2008 LG
revealed the launch of its latest touch-screen device into
the European market equipped with a DVB-T mobile TV
tuner putting it in direct conflict with the EUs decision to
support DVB-H. With the industry focused on standards
discussions, an important question remains in the back-
ground: what do these standards mean for the
consumer? Looking more closely, mobile TV based on
DVB-H or another similar mobile broadcast standard
provides content that is different from content tradition-
ally received on a TV set at home and is usually accom-
panied by a recurring service fee. In contrast, DVB-T
transforms a mobile phone into a portable television
set, delivering the same free and familiar content that one
would view on a conventional set at home.
To date, mobile TV has been trialed and deployed in
various markets in several forms. In many markets,
mobile TV is offered as a ser vice, which includes a
custom content package offered by an operator for a
monthly service fee. These are typically pay TV services
delivered via digital broadcast standards such as DVB-H
or FLO, or streaming services delivered via WiFi or 3G and
an accompanying data plan. The challenge with these
services is that they require the consumer to become
familiar with a content package that theyre unaccus-
tomed to and be willing to pay for it in the process. In
contrast, free-to-air mobile TV piques consumer interest
by simply place-shifting the same programming that they
are used to viewing on their TV set at home. Consumers
are able to transfer their TV viewing habits to their mobile
phone, watching their favourite programmes at the time
they expect them to be broadcast.
A question that springs to mind is whether consumers
want to make their television mobile, or would they prefer
to subscribe to a tailored mobile TV service? The adop-
tion figures to date begin to point at the answer to this
e u r o p e a n communications 43
MOBILE TV BUSINESS MODEL
The pay TV business model seems to be the
obvious one for operators it delivers direct
monetisation of a new service that can be
upsold to existing subscribers
question. Even so, for free-to-air mobile TV to be truly
successful, it must ultimately be embraced by operators
in markets where they control handset portfolios and
purchases. Towards the end of 2008, the industry saw
operators such as Telefnica, Telcel, Claro and others
adding free-to-air TV phones to their mobile handset port-
folios. So what brought about this shift in strategic think-
ing from operators, and how does free-to-air mobile TV
deliver value?
The pay TV business model seems to be the obvious
one for operators it delivers direct monetisation of a new
service that can be upsold to existing subscribers. However,
one needs to assess a variety of factors to understand the
ultimate impact on an operators bottom line. Here are some
of those factors, with a comparison between a pay subscrip-
tion and a free-to-air business model:
Cost of entry: The development of new mobile TV infrastruc-
ture is quite expensive. Given the recent economic down-
turn and the corresponding tightening of capital budgets,
operators are giving the ROI on subscription mobile TV
tight scrutiny, given the size of the required investment. In
contrast, free-to-air mobile TV uses existing broadcast TV
infrastructure installed by the broadcasters, enabling oper-
ators to provide the feature to consumers without having
to bankroll costly spectrum acquisition, infrastructure
deployment and content licensing.
Subscriber stability and growth: Most of the operators
who have deployed free-to-air mobile TV in Latin America,
for example, are leaders in their market. They view free-
to-air TV handsets as a way to solidify a leadership
position, attract new subscribers, reduce subscriber
churn in the existing customer base, and grow service
revenue over time by providing a high value service to
consumers. In developing markets, where many
consumers cannot afford the data plans and service
fees associated with pay TV models, and where some
countries prohibit the bundling of TV services with oper-
ator networks, free-to-air TV provides a vehicle for oper-
ators to increase the value they provide consumers
without a significant investment.
Related and premium ser vices: Operators are now
recognising that free-to-air TV can be used to attract
44 e u r o p e a n communications
consumers and then generate revenue from related or
premium ser vices. Arima, a Taiwan original design
manufacturer (ODM) of handsets, recently announced an
SMS-TV design that allows viewers to send and receive
text messages while viewing free-to-air TV. Also, once
consumers have become accustomed to watching TV
on their handset, they will be more receptive to consid-
ering complementar y subscription offerings around
premium programming.
When talking of mass adoption of mobile TV, it is impor-
tant to think about consumer uptake globally and not just
in those parts of the world where digital mobile TV trials
have led to deployments. Interestingly, despite the signifi-
cant focus and discussion on digital standards, by 2012
more than 85% of the worlds population will still be
receiving analogue broadcast TV signals. This suggests
that a comprehensive global strategy must encompass
both analogue and digital free-to-air mobile TV.
The second consideration is that despite the fastest
subscriber growth figures the majority of the people living
in developing markets do not have data plans that accom-
modate streaming services, nor can they accommodate
recurring monthly service fees. Being able to provide free-
to-air mobile TV whether analogue or digital in entry-
level priced handsets opens up opportunities for adoption
by a large, global population. This is a particularly impor-
tant consideration preceding the World Cup activities in
South Africa next year, which are certain to hold appeal to
soccer fans around the world.
Offering TV on handsets for free at first glance seems
counterintuitive as a business model. However, by provid-
ing consumers with the content they want, and without
requiring costly and time-consuming investment by the
operators, free-to-air mobile TV presents a compelling
business case, especially as it has the potential to stimu-
late ser vice revenue and reduce customer churn.
Consumer adoption figures underscore the seal of approval
placed by consumers on this market approach proving
that free-to-air mobile TV is a viable strategy for stimulat-
ing the global adoption needed to deliver on industr y
analysts market predictions.
Diana Jovin is VP, Corporate Marketing, Telegent Systems
www.eurocomms.com
 MOBILE MARKETING
Heading for growth?
Despite a marked reticence among many brands to take the mobile marketing plunge,
Daryn Wober believes its potential is considerable, and take-up imminent
T
he Internet Adver tising Bureau and
PricewaterhouseCoopers recently revealed
research showing that ...mobile ad spend
bucked all market trends, doubling in size on
a like for like basis in 2008, increasing by 99.2% year
on year. Thats encouraging but at 28.6 million, and finally, we have a significant generation of consumers
even though the study ignored mobile marketing expen-
diture, its still a tiny element. In a total market worth
around 17 billion youd be forgiven for not getting too
excited. But in 1998 that 28.6 million was roughly
what the internet advertising market, at a similar stage
of development, was worth. Internet advertising grew
exponentially from that point and is now worth 3.35
billion so if mobile heads the same way, things are about
to get interesting.
Given the almost universal access to mobile devices in
the market it seems to make sense to target consumers
on the platform, but its clear that few brands have taken
the plunge to date - many brands rate mobile as a would
like to have rather than a necessity in their marketing
campaigns. But for brands to market themselves effec-
tively they need to follow the consumer, targeting
customers on their platform of choice, whatever that may
be. Like the early days of the internet, mobile advertising
can be a daunting prospect, but in reality it need be no
more complex than the online platform. Whats required
is specialist partners that know the specific requirements
and have the infrastructure to provision, deliver, manage
and track campaigns. With that expertise in place, mobile
is a viable and valuable channel that can be exploited
alone, or as part of an integrated campaign.
Its important to look at how consumers are using
their mobiles right now so that we can see how the market
might develop in the future. At the moment, a significant
proportion of mobile users stick with voice and text
services, shunning any of the added value applications
and services available. That may be because of their
demographic profile, the handset they own or their pricing
package. For those consumers, the marketing and adver-
tising options are limited and well established, but funda-
mental changes are afoot and relate to three primary
factors:
46 e u r o p e a n communications
Firstly, the latest generation of mobile phones, typified
by the iPhone, are now much more capable devices
they have high resolution colour screens, lots of process-
ing power and broadband connectivity. Secondly, all you
can eat data packages are now widely available and
that have grown up with mobile and are comfortable
interacting with their chosen devices. Those factors have
created an entirely new universe of opportunity, compara-
ble in many ways to the impact broadband services had
on internet browsing via the PC.
Some brands are responding to the mobile opportu-
nity, but for the most part they remain wedded to the
lowest common denominator formats like SMS voting
and competitions utilising shortcodes. It is definitely worth
pointing out that these types of campaigns can produce
great results though. However, there is a lot more that
could be done and opportunities are being missed every-
thing from WAP portals to music and video downloads
and brand-specific user generated content. Whats miss-
ing for brands is the ability to target those campaigns
effectively and thats where mobile network operators
become most important.
On the sur face mobile ought to be an advertising
nirvana. The handset is the most personal device in
comparison to other platforms. Mobile operators know
an awful lot about their subscribers including where they
are and who they like to call. With that information to
hand its possible to build a highly accurate profile that
could be used to target marketing and advertising
messages accurately and appropriately. Blyk, the so called
free mobile network has created an entire business using
this approach (although their overall business model is yet
to be proven), offering 16-24 year olds free calls and text
messages in return for personal data. Subscribers are
then targeted by brands via text and MMS with adverts
and offers that are relevant to their profile. There are
plenty of critics of Blyks model but the company has
certainly proven that consumers are accepting of adver-
tising on the platform if there is also a benefit accruing
to them, in this case, free calls and texts.
Operators use third parties to enable mobile advertis-
www.eurocomms.com

ing across their networks but handicap the effectiveness
of these campaigns by not sharing specific information
on subscriber habits. This data would add considerable
value from a brand and agency perspective and help
build more targeted and therefore more successful
campaigns. Good news for all. Advertising on Google.com
owes much of its success to the harvested data on indi-
vidual search preferences Google shares with advertisers.
Operators need to follow suit and share information within
strict legal parameters. Additionally, brands need to see
that they are getting a return on their investment and in
many cases the tracking and measurement systems
arent available. Those factors, combined with the techni-
cal complexity of delivering mobile campaigns have held
the sector back.
At the moment brands are primarily working within
their comfort zone; the established media channels.
They know those channels work (even if returns are dimin-
ishing) but their knowledge of the available opportunities
on mobile is limited. If they have a forward thinking agency,
mobile could be brainstormed and potentially added as
an additional element, but even then it is likely to be on
a limited and ad-hoc basis rather than as part of an
ongoing integrated campaign. The inevitable result is that
brands are missing out on a key outlet for reaching
consumers, especially in todays connected society where
people have their mobile phone with them 24/7.
It can be very difficult to assess what is possible on
mobile and we shouldnt blame brands or agencies for
the current situation. The typical mobile campaign planning
experience today involves speaking to a wide range of
companies that can deliver only a single element of the
solution. The result may be a complex supply chain that
is difficult to manage and difficult to extract value from.
Brands and their agencies work within a fast paced envi-
ronment they need to know what is available and what
the value is and most of all they need to know that it
just works.
The good news is that there are specialist managed
services platforms available with the technological capa-
bilities to address the key issues for brands, agencies,
and operators. With a managed service platform in place,
taking control of the planning, execution and tracking of
mobile campaigns across multiple channels becomes far
easier for the brand. The operator benefits from working
with a trusted provider that has the required technologi-
cal expertise to plug into their network effectively.
Managed service platforms can host and deploy mobile
adverts to specific demographics, making the most of
the specialist technology and expertise.
For brands the managed service platform means they
www.eurocomms.com
MOBILE MARKETING
have access to core campaign elements that can be
switched on and off very quickly and incorporate the
activity into a wider campaign, knowing that what they plan
will work. For example Lynx, the male grooming brand,
recently implemented a multi-platform marketing strategy
to coincide with the launch of its Snake Peel product.
Lynx ran a number of competitions for 16-24 year olds
giving them the chance to win various prizes. One of the
competitions offered men the opportunity to demon-
strate their dating prowess by sending in videos and
texts of chat-up lines with the best one winning a trip to
Miami. Alongside this competition, ran a series of banner
adverts on a number of operator portals and traditional
physical promotion in the form of branded man-wash
booths at summer festivals (where men could be washed
by a model and then text-in to enter further competi-
tions). The success of this campaign was down to a
brand and their agency understanding their target
consumer and the ways in which they interact and the core
campaign elements being available off the shelf. As a
result, Lynx interacted with its target market effectively
through the right channels, including mobile, at the right
time. Good strategic planning and effective brand place-
ment in appropriate channels always produces results.
Consumers are becoming increasingly accustomed to
accessing multimedia and interactive services on their
mobile phones, and with that change in behaviour we are
seeing a corresponding increase in the opportunity for
brands and mobile network operators - where there are
eyeballs, there is an opportunity to advertise. Despite that,
we most often see an entirely haphazard approach to
exploiting the opportunity. It has much in common with
online marketing ten years ago but if the current success
of the online platform is to be replicated on mobile, brands
and operators need to work together with specialist
managed services platforms that have the required expe-
rience and technology. These platforms allow campaigns
to be planned, booked, implemented and managed across
multiple networks and off-portal channels. Just as impor-
tantly it allows for verified reports, tracking and analysis
from a single trusted source. The operators must also
become more active players in the value chain. If mobile
advertising is to realise its potential operators can no
longer remain silent. They are the crucial gatekeepers.
Subscriber information must be shared in a carefully
controlled and legal manner with trusted specialist play-
ers. With this information campaigns will become better
targeted, richer for the consumer and more fulfilling for
all parties involved.
Daryn Wober is Vice-President of Business Development
at IMImobile Europe
e u r o p e a n communications 47
 MOBILE DATA
Confronting
success
David Sharpley looks at how the mobile industry can manage the
current mobile data explosion, prevent mobile bill shock and
impress its customers in the process
T
he days when the mobile phone was only used
for voice calls are over. Data services have
become just as essential as voice for many
mobile customers and are a major factor in
their choice of operator, tariff plans and device. This is
good news for mobile operators, but it also creates
some challenges. While billing for traditional voice and
text services on a time and distance basis is well under-
stood by customers, things get a little more problematic
when it comes to offering high bandwidth ser vices
oriented around content. Its fast becoming clear that
mobile operators need far more flexibility and control
when it comes to these types of service if theyre to make
the most of them.
Customers will always prefer an operator who offers a
transparent, consistent relationship with a high degree of
personalisation and control. Today especially for a mobile
sector facing explosive demand for content, social
networking and entertainment services its fast becom-
ing clear that a much more intelligent, adaptive and flexi-
ble approach to the issue of balancing customers and
resources is desperately required. Without the ability to
manage access to services, content and applications at
ever-finer levels of detail, customers face the risk of
experiencing the mobile data equivalent of electricity
48 e u r o p e a n communications
brownouts or the unpleasant experience of suddenly
receiving unexpectedly huge bills for content downloads.
At the heart of the problem lies the increasing demand
on network and air-path capacity that are being made
around the world by users of many different types as
they take advantage of the new generations of data-centric
devices and services now available. Its generally esti-
mated that a smartphone uses around thirty times the
bandwidth of an ordinary handset, while a laptop pushes
this to a massive 450 times. In the longer terms, its
expected that mobile data traffic will roughly double each
year through to 2012, while general industry sources
also indicate that revenues from mobile data in the US and
China are growing at around 50% per year. In Europe
alone, its reckoned that revenues from the current mobile
data market add up to around $36 billion forecasting
growth to continue at 21% a year to 2011. By contrast,
revenues from voice services remain static, pushing
mobile data centre-stage in any mobile operators plans
for growth and innovation.
While mobile operators can respond to this by increas-
ing network capacity, this not only takes time and money
the latter currently being in short supply but also
runs up some inconvenient laws of physics in terms of
wireless spectrum capacity. If they impose blanket band-
www.eurocomms.com

width and download limits, or just offer best-effor t
connectivity, they run the risk of alienating some of their
potentially most profitable and high-spending customers
with the brownout scenarios highlighted above.
Alternatively, if they try to throttle back traffic through high
tariffs and roaming charges, theyll alienate customers
even more as the newspaper stories already circulating
about bill shock and roaming fees totalling tens of
thousands of Euros highlight. For customer communities
already hit by the global recession and watching every
penny, such strategies will not win operators any loyalty
or encourage experimentation with new services
Indeed, the European Union has recently passed legis-
lation that not only limits the fees that operators can
apply for data roaming, but also makes it a legal require-
ment for them to alert customers as soon as their trans-
actions reach a pre-set financial limit.
So, something must be done but what?
The first thing is to realise that the crucial balancing
point for matching ser vices, network availability and
customer demand lies in the policies applied to each
customers account. While policy control in its broadest
sense has always been an integral part of any mobile
service, the tools that have often been applied in the
past have been far too heavy-handed for operators to
really turn them to either their own or their customers
true advantage. Best effort or throttled-back service
is no longer sufficient especially where the experience
of enterprise applications or high-value content is
impacted. Alternatively, the use of blunt generic pricing
policies or caps on service access can have a similarly
brutal effect on the customers trust and their future
spending patterns.
It is Bridgewaters argument that what is really needed
is an ability to apply a Smart policy approach to handle
this increasingly complex and sensitive relationship with
the required levels of personalisation. But what precisely
do we mean by Smart?
There are essentially three components to applying such
a strategy:
Firstly, there must be Smart Controls in place. This
means giving customers access to self-service portals or
automated alerts that allow them to send top-up or band-
width boost requests, change their service packages, get
information on their usage and calling patterns, and set
individual limits on roaming or downloads. In practice,
this translates into a far higher degree of personalisation
for the user, reduces customer support overheads, encour-
ages experimentation and take-up of additional services
and, very importantly, prevents bill shock.
www.eurocomms.com
MOBILE DATA
Secondly, Smart Apps describes the increased control
of the reality of the customer experience that can be
achieved through a far finer granularity of detail. Both the
customer and the operator can start to tailor policies to
support specific applications video and music down-
loads, web browsing, email, etc. while also taking into
account the customers own real-time behaviours and pref-
erences as well as the wider network conditions at differ-
ent times or in different places.
Finally, Smart Caps can provide a more flexible, real-
time and customer-friendly approach to the issue of setting
bandwidth caps by allowing operators to act appropriately
depending on whether theyre facing heavy or abusive
users or customers who inadvertently exceed a set
limit by downloading a movie. By optimising and rational-
ising the allocation of bandwidth across customers and
prioritising those prepared and able to pay for it the
user gets a consistent, fair experience while the operator
avoids the need for expensive network upgrades to relieve
network congestion.
In practice, a smart policy control strategy can add an
unprecedented richness and flexibility to each mobile
operators palette of service and billing relationships
and keep the customer feeling that theyre in control of
that relationship and the money that they are spending.
For example, by monitoring a postpaid customers behav-
iour over long periods in real time, an operator can read-
ily offer personalised bandwidth limits - or alternative
tariffs along with appropriate warnings to ensure fair
usage or aler ts to new ser vice plans. Alternatively,
prepaid customers can be monitored and offered relevant
opportunities to upgrade their contracts through a portal
as their circumstances change. On top of this, the inher-
ent flexibility of the concept and its easy integration with
standard mobile network architectures makes manag-
ing the charges and ser vice quality parameters for
accessing third-party content and applications much
easier and more transparent.
The complexity of the relationships between individu-
als and enterprises and the ever-lengthening content
and applications value chain isnt going away and can only
increase. Customers demand to be recognised as indi-
viduals and only if we have the systems and processes
in place to support that individuality will operators keep
their loyalty and their revenues coming in. Policy control
in the form of a combination of Smart Control, Smart
Apps and Smart Caps approach is the most powerful tool
operators have in their armouries to achieve that end.
David Sharpley is Senior Vice President, Marketing and
Product Management, Bridgewater Systems
e u r o p e a n communications 49
 ENUM

An
abundance
of choice
Originally telecom providers built and provided a limited and controlled
range of services, which customers could choose from. When competition
was introduced into the market along with the internet, so too was
consumer awareness of choice. In the future, Phil Kingsland contends,
consumer demand will drive the development of new and specific services
and a key enabler of these could well be Public ENUM
The telecommunications industr y is 140 years old

C
onvergent communications isnt a new
concept, but its the topic that continues to
dominate the telecommunications industry.
As the new and traditional technologies
continue to converge, the number and types of prod-
ucts and services available will grow and evolve with
suppliers offering a combination of ser vices, tools
and applications for users to communicate with.
At the same time as the technologys converging, so
are the telecommunications and internet industries.
One of the challenges for the two industries is the speed
of development and innovation, especially regarding
fixed line and packet-switched internet telecoms.
and provides trusted and regulated ser vices, with
the associated reputation of regulated industries in
regard to speed of innovation and development of new
technologies.
In contrast, the new kid on the block for the last
decade or so has been the internet, which is run on a
bottom up, self regulated, multi- stakeholder model,
which has delivered a fluid environment, with constant
changes and innovations. The internets model
enables services to be developed, tried and adopted
or rejected faster, without the large-scale investment
that is required to launch a regulated telecommunica-

50 e u r o p e a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s www.eurocomms.com

Customers can now get a multitude of services
from many providers
tions product. This has allowed the industry to intro-
duce a number of new and innovative ways to commu-
nicate that we might otherwise not have seen.
The combination of two ver y different industries is
having an enormous impact on the telecommunica-
tions industry. As convergence evolves, the classifi-
cation of services becomes blurred. Customers can
now get a multitude of services from many providers.
These services are often becoming consolidated in a
continuous evolution, increasing competition in an
already fierce market.
A new issue introduced by this convergence is not
being able to contact a VoIP telephone system from
another VoIP system by using the associated tele-
phone number. If the VoIP address of the recipient of
the call is not explicitly known then the call must be
routed via the Public Switched Telephone Networks
(PSTNs) to identify the called par ty. ENUM was
designed to address this issue; it maps telephone
numbers into domains that are stored in the internet
domain name system (DNS). The owner of the domain
can record both the PSTN telephone number and VoIP
address against the ENUM domain. This allows people
to use traditional telephone numbering systems to
connect VoIP phones, without needing the PSTN to find
the corresponding phones.
The implication is that users with an ENUM-aware
VoIP phone, can access any registered user over the
internet without use of the traditional PSTN network.
Users simply dial a telephone number in the traditional
manner it is then transformed into an ENUM domain
name. A look up is then carried out and the call is
routed according to the specific indications set by the
user. If the number called is not in the ENUM data-
It is clear that an IP connectivity technology such
as ENUM is central to the continued development
and convergence of telecommunications and
internet technologies
www.eurocomms.com
ENUM
base, then the call will proceed to the person's non-
VoIP telephone and be charged in the normal way.
Another feature of the ENUM protocol is that users
can register multiple resource addresses in their ENUM
domain such as VoIP servers, mobiles, email, websites
etc. This enables the possibility to converge the multi-
ple types of communications to one telephone number
and for new services to be created to exploit this.
For example, a person may choose a VoIP option from
a returned ENUM quer y to reduce call costs. Or
present a caller who queries their ENUM domain with
the type of communication that they are available on
at different times of the day, e.g. Provide telephone
numbers and emails in business hours and only email
address out of work hours.
As consumers, these types of services will become
invaluable as we begin to use IP communications in
all devices and have more addresses for each contact
in their communications portfolio. A service provider
that offers subscribers effective and cost efficient
management of their communications will build loyalty
by providing tangible benefits and be able to charge for
this value.
This is a significant move away from the traditional
business model of communications providers as it
places more emphasis on these value services than call
charges. There are service providers who argue against
the use of Public ENUM due to the fear of the control
that it presents to users. These service providers may
choose to exploit the benefits of ENUM via a private
ENUM registr y. This offers the ser vice provider the
opportunity to protect the existing telecoms business
models and other commercial information.
However, it is yet to be proved whether users are
e u r o p e a n communications 51
ENUM
The combination of two very different industries is
having an enormous impact on the
telecommunications industry
looking to manage their own ser vice or if they are
prepared to pay for ser vices that help them control
their communications from a service provider via their
Public ENUM. Certainly the argument for call charges
is diminishing as more minutes are added to inclu-
sive deals, Ofcom in the UK reports that in 2008 a
mere 14% of pay monthly mobile subscribers claim
that they usually exceed their inclusive minutes.
Another example of the dilemma that the conver-
gence presents that the current influx of mobile VoIP
applications has put many mobile providers in fear of
losing revenue, and caused a number of carriers to
block VoIP calls over 3G. In April this year, this led
the European Union to consider a ban on carrier VoIP
filtering. Should this proposal be passed by the
commission, users will have widespread access to a
variety of free calling tools, making IP communications
technology more commonly understood and used. At
this point, having an ENUM enabled mobile phone
would become a ver y power ful business tool, and
open the door to broad consumer use.
It is clear that an IP connectivity technology such as
ENUM is central to the continued development and
convergence of telecommunications and internet
technologies.
For the full advantages of Public ENUM to be
realised, a sizeable group of users need to have regis-
tered their numbers and be able to per form ENUM
look ups. There is some debate about how and when
this will happen. It may take an application or service
that really taps into business drivers to propel wide-
spread adoption. This could be realised via any
number of tools that bring ENUM into the consumers
consciousness, in the same way that cer tain VoIP
products in the internet space have made IP tele-
phony accessible for everyday users.
In contrast to public ENUM, private ENUM tips the
balance in favour of the provider. It gives suppliers the
ability to manage the service and therefore the customer
and also retain more control over revenue streams.
With consumers now more aware of choice than
ever, it is vital that telecommunications providers
of fer user centric products to retain existing
52 e u r o p e a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
customers and win new ones. At a time when all busi-
ness is more competitive than ever before, these
issues should have a considerable influence when
deciding what product set to offer customers.
Consumers are no longer happy to just accept tradi-
tional ser vice offerings that provide the best bene-
fits to the supplier. They have learnt from competition
and the internet that there is another way. Customers
are concerned not just with the current offering, but
also how that impacts on the future development of
products, ser vices and applications. A communica-
tions strategy is central to the success of any busi-
ness, so being at the forefront of technology and
having the ability to adapt to future developments is
vital to continued success
Opening up IP connectivity, using Public ENUM,
suppor ts the continued innovation and evolution of
the telecommunications market. It establishes oppor-
tunities for applications to be developed that will
benefit users in new ways and create openings in
the market for new business models.
Public ENUM has the advantage of being readily
available, cheap to provide and is already deployed.
It sits comfortably alongside existing communications
ser vices, and enabling suppliers to of fer truly
converged communications that adopt the best
features of both the telecommunications network
and the internet.
There are a number of forces in both the telecom-
munications and internet markets that will decide
the future direction of ENUMs role in converging
communications. Undoubtedly one of these will be
consumer demand. If business users realise the
potential of Public ENUM and demand a service that
gives them control of their communications, the type
of service theyve learnt to expect from the internet,
suppliers will need to meet this need to retain busi-
ness. Whats clear is that Public ENUM presents
the possibility of a myriad of solutions and applica-
tions that suppliers may not even have begun to
realise.
Phil Kingsland is Director of Marketing and
Communications, Nominet UK
www.eurocomms.com
 ENUM

www.eurocomms.com e u r o p e a n communications 53
 MOBILE BANKING

Banking on
the operators
Mobile banking has been mooted for some time as a mass market application
and it is undoubtedly on the rise; Juniper Research predicts that the number of
consumers accessing banking products and services via their mobile phones will
reach 816 million by 2011 and management consultancy Arthur D. Little expects
total m-payment transactions to grow by 68% per annum to reach almost $250
billion in 2012. Rodrigue Ullens feels that a number of converging factors have
come together to enable the mobile operators to take the initiative and
become our banks for everyday transactions

Additionally, following the worldwide economic down-

A
round the world, customers banking behav-
iour is changing- there is an ongoing
decrease in branch use while internet and
telephone banking continues to rise. The
demand for increasingly sophisticated mobile devices
and the success of mobile app stores from the likes
of Nokia, Apple and RIM has also highlighted how
customer expectations of what they should be able to
do with their mobile phone are also changing.
turn, it would be fair to say that the traditional bank-
ing system is in disarray and that trust in financial
institutions is at an all time low. All of these factors
have converged to create an environment in which
mobile banking can develop as customer demand coin-
cides with a need for financial institutions to improve
their image, attract new customers and generate
revenue growth.

54 e u r o p e a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s www.eurocomms.com

However, if the banks want to move beyond the
simple text-message based updates they currently
offer and provide the comprehensive mobile bank-
ing 2.0 experience that customers crave, a number
of large obstacles still need to be overcome. The
banks have to quell consumers fears regarding secu-
rity and lack of trust whilst also establishing an appro-
priate billing relationship with their customers.
It is actually the mobile operators who are best
placed to provide the mobile banking 2.0 experience
as they already have convincing answers to these
security and billing questions. Security is a much
lower concern as the operators retain those func-
tions they have traditionally controlled (financial insti-
tutions would have to rely on a third party) and all of
their customers are provided with a dedicated device
which holds a secure chip (the SIM card). Mobile has
continued to be a growth sector in the current climate,
which suggests that the operators are becoming more
trusted than our banks. And of course, they already
have the necessary pre-existing billing relationship in
place with their customers.
Add to the above the fact that we carry our mobile
phones with us at all times and that our mobile
number acts as a unique identifier in the same way
as our existing bank account number and sort code,
and it becomes clear that the operators are well
positioned to become our banks for ever yday trans-
actions. Schemes such as the GSMAs Mobile Money
Transfer Initiative are already under way to make this
possible and Im sure we will see mobile operators
par tnering with companies that hold a European e-
money licence, such as Tunz, in order to make this a
widespread reality in the coming years.
Mobile banking opens up a range of new transac-
tional oppor tunities such as contactless payments
at point of sale, international money transfers and
transfers over the mobile internet, all of which have
already been successfully trialled somewhere in the
world. For example, in Africa money transfers on a
mobile phone are becoming the continents first wide-
spread cashless payment system, enabling cost-effec-
tive and secure transactions amongst citizens with
no access to a bank account in the traditional sense
of the term.
In terms of developed markets, contactless
payments via a mobile phone are already widespread
throughout Japan, and some European operators,
www.eurocomms.com
MOBILE BANKING
including Belgiums Belgacom ICS, have been
selected to provide this service in European countries
over the next six months. Fur thermore, a recent
report from Arthur D. Little has revealed that in China-
the country with the most internet users anywhere in
the world- 29% of new users do not have a PC at all
and instead access the internet solely through their
mobile phone.
These examples demonstrate both the potential
and the enthusiasm for banking ser vices on the
mobile phone. However, the key issue that remains
to be addressed is cross border interoperability and
standardisation. As the worldwide population
becomes ever more global, the ability to take account
details across national borders will become increas-
ingly desirable to customers.
Last year, the International Telecommunications
Union (ITU) created the new countr y code +883.
These +883 numbers (or iNums) have ef fectively
created an area code for Earth, a telephone number
that follows you wherever you are in the world.
Aligning mobile banking ser vices with the iNum as
an international account identifier and sort code will
be a huge step forward in addressing the global inter-
operability issue, even more so once every fixed and
mobile operator makes iNums reachable from their
networks.
While the mobile operators will not replace our
financial institutions for larger transactions, a number
of factors have all converged to put them in pole
position to become our everyday banks. The current
economic climate, our over whelming public demand
for mobile banking 2.0 and the existing relationship
that the mobile operators have with their customers
are factors that suggest a new era of mobile
payments may be on the horizon.
There have already been a great deal of initiatives
within both emerging and developed markets that
have demonstrated mobile bankings potential to
deliver innovative new ser vices to customers, but
the next step will be to take this activity global. People
are becoming ever more mobile and the ability to
take account details across national boundaries will
become increasingly attractive to consumers in the
next few years.
Rodrigue Ullens is CEO and co-founder of Voxbone
www.voxbone.com
www.inum.net
e u r o p e a n communications 55
 OPEN MOBILE

The
perfect
recipe
Matt Bancroft argues that an open wireless marketplace drives huge
benefits for all participants. First among these is that the marketplace
as a whole becomes larger; the availability of a broader and richer set
of devices and services drives more mobile activity from more types
of mobile users. Not only do service providers benefit from this
overall market growth, but a host of opportunities are created for
partners and third-party vendors as well. End users benefit from a
broader set of compelling, competitively priced services
features and applications that are added after the

D
iscussions about openness in the mobile
arena have, for the most par t, centred
on the operators. How open are the major
mobile carriers like Vodafone, Orange, T-
Mobile and others today? When will they become
more open? How open will they get?
There are three other key elements to openness
in the mobile marketplace:
Open devices devices that can be obtained
through multiple channels, will run on multiple
networks, and can be personalised with services,
device is in use.
Open ser vices/applications ser vices, features
and applications than can be easily obtained and
enabled after the device is in use, and that can
come from either the primar y ser vice provider or
from third-par ty providers (eg off-deck/off-por tal
services).
A wide set of more open contractual relationships
options to enter into longer - or shorter - term
relationships with service providers, depending on

56 e u r o p e a n communications www.eurocomms.com

As next-generation networks such as LTE and
WiMAX roll out, we expect to see fundamentally
open access models where there is a wider set of
devices using the network
the needs of an increasingly varied customer base.
Open devices
On the device side, mobile devices can have open
or closed operating systems. They can be locked to
one network operator or be usable on multiple
networks, and can allow access to additional
services, features and applications or not, once in the
hands of the users.
The iPhone, for example, could be considered a
completely closed mobile environment. The device is
normally only available through one operator in each
market and comes with a service contract lasting at
least 18 months. When the iPhone first launched, the
only ser vices and applications you could use on it
came with the device; you could have any flavour of
iPhone you wanted, as long as it was vanilla. However,
with the successful launch of the App Store, services
are now available from third parties. The phone and
ser vice plans for the iPhone are still mainly only
available through one operator in each market and
usually require a long-term contract. But even though
new applications are only available via one source,
the App Store, they do now come from a wider range
of third-party application developers, who are free to
determine the features and prices of their offerings.
Googles Android and the Open Handset Alliance
(OHA) project comprise an initiative that is meant to
specifically address the openness of mobile devices.
The goal of this initiative is to develop a completely
open mobile operating platform on which vendors will
be free to develop applications and services that will
work on all of the devices employing the Android
platform. Leading this charge on the operator front
When the iPhone first launched, the only services
and applications you could use on it came with
the device; you could have any flavour of iPhone
you wanted, as long as it was vanilla
www.eurocomms.com
OPEN MOBILE
was T-Mobile, which was first to field a mobile phone
using the Android platform at the end of last year.
Many other operators like Vodafone are launch-
ing Android-based phones as well.
Interestingly, the vendors involved in the Android
and OHA initiatives are touting Android devices as
iPhones for the masses. Because the platform
will be on a number of different devices from differ-
ent handset vendors, the vendors claim that it (and
the ser vices and applications that run on it) will be
able to capture a much larger market share than
Apple could possibly do with a single (relatively
expensive) device.
Open services/applications
In terms of mobile ser vices and applications, most
mobile devices are sold in Europe with a limited set
of ser vices. These are preloaded on the device. A
more open system would allow more and more
diverse services, which could be tailored for mobile
devices and accessed directly by the subscribers.
Some services would be delivered directly by the oper-
ator, while others would be supplied via a range of
models, from partnership, co-branding and joint deliv-
er y with the operators to wholesale models where
the operator facilitates access for the mobile
subscribers. This more open model would broaden the
available services and drive up overall mobile activity
as a consequence.
Open contractual relationships
In Europe there is a mix of customer types. Many are
contract customers in longer-term relationships where
e u r o p e a n communications 57
OPEN MOBILE
A more open system would allow more
and more diverse services, which could
be tailored for mobile devices and accessed
directly by the subscribers
they are locked into one- or two-year contracts with
the ser vice provider. By contrast, pre-paid customers
have shor ter-term relationships, literally buying
airtime periodically to support their mobile needs.
In the contract model there are conditions to lock in
the customer, including financial penalties for break-
ing these contracts. Customers are unlikely to switch
operators in the middle of a contract, regardless of
their support or ser vice experience. An open market-
place has a broad mix of relationship types to meet the
differing needs of an increasingly diverse set of enter-
prise and consumer subscribers.
Macro trends driving toward openness
Network operators will execute a number of strategies
that will continue to open the European wireless
marketplace further. The fact is that the mobile market
is becoming saturated many European markets are
running at well over 100% penetration putting enor-
mous pressure on the operator to look at new strate-
gies to keep stimulating revenue growth. These
strategies include: driving increased usage, particularly
advanced data usage; going after new customer
segments, including lowerARPU customers and
customers from competitors (who may want to bring
their phones with them); and finding new ways of
managing acquisition costs and a changing blend of
customers.
These strategies will lead toward more open busi-
ness models. Operators are already broadening the set
of services that can be delivered either through them
or with partners. They will also promote and differen-
tiate new contracts that are tailored to meet the needs
of different segments of the customer base. These
will necessarily include a mix of subsidised and unsub-
sidised devices, with explicit policies for devices
sourced independently from the operator.
As next-generation networks such as LTE and WiMAX
roll out, we expect to see fundamentally open access
models where there is a wider set of devices using
58 e u r o p e a n communications
the network not just mobile phones but also comput-
ers and netbooks, mobile Internet devices, and other
consumer electronic devices. Some service providers
will expand the pay-as-you-go categor y to include the
more nomadic type of user who may want access to the
network for a specific period of time.
Mobile customers are demanding more flexibility.
Enterprises want to be able to directly control and
manage the devices used by their employees and
the applications on these devices regardless of
where they come from or what network they run on.
And consumers want an Internet-like experience on
their mobile devices wherever they are. As mobile
devices become less like phones and more like
por table computers, it is difficult for many users to
understand why they should not be able to use their
mobile devices on whatever network is available to
them. Nor do they understand why they should not be
able to access the best and most relevant applica-
tions and ser vices out there, wherever they are or
whomever they come from.
Openness opportunity or challenge?
We believe that openness will suppor t a larger wire-
less marketplace period. And there is an
inevitable trend towards more openness in the
European mobile market. This openness is coming in
a variety of flavours more open network access,
more open device platforms, more open ser vice
provisioning and more options for contractual rela-
tionships with ser vice providers. For ward-looking
operators will manage this change and find ways to
capitalise on more open commercial models that can
deliver higher revenues and margins. Delivering
devices, ser vices and experiences that are tailored
to subscriber needs will naturally lead to improve-
ments in ARPU, customer satisfaction and ultimately,
customer retention.
Matt Bancroft is Vice President, Mformation
www.mformation.com
www.eurocomms.com

The future is FLOSS
Jean-Nol de Galzain explains how developer communities, business leaders
and policy makers will attend Open World Forum 2009 to ensure open
software plays an active role in the digital recovery
F
ree Libre Open Source (FLOSS) has been around
for a number of years, but only recently has it
become a mainstream alternative to licensed soft-
ware. The raison dtre of FLOSS is to enable
developers to gain a new community style approach to
the design, development and distribution of software,
whereby everyone is given free access to a softwares
source code. This approach to sharing software gives
developers greater flexibility than more popular licensed
programs, which restricts use and keeps users busy with
trying to avoid any violation of intellectual property rights.
The people behind the FLOSS movement are helping
to make things happen for open source. FLOSS is an
ecosystem driven by software editors along with enter-
prises, service providers, distributors and integrators. It
forges breakthroughs in networks, embedded systems,
Web 2.0 technologies, Web services, application devel-
opment, critical information systems and security. FLOSS
supports the development of cloud computing, SaaS and
other emerging technologies to help revolutionise the
world of IT.
The benefits of FLOSS are hard to ignore, and more
and more firms across Europe are embracing the concept-
especially now when companies are tightening budgets and
trying to cut costs without impacting services. According
to a study by UNU-MERIT, Open Source will represent 30%
of the market for software and services by 2012.
Open source is revolutionising information technology
and is no longer limited to basic software such as Linux
or Apache. Fledgling open source firms are finding oppor-
tunities in various business applications, including data-
bases, customer relationship management and business
intelligence.
Without a doubt, open source creates tremendous
opportunities and challenges for those in the space but
what will be the impact on innovation, governance, public
policy, and ultimately, IT careers? How will FLOSS really
revolutionise the local landscape of information technol-
ogy and what technological advances in commercial and
Free Software can be expected for the future?
The Open World Forum in Paris on October 1- 2, 2009,
will play host to thousands of participants from 20 coun-
tries, to share their thoughts, foster innovation and
competitiveness, and address these questions. The event
www.eurocomms.com
OPEN SOURCE
will explore innovations and future trends in FLOSS and
how the world can help build the future of FLOSS and
make it a crucial component for the digital recovery.
The second annual Open World Forum is targeting
open source developers to ensure the events success
in Europe. The event is open to the community at large
and not targeted specifically at a specialised sector or
the research community. It is aimed at all stakeholders:
communities, IT managers, architects, developers,
researchers, academics, industrialists, investors, etc.
The event will be held at Eurosites George V in Paris
and the agenda will include global IT players (Alcatel-Lucent,
Atos, Bull, Cap Gemini, Google, IBM, HP, Siemens, Sun,
Thales), as well as the main communities (ASF, Eclipse,
Linux Foundation, Qualipso, Mozilla, OW2, OSA Europe),
large research and competitiveness clusters (System@tic
Paris Region, Cap Digital, INRIA, Fraunhofer FOKUS, UNU-
MERIT) and a wide network of SMEs from around the world.
The Open World Forum addresses issues raised by
policy makers, professionals, users and contributors,
customers, as well as the undecided, on the new infor-
mation technologies and communication strategies avail-
able using Open Source. The agenda will include seminars
and plenary sessions involving well -known personalities
in the industry.
The plenary sessions will explore how Open Source
can contribute to renewed economic growth, as a major
driver for competitiveness and innovation as well as a
force for social improvement and national sovereignty.
Delegates are invited to attend the plenary sessions
on key economic and societal issues such as employ-
ment, innovation, cloud computing, IT governance, the role
of the communities and the FLOSS as a social and
economic leverage in public policies.
The event will end with the delivery of the roadmap by
the president of the Program committee, Jean-Pierre
Laisn, CEO of OW2 & Chief Open Source strategist at
Bull, and the directors of the 7 major themes addressed
during the Open World Forum, namely public policy, inno-
vation, ecosystems, technological revolutions and
economic governance, careers and BRIC. I hope that
you can join us as well.
Jean-Nol de Galzain, CEO Wallix
www.openworldforum.org
e u r o p e a n communications 59

TIME TO HEED
CONFERENCINGS
CALL
Rahm Emanuel, Chief of Staff in the Obama White House, said recently:
Rule one: never allow a crisis to go to waste. They are opportunities to do
big things. Like introducing transformational tools that may just keep
your business afloat, says Aaron McCormack
I
ts not just the financial services industry that has
suffered in the current economic downturn. Many
other sectors have been affected in a crisis that, to
date, has been marked by large reversals in financial
results, mass layoffs, bankruptcies and the disappear-
ance of long-standing companies. And while the question
of how we got here could occupy analysts, politicians and
commentators for years to come, the more immediate
concern for business leaders is to find ways to respond
to the circumstances that now surround them.
The issue was to the fore when the Forum of Young
Global Leaders, of which I am a member, met at the
World Economic Forums annual meeting in Davos early
this year. The question we asked was: Can we create a
system where we value genuine value creation beyond
the quarterly results?
If so, this is exactly the right time to make the changes
needed. As London Business Schools Donald Sull said
in a recent article in the Financial Times: Every down-
turn opens a window of opportunity to adjust the status
quo and astute managers push through necessary
changes while the window is open. This raises two
Like it or not, we are all heading for a low carbon
future, and we need to get there fast
www.eurocomms.com
COST EFFECTIVE CONFERENCING
wider questions. The first: what will the post-crisis order
look like? The second: what can organisations do to pre-
pare for it, especially at a time when budgets are tight
and hard choices often have to be made?
As we all know, crystal balls are a notoriously unreli-
able way of finding answers. But one thing is certain
like it or not, we are all heading for a low carbon future,
and we need to get there fast. Certainly, this seems to
be where political leaders are placing their bets, with
calls for new green deals coming from every part of the
globe. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is just one of
a number of prominent leaders who believes we are
being presented with a unique opportunity to address
two crises at the same time: climate change and the
economic downturn. Business leaders also seem to be
waking up to what Lord Stern of Brentford, the author of
the 2006 review that laid out the economic case for
fighting global warming, is calling green stimulus.
Based on BTs experience, introducing conferencing,
and using it to its full potential, is going to be an impor-
tant next step for many firms. Analyst house IDC is in
agreement. In 2008, the Unified Communications (UC)
e u r o p e a n communications 61
COST EFFECTIVE CONFERENCING
market in Europe was worth $2.6 billion. By 2013, IDC
expects this to increase at a Compound Annual Growth
Rate (CAGR) of 39% to a value of $13.5 billion, making
it one of the brightest spots in a very tough technology
market. In such a challenging market, where spending
is plummeting, there is a strong opportunity for solutions
that can reduce expenses such as travel in the short-
term, said Chris Barnard, research director at IDC.
This means that UC, which includes video and audio
conferencing and collaboration solutions, is one of the
few technology areas well placed to grow during the
recession.
The good news is that, in most businesses, the infra-
structure to support audio and web conferencing is
already in place. All that is required is a phone, a com-
puter and an internet connection facilities that already
exist on almost every desk. However, it is true that newer
telepresence systems a new generation of video collab-
oration services, with high definition cameras and huge
projection screens, require new investment. However
with their ability to illustrate physical characteristics and
62 e u r o p e a n communications
cues in great detail, they offer commensurately greater
returns.
With this technology, it is possible to create virtual
meeting environments where eye contact, body language
and other conversational cues come as standard, akin to
face-to-face meetings. It is possible to run the most cru-
cial of business meetings for example, delicate
negotiations and executive recruitment interviews. And,
while it will probably never completely replace face-to-
face meetings, it does significantly accelerate a firms
ability to get things done.
Europe, in particular, is very much behind the curve
when it comes to using existing conferencing technology
to make businesses more productive, fleet of foot and
efficient exactly what is needed right now.
So what real difference does conferencing make when
you adopt it whole-heartedly? To begin with, it encour-
ages people to interact and work together to solve
problems. It takes time to set up face-to-face meetings.
Diaries have to be checked, rooms booked and travel
plans made, and that can be a barrier to effective collab-
www.eurocomms.com

oration and teamwork. Conferencing is much simpler,
and much more immediate. If its integrated with a sys-
tem that allows people to see each others diaries
Microsoft Outlook, for example, all employees have to do
is check peoples availability, send an appointment and
make the call. People can get together in minutes or
hours, not days or weeks.
Saving time in business, product and sales operations
gives sales individuals more time to sell, increasing the
bottom line. Enterprises with large, dispersed field
organisations, including high-tech manufacturing compa-
nies like Agilent and professional services firms like
Accenture, are setting the bar for others to follow by
expanding their use of web conferencing to drive online
teamwork and effective delivery of sales presentations.
Levels of meeting attendance are often higher when
organisations hold briefings, conferences and training
sessions using web conferencing and other services.
Productivity is also improved. The hours employees
would have spent travelling can be put to better use.
Jobs get done more quickly, which benefits both the
employer and the employee. If people can meet over-
seas clients and suppliers without having to fly to meet
them, they might be able to close four to five deals in a
week, as opposed to just one. And if people arent away
from home as often, their work-life balance is improved.
The need to work evenings or weekends to catch up on
time lost on the road is reduced.
Essentially, introducing this kind of technology changes
business processes and the very way in which people
work. Many of BTs people now work in virtual teams
whose members are distributed around the world. When
they need to get together to discuss something, more
often than not theyll use our conferencing services to do
so. Its much more convenient, much more flexible and it
quickly engenders both a team spirit and trust.
And the bottom line benefits? At UK supermarket
Tesco, staff who use audio conferencing services save
an average of 300 a meeting on travel expenses and
It takes time to set up face-to-face meetings. Diaries
have to be checked, rooms booked and travel
plans made, and that can be a barrier to effective
collaboration and teamwork. Conferencing is much
simpler, and much more immediate
www.eurocomms.com
COST EFFECTIVE CONFERENCING
free up 3.97 hours of on the road time to do more pro-
ductive work. Attending an average of 3.55 conference
calls a week, staff save a total of 584,824 hours per
year by not having to travel to meetings.
The returns on investment are significant and quickly
feed through to the bottom line. BT asked independent
researchers from the University of Bradford and
SustainIT to assess the benefits it obtained from confer-
encing in 2006-07. Based on employee surveys, they
estimated that our people used audio and video confer-
encing services to hold around 850,000 meetings that
would otherwise have required some or all of them to
travel to the selected venue. What they described as
conservative calculations suggested that, by eliminat-
ing about 2.6 million return journeys, time worth more
than 100 million had been made available for more pro-
ductive use. More than 73% of BT conferencing users
believed they had saved at least three hours of travel
time and 46% of the trips would have been car. It esti-
mated that BT saves at least 128 million by using
conference technology, while each physical meeting con-
ducted by videoconferencing saves 432.
When it comes to building a low carbon economy, the
environmental benefits are equally significant. The
researchers found that 97,000 tonnes of CO2 emis-
sions had been avoided through reduced travel. Whats
more, these benefits werent a one off. Year in, year out,
money will be saved, our people will work more produc-
tively and CO2 emissions will be reduced.
So yes we are in a period of constraint at the
moment. But that doesnt mean companies cant use
this time to streamline their operations and shape them-
selves for the future. Sure, they may need all the help
they can get. But they may also find that a downturn in
business, far from being a bad time to think about
change, may well be exactly the right time to transform
the ways they work. Perhaps its time for more organisa-
tions to heed conferencings call.
Aaron McCormack is CEO at BT Conferencing.
e u r o p e a n communications 63
 APPLICATION ASSURANCE
Raising the
performance bar
Baseline connectivity VPNs are
becoming commodity
products. Many carriers have
leveraged their network assets
and introduced service-aware
VPNs. Application assurance is
the next evolutionary step,
and Bob Emmerson argues
that this development
addresses the application
requirements of enterprises for
better, consistent, visible, end-
to-end performance
64 e u r o p e a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
E
nterprises employ a wide range of applications and services:
email, VoIP, IM, file transfer, video conferencing, business IPTV
services, storage backup and recovery, etc. Each application
has unique requirements for bandwidth as well as timing or
delay sensitivity. VoIP can suffer from poor quality and dropped calls.
Streaming video may break up or take a long time to start playing.
There is a popular perception that a high QoS equates to a high QoE
(Quality of Experience) and that any quality problems can be accommo-
dated by adding more bandwidth. That perception is wrong but it
persists.
In order to optimize the QoE, which is the quality parameter that mat-
ters the most, service providers need to manage the quality of the
various applications the QoA (Quality of Application) all the way to
the end user. This means that the optimum QoE can only come from a
combination of QoS and QoA.
Many service providers have progressed from the basic VPN model,
which was connectivity centric, to todays service-aware model that sup-
ports the convergence of IP voice, data and video and that has the
performance and resiliency necessary to run latency-sensitive applica-
tions.
This model has enjoyed considerable success. But - and it is a very
big but - its a QoS centric approach. A high QoS assures the perfor-
mance of the network, but it does not recognize the applications. Whats
needed is a model that builds on the success of service-aware VPNs and
goes on to assure the performance of the applications, ie a model that
is QoA centric. Add this parameter and you can realize the requisite QoE
for all application types.
Enterprises rely on their business applications for day-to-day opera-
tions, but the majority have little or no visibility on how they are
performing over the wide area network services they employ. Its a seri-
ous issue and its impact is growing for a number of interrelated reasons:
Most apps were designed for the LAN, not the WAN
More and more apps are being centralized at data centres
Real-time voice, multimedia and business-critical data applications are
converging
Availability and performance must be optimized across multiple loca-
tions
And the issue is compounded by the fact that many if not most IT
departments have limited resources.
The primary responsibility of service-aware VPNs is to ensure that the
operators network and service performance objectives are met. There
www.eurocomms.com

is limited focus on applications: it is assumed the applica-
tion performance is acceptable if the service performance
objectives are met. But QoS does not equate to QoE.
This model assigns different classes of service (CoS).
The CoS defines the service pipe into which applications will
be classified by trusted CPE devices. Thus, the CoS deter-
mines the priority rating of the applications. However, this
does not help address the enterprises key performance
issue, which is to have per-application visibility and control,
without having to implement a costly CPE appliance.
Application-aware VPN services offer a new way for ser-
vice providers to approach their customers. Application
awareness goes to the heart of what matters most to an
enterprise: the predictable performance of its voice and
data applications. Thats a deliverable that will allow ser-
vice providers to become a strategic partner ahead of the
time when commoditization of the QoS model starts and
prices erode.
SPs that make the transition from service awareness to
application assurance will be able to deliver predictable
performance and generate additional revenue streams.
Their offer will be distinctively different and market
research indicates that it will be welcomed.
An Ovum study conducted in Europe and the US indicat-
ed that 30% of the enterprises would pay extra for an
improved QoS that guaranteed the performance of mis-
sion-critical applications. And 20% said they would be
prepared to pay for consultancy services that helped them
with application performance monitoring and reporting. A
similar study conducted by IDC showed that 51% of 368
enterprises would use a managed WAN optimization ser-
vice from an operator.
An application-assured VPN ensures per-application per-
formance objectives are met through application
recognition and optimization. This is enabled through a
network-based approach that provides per-application clas-
sification and end-to-end assurance from both trusted and
untrusted CPE devices. So, how is it done?
Alcatel-Lucent, for example, has designed a solution
that enables service providers to deliver application assur-
ance as well as performance monitoring and reporting.
And while the functionality is very advanced, implementing
the solution is relatively simple.
In a nutshell, the operator simply hot-inserts a hard-
ware module into the chassis of an existing 7450 ESS
(Ethernet Service Switch) or a 7750 SR Service Router).
This can be done without disrupting the services that are
running at that time.
The module is known as the Application Assurance
Integrated Services Adapter (AA-ISA). The baseline function
www.eurocomms.com
APPLICATION ASSURANCE
is to identify the various applications in order to enable
dynamic per-service, per-site and per-application QoS policy
control. The term per-application QoS equates to QoA,
which was introduced at the beginning of this article.
The applications that enterprises run over their wide
area network are numerous and varied. When traffic is
directed to the AA-ISA traffic flows are identified and sub-
jected to Application QoS Policy rules that determine the
requisite treatment.
Each AA-ISA module provides up to 10 Gbps of deep
packet analysis, a figure that enables up to 3M traffic
flows. Up to seven active AA-ISA modules can be deployed
per chassis. In this case the analysis capacity can scale
up to 70 Gbps: this figure enables up to 21M simultane-
ous flows. Application assurance solutions that are
CPE-based only scale to 1 Gbps.
Application assurance enables per-application refine-
ments that can either optimize the performance over the
WAN or prioritize one application over another. In Alcatel-
Lucent parlance it enables an application-level QoS, which
is arguably a more meaningful term than my QoA.
In addition, the AA-ISA provides the data that enables
visibility of applications and their performance behavior
over the VPN. This data is subsequently processed by the
reporting and analysis manager that provides application
identification plus application monitoring and reporting.
Alcatel-Lucents solution enables operators to provide
enterprise customers with a Web-based service portal that
is used to monitor applications on a per-VPN or per-site
basis. IT management can view near-real-time reports as
well as archived reports and also request or change appli-
cation treatment.
These reports are critically important for enterprises as
they are faced with operational challenges due to limited
resources as well as increasing cost constraints. Without
an application reporting capability, they are effectively run-
ning blind.
Scalable application assurance has the look of a com-
pelling business proposition, one that meets the market
need for enhanced application performance over the VPN.
The concept is also a logical evolutionary step for service
providers. An application assured VPN is a differentiated
service offer that heads off commoditization and by deliv-
ering predictable performance that can be monitored the
business relationship becomes that of an ICT partner
instead of a connectivity supplier.
Bob Emmerson is a freelance writer who lives in The
Netherlands. He can be contacted via:
bob.emmerson@melisgs.nl
www.electric-words.org
e u r o p e a n communications 65
 EVENT PREVIEW

Broadband world
forum 2009
For nearly a decade, the annual Broadband World Forum Europe conference and exhibition
has grown significantly, hosting more than 6000 industry players and offering a wide range of
information and communication technologies topics under the large umbrella of broadband.
Themed "Delivering the Promise," this year's Event will feature more than 250 speakers in
over 50 breakout sessions, keynote addresses, plenary panels, and workshops
Communication Services: How to Leverage the Next

B
roadband World Forum Europe focuses on
convergence, interoperability, and the transfor-
mation of carrier networks. At the event, indus-
try experts will share their insights and
experiences throughout the session programming, exam-
ining the latest broadband technology developments,
content, applications, and services with particular rele-
vance to the European market. Industry leaders from global
carrier, supplier, software, and enterprise segments will
explore and analyze technology developments relating to
the ICT industrys value chain, preparing them to develop
strategies and business models and make informed deci-
sions on monetizing their broadband investments.
Chairman of the NGMN Alliance, Vivek Badrinath (EVP
Networks Carriers Platforms and Infrastructure, France
Telecom) will serve as the World Forum Chair and will host
a carrier panel at the Forum. Among the keynote speak-
ers will be: Didier Lombard, Chairman and CEO, Orange
who will make the opening keynote address; Mika
Vehvillainen, COO, Nokia Siemens Networks; Carl-Henric
Svanberg, President and COO, Ericsson; Stefano Pileri,
CTO, Telecom Italia; Jean-Briac Perrette, President, NBC
Universal Digital Distribution; and Ben Verwaayen, CEO,
Alcatel-Lucent.
Workshops will a range of topics including: Converged TV
Delivery and Management of Blended TV Services;
Exploiting the Hidden Value in the Network: Deep Packet
Inspection: Technology, Promise & Controversy - What You
Need to Know; and The Future of Mobile Broadband:
Coverage vs. Cost. Further sessions include: Rich
Generation Mobile and Fixed Broadband Networks;
Creating a Compelling Mix of Web 2.0 and Unified
Communications Services for the Enterprise Market; Where
and Where Not to Deploy ATCA in Broadband Networks;
Delivering IP Telephony, IPTV, and Web Services on a
Converged IMS-based Core-Network to Achieve Next
Generation, Unified and Synchronized Service Experience;
and The Future of Mobile Access.
Running alongside the conference, the exhibition will
enable global technology vendors to showcase their most
progressive broadband technologies, equipment, applica-
tions, solutions, and services. As well as highlighting
products, the organisers stress, the exhibition also
provides the opportunity to discuss the latest technology
developments and see how the latest innovations can keep
implementation costs down, maximize return on infra-
structure investment, and benefit the bottom line.
The event is organized by IEC, a nonprofit organization,
dedicated to catalyzing technology and business progress
worldwide in a range of high-technology industries and
their university communities. Since 1944, the IEC has
provided high-quality educational opportunities for indus-
try professionals, academics, and students.
The Broadband World Forum Europe is supported by
Orange as Official Host Sponsor and the NGMN Alliance
as Associate Sponsor.
The ninth annual Broadband World Forum Europe will
be held 79 September 2009 at CNIT La Defense, Paris.
www.iec.org

www.eurocomms.com e u r o p e a n communications 67
Considering convergence
As IBC opens its doors at the RAI Centre in
Amsterdam, from September 10th to 15th, it
is becoming increasingly clear that everyone
in the communications industry is going to
have to collaborate to turn the idea of
content anytime, anywhere into a reality
F
or anyone who has been in the communications
industry at any time in the last 30 years, the
word convergence will be familiar. With broad-
band availability moving towards universality and
mobile networks increasingly being regarded as data
highways not just for voice, there is finally a chance that
this convergence will happen.
While there will be multiple applications running over
this data bandwidth, it is clear that what will drive it will
be media. Audiences love the concept of being able to see
the content they want, when they want it, at the time they
want it, where they want it, and on the device they want.
It is not just a consumer issue. At first digital signage
was simply a poster on a plasma screen. Today it is seen
as a highly targeted, highly productive means of reaching
audiences over what is effectively a private interactive tele-
vision network. Retailers love the idea of being able to
talk to potential purchasers at the instant they are making
a purchasing decision put a recipe for a chicken casse-
role above the chicken display in the supermarket.
So it is that telcos, mobile network operators (MNOs) and
ISPs are now very much in the media business. They
have the carrier infrastructure, and they have to be sure
68 e u r o p e a n c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
they are getting their fair share of the revenues from
what will be a booming business, particularly at a time
when voice arpu is falling.
On the other hand, broadcasters and production compa-
nies have the content that will be the real driver for audi-
ences. Clearly, everyone has to collaborate to make the
content anywhere become a reality.
At a time when the landscape is moving fast, it is wise
to invest in knowledge; to understand what the commer-
cial challenges are as well as the technology issues, and
to see where the established players need to collaborate
and where they still compete.
IBC has been an established date in the broadcasters
diary for more than 40 years; over the last decade it has
become vital for telcos, MNOs and the data industry too.
It is the leading event for anyone involved in content
creation, management and delivery, attracting visitors from
more than 130 countries.
There are multiple levels to the event. First, it is an
authoritative conference, bringing experts from around
the world to debate the key issues of the day.
This year the IBC conference has been reorganised into
three distinct streams: technology advances; content
creation and innovation; and the business of broadcast-
ing. Each contains a series of technical papers, commer-
cial and operational debates and masterclasses from
leading creative professionals.
Most important, each crosses the boundaries between
traditional broadcasting and the new creation and distrib-
ution of media. The content creation and innovation
strand, for example, includes a full day on IPTV and
mobile media. In addition, to counteract the inevitable
concern that conference debates are always led by senior
www.eurocomms.com

executives who may not be perfectly in touch with the
consumer, a session is given over to listening to a panel
of students from Japan, Russia, UK and USA talking
about how they consume media and their expectations
for the media of the future.
Every minute of every day, some 13 hours of content is
uploaded to YouTube. Is this just vanity publishing that no
one watches, or is user-generated content the future for
the media industry? The answer to that question has far-
reaching implications for the business and technology
plans of data network operators.
Alongside the formal conference there is another oppor-
tunity for debate and exploration. There is a series of busi-
ness briefings: presentations by people who have been
there and done it, and share their experiences (good and
bad). There are also business briefings on mobile media,
for IPTV and online video, and for digital signage.
These presentations are linked to specific zones within
the exhibition, again dedicated to mobile, IPTV and digital
signage. The zones are an initiative to attract innovators
of emerging media into the IBC community. They give
exhibitors, and particularly start-up businesses, a simple
and low-cost route into the exhibition, and they present visi-
tors with a rapid overview of the latest technology in a
particular field without them having to walk all around the
www.eurocomms.com
IBC PREVIEW
show floor.
The full exhibition is large and comprehensive, filling
the exhibition space 11 halls - in the Amsterdam RAI
Centre with around 1000 exhibitors. The layout of the exhi-
bition is designed to make it easy for the visitor to find
the solutions they need. If you are looking for the latest
in communications technologies from compression and
multiplexing to set-top boxes and home hubs then all
the key players are grouped together in one area.
Equally, if your business plan requires you to move into
content production or channel management, then you will
find what you need in other halls. One hall includes the IBC
Production Village, which combines a huge camera demon-
stration area and hands-on experiences of the latest equip-
ment with a number of active presentations, including the
production base for IBC TV News the events own on-air
and online programme.
Another free presentation strand, What caught my eye,
is helpful for newcomers to a subject, but is always popu-
lar with regular visitors too. Experienced practitioners tour
the exhibition looking for the latest and best in their
particular fields, and in a short and lively workshop talk
about what is new and exciting. It also gives tips to the
audience on where to find a given highlight and the right
questions to ask of the vendors.
e u r o p e a n communications 69
IBC PREVIEW

There is a third element to IBC alongside the confer-

ence and exhibition: a whole range of offerings that add
value to your time spent at the event. The business brief-
ings, which are free to all visitors, are a good example.
Others range from training opportunities to the chance to
network with your peers. And most evenings there are
free screenings of some fine television productions and
movies in the state-of-the-art digital cinema created by IBC.
The IBC conference runs from September 10 to 14 and
the exhibition from September 11 to 15, at the RAI Centre
in Amsterdam. Exhibition only registration is free and
includes all the added value opportunities including the
business briefings, screenings and networking. There are
a range of conference packages available for IBC2009:
more information and online registration can be found
at www.ibc.org.
The assumption among consumers is that video will be
an integral part of any communication in future: if they
can shoot something on a mobile phone and upload it to
YouTube, then they will expect to be able to see it on their
televisions at home too.
If you have any interest in the technology to make this
happen, or the business cases that will realise a fair return
on this investment, then IBC is the place to join the debate.
www.ibc.org

70 e u r o p e a n communications www.eurocomms.com

Case Studies/Comment
Empirix/Manx Telecom
Manx Telecom, part of the Telefnica S.A. group and the Isle
of Mans largest telecommunications and Internet provider,
has deployed Empirix Hammer XMS to provide ser vice
quality assurance for its new IMS network. Over the next 18
months Manx Telecom will transition from its existing PSTN
and ISDN infrastructure to an IMS network. During that
timeframe it will use Empirixs Hammer XMS system to provide
ongoing service monitoring throughout the network.
We realized early on that we would need an independent
monitoring system to manage the complexities that IMS
introduces into our network, says Jon Huyton, technical
officer, who is leading Manx Telecoms migration to IMS. We
were impressed with Hammer XMS because it addressed all
of our needs in terms of functionality, working virtually out of
the box, and ease of use. Most importantly, Hammer XMS
provided detailed, end-to-end repor ts on calls as they
traversed from the PSTN on to the IMS network, which was a
task we were expecting to have to compile manually.
Manx Telecom selected Empirixs Hammer XMS following
extensive system tests on its live IMS network. The deciding
factors included Empirixs ability to deliver a comprehensive
view of both TDM and IMS network operations, real-time
monitoring of call flows, as well as fast set-up and flexibility
to customize monitoring rules and reports.
Hammer XMS enables network operations and quality
engineers to drill down from high level views of the network
to granular details of individual call paths. In addition, Hammer
XMS creates snapshots of normal network activity that quality
engineers can reference when errors occur. These capabilities
will enable Manx Telecom to identify and rectify errors, before
they cause customer issues. These monitoring capabilities
will also help Manx Telecom ensure that it continues to meet
quality targets set out in Service Level Agreements (SLAs),
which are ver y impor tant as a large propor tion of the
operators revenue comes from businesses, including many
financial services companies.
Andy Belcher, Empirixs managing director of Europe, the
Middle East and Africa comments: Known as an industry
innovator, Manx Telecoms decision to focus on service quality
assurance early on in their IMS rollout is proof that leading
operators realize that proactively ensuring service quality is
critical to their competitive differentiation and commitment to
their customers.
www.empirix.com
www.eurocomms.com
CASE STUDIES/COMMENT
Transmode/3 Scandinavia
Mobile services provider 3 Scandinavia needed to build its
network capacity to ensure no bottlenecks were created as
applications become more data hungr y and more widely
used. The company manages its own wireless backhaul
infrastructure across Denmark and Sweden comprising several
interconnected optical rings.
Mobile data traffic is undoubtedly growing phenomenally but
the older SDH/ATM networks have inherent technical
limitations that prevent cost efficient capacity increases. IP
/Ethernet is often the best solution here, as it provides high
capacity upgrades at a relatively low cost.
After evaluating various options, 3 Scandinavia decided to
deploy Transmodes iWDM solution. Over the past year,
Transmodes Multiservice Muxponder (MS-MXP) has been
deployed across its Danish and Swedish networks. The MS-
MXP has allowed 3 Scandinavia to deploy multiple services
over a single 4 Gbit/s CWDM or DWDM wavelength.
Transmodes Multi-Service Backhaul Solution, including its
iWDM capabilities offers transparent synchronization support
for native TDM and Ethernet traffic. And both the native TDM
and Ethernet traffic can be transported using only one single
wavelength.
Hkan Snis, 3 Scandinavias Transmission Engineering
Manager explained the significance the companys improved
mobile backhaul capabilities.
Our decision to deploy Transmode equipment was not
only based on cost, although there were obvious cost benefits.
3 Scandinavia had previously enjoyed several years
successful co-operation with Transmode in the previous
phases of our network development and we were very pleased
with the reliability of these systems.
Since January 2008, which marked the start of the latest
phases of 3 Scandinavias development program, our
requirements have been for significantly increased capacity as
well as the technical means to cater for a smooth and cost-
efficient migration from TDM-based transport to a future-
proof IP transport model.
Sten Nordell, CTO at Transmode, comments: Our Multi-
Service Muxponder is especially designed to fit the various
traffic formats available in the mobile network. Ethernet,
TDM and ATM traffic can be aggregated and delivered over a
single wavelength which ensures capacity can grow to match
future demand without changing the optical infrastructure.
www.transmode.com
e u r o p e a n communications 71
COLUMN: REGULATION
Piracy stalemate
by Benoit Reillier
T
he whole new telecoms regulatory framework is
now in the doldrums following a disagreement
between the Council of Ministers and the EU
Parliament. You may be forgiven for thinking that
a major disagreement regarding key aspects of the package
must be at the origin of the current acrimonious standoff
between such venerable European institutions but you
would be wrong. The quarrel that is threatening to derail
more than eighteen months of tough negotiations, is about
a recently introduced anti-piracy provision allowing the
disconnection of internet offenders without prior ruling by
the judicial authorities. This seemingly innocuous
provision, that was introduced by the French Government
at the last minute and subsequently accepted by the
Council of Ministers but rejected by the Parliament, is the
origin of the stalemate.
With the recent European elections, and the failed
negotiations before the summer, it is unclear whether any
agreement on this issue will be reached in the near future.
This situation is par ticularly awkward for the French
Government given that its very own Conseil Constitutionel,
Frances highest constitutional authority, ruled against the
very law that the French wanted to export. The so called
three strike provision, that would have allowed an
independent body to disconnect the internet access of
individuals after three warnings, is therefore back to the
drawing board. This is likely to embolden the EU Parliament
in this institutional impasse and lead them to wait for the
Council of Ministers to back down on their version of the
text. In the meantime all the measures in the package,
including improved number portability provisions, the set up
of a new pan-European regulatory group, introduction of
functional separation as a remedy, enhanced radio
spectrum management, better access to emergency
services, etc are on hold.
While understandably irritated by these latest
developments, and unable to make progress on its main
text, the Commission decided to revisit another area of
regulatory concern and took the unusual step of re-issuing
a consultation document about its regulatory proposals
for NGAs.
A wide consensus about the definite need for next
generation access networks to be deployed throughout
Europe is now emerging. Demand uncertainty (what will
people buy exactly? for how much?), technology uncertainty
72 e u r o p e a n communications
(will it work? what is the optimal
topology?) are however significant
enough for many operators to
carefully phase their investment. A build it and they will
come business case is unlikely to persuade the boards
of the major operators to sign off on what is thought to
require 300bn of investment in Europe. The regulatory
uncertainty surrounding the treatment of such investments
has also been blamed for the delay in rolling out fibre. The
first consultation on the issue, launched at the end of last
year, apparently attracted so much criticism that rather than
coming up with a final recommendation as initially
expected, the Commission is re-issuing a new consultation.
Hence the new draft recommendations and guidelines on
NGA to ensure that a consistent framework is adopted,
probably at the end of the year, across member states.
The core of the issue is the balance between investment
incentives and the risk of (re)monopolisation of the local
loop. Some fear that, if these new fibre based networks are
not regulated (e.g. access to them is not mandated)
competition will not emerge in the future. On the other
end, some argue that, if drastic wholesale access
obligations are imposed, operators are not going to invest.
The Commission is clear about the need to regulate
access to NGA but doesnt want to be accused of stifling
investment. To achieve this dual objective the Commission
is trying to promote co-investment in infrastructures (so
that market participants can pool resources) as well as
the roll-out of multiple-fibre lines to ensure that future
competitors will be able to enter the market by using
available fibres (rather than leasing an existing link as is
currently the case with unbundling in copper networks). The
Commission also recognises that investment risk may need
to be reflected in the access price of third parties but warns
that this should not be used as a way to squeeze the
margins of access seekers.
Even with regulator y visibility the business case for
rolling out these new generation networks in large cities is
now just emerging. It is therefore likely that some form of
government intervention will be required to make these
networks available in more rural areas in the future.
Benoit Reillier is a Director and co-head of the European
telecoms practice at global economics advisory firm LECG.
The views expressed in this column are his own.
Breillier@lecg.com
www.eurocomms.com

Outlook: Cloudy with Sunny Intervals
by Keith Willetts
Y
ou cant have a discussion these days with
anyone in the IT industr y without the word
cloud coming up: yes, cloud computing
really is the biggest thing since sliced bread!
Why have your own servers running, on average, at 5%
loading when a cloud-based ser vice will save huge
amounts on processing by paying only for what you use?
Ever faster networks are making physical locations
(sort of) irrelevant, opening up the market for all sorts
of capabilities to be accessible online - from
applications (software-as-a-ser vice) through
infrastructure ser vices like computing, storage and
networking to online enabling services like billing, CRM,
authentication etc.
If youre an end user, cloud services open up a huge
range of ser vices without the expense and exper tise
needed to have your own infrastructure. For
communications players searching for new business
models and services that will replace stagnating voice
revenues, cloud ser vices offer some ver y interesting
opportunities. Do you take the cost reduction route of
cutting your computing costs by moving to being a cloud
computing buyer, or do you go the opposite way and
expand your data centers to monetize them by selling
services to others?
Another angle is to open up some of your internal
services and capabilities for others to purchase and use
for a price, such as call centres, CRM and billing, all of
which service providers have in large measure.
Now all this sounds great in theory, but with not a lot
of tangible examples out there of large cloud computing
services that are in full deployment, its hard to guess
at how the market will develop and who will win.
One thing is for sure though, no matter how big
telecom companies think their IT base is, its small both
geographically and in horsepower terms when compared
to Amazon, Google and Microsoft. Economies of scale
definitely will play a big part in who can make money
as a price war will be played out not only between cloud
providers but between cloud and the alternative do-it-
yourself market of owning your own infrastructure.
Although there are numerous applications of a cloud
approach, its possible that cloud services might take
off in two key areas. One is video content distribution,
because to do this you need the ability to deploy
www.eurocomms.com
COLUMN: MANAGEMENT
significant network, computing and
storage horsepower on demand.
The second area is in providing integrated packages
of communications ser vices, computing power and
applications to small and medium enterprises. The
cloud will make it possible to weave together packages
of these ser vices where all the data is stored in the
cloud and all the applications are run in the cloud, but
businesses get an integrated package where all of that
is transparent to them.
I recently saw a demo by a large, multinational mobile
operator of just this sor t of innovative packaging of
ser vices. If they get it off the ground they could find
customers beating down their doors.
A recent article in The Economist reviewed the cloud
approach and warned that cloud may simply be a way
for the computing industr y to shield itself from the
growing tide of openness. For example, how easy will it
be for customers to switch cloud ser vice providers -
once your data is in the cloud, can you ever get it out
again and move to a dif ferent supplier? Can you
compare apples-to-apples on price and performance if
ever y provider has dif ferent ser vices measured in
different ways?
You might expect buyers to be in favour of openness
and suppliers to be hostile, but the reality is that lack
of openness and transparency might hold back the
entire market, so some level of standardization may be
suppor ted by both sides. Standards are needed for
application interfaces and data structures as well as a
common model for cloud piece parts - what industry
called Stock Keeping Units, or SKUs, and benchmarks
so that the buyers can easily make purchasing choices.
All of which are areas that TM Forum has a lot of
exper tise in, so were actively working on facilitating
some of the industry aspects of cloud-based services,
and were working with all sides of industr y to
understand whats needed.
Cloud is a game changer in that it is yet another
step along the way of allowing anyone to enter new
markets. Its a changing world and one that the
communications industr y, if its smar t, will grab with
both hands.
Keith Willetts is Chairman and CEO, TM Forum
kwilletts@tmforum.org
e u r o p e a n communications 73
LISTINGS

Listings
European Communications recommends the shows that count in the period
from July to September 2009

EVENT LOCATION DATE CONTACT

Telecoms Loyalty & Churn Berlin 6-9 July www.iir-events.com

Mobile Banking & Financial Services Africa Johannesburg 20-22 July www.iir-events.com
IPTV World Forum North America New York 21-22 July www.iptv-northamerica.com
SE AsiaCom Kuala Lumpar 22-23 July www.comworldseries.com
Mobile Pricing Symposium Cambridge 22-24 July www.telecomspricing.com
Black Hat USA 2009 Las Vegas 25-30 July www.blackhat.com
TelTech Africa Johannesburg 13-14 August www.jacobfleming.com
African Telecoms Billing & Revenue Assurance Cape Town 31 August - 3 Sept www.iir-events.com
Telecoms World Africa Cape Town 31 August - 4 Sept www.terrapinn.com
Submarine Networks Singapore 1-3 September www.terrapinn.com
Mobile Pricing, Retention & Loyalty Executive Programme Oxford 2-4 September www.informatm.com
Broadband World Forum Europe Paris 7-9 September www.iec.org
Nordic & Baltic Region Telecoms Helsinki 7-9 September www.marcusevans.com
LTE Asia Hong Kong 8-9 September www.informatm.com
Telecoms in Africa Customer Loyalty & Retention Johannesburg 9-10 September www.jacobfleming.com
IBC Amsterdam 10-15 September www.ibc.org
OsiM Amsterdam 15-16 September www.informatm.com
SDP Global Summit London 15-16 September www.informatm.com
4G World Chicago 15-18 September www.4gworld.com
Telecoms Fraud, Risk & Revenue Management Berlin 16-18 September www.marcusevans.com
ECOC Vienna 20-24 September www.ecocexhibition.com
European EXPP Summit Amsterdam 21-22 September www.expp-summit.com
IP & Telecoms Interconnection Strategies Berlin 21-23 September www.marcusevans.com
Number Portability 2009 Barcelona 21-23 September www.iir-events.com
MVNO Congress Lisbon 21-23 September www.iir-events.com
Carrier Ethernet World Berlin 21-25 September www.iir-events.com
Prepaid Mobile 09 Lisbon 21-24 September www.iir-events.com
Call Centre/Service Management Expo Birmingham 22-23 September www.callcentre-expo.co.uk
Mobile Broadband World London 22-25 September www.iir-events.com
Future of Mobile Messaging Prague 23-24 September www.jacobfleming.com
CEE Telecoms Wholesale Warsaw 24-25 September www.easteurolink.co.uk
Social TV London 28-29 September www.social-tv.net
Telecoms Market Forecasting London 28 Sept - 1 October www.iir-events.comMobile
Service Evolution Moscow 29-30 September www.mobileevolution.ru
Next Gen World Roaming Forum Vienna 29-30 September www.jacobfleming.com
Carriers World London 30 Sept - 2 October www.terrapinn.com

74 e u r o p e a n communications www.eurocomms.com
17 November 2009, Hilton London Heathrow

Where netbooks
meet smart phones
15% Early Bird Discount until 31 July

Is this the end for Wintel? Can Quandroid make inroads?

Exploring mobilitys future and the platforms and
user interfaces that will dominate ve years from now

Applications and marketplaces

Whats hot and whats not and which
business models will succeed

Operators partners or competitors?

PC vendors are following smart phone vendors
by embracing the operator subsidy model

www.canalysmobilityforum.com
events@canalys.com
+44 118 984 0536