Challenges and potential solutions for traditional network operators

The traditional network operators have been introducing a multitude of services in recent years. New operators are in­creasingly concentrating on high value services or the provisioning of content. In this competitive environment these companies have developed into more or less profitable service providers. At the moment we are experiencing a revolution in the market which is being driven by the Internet. This can be clearly illustrated by the content providers, who are now also providing traditional services using Internet technologies and thus cutting ground in the traditional network operators’ business areas. The resulting lower turnover per individual service, and the falling margins for all market players, are driving competitive pressure on.  In order to keep up with these trends commercially a quantum leap is necessary in the networks and systems, as well as in the organization and process landscape. One of the challenges facing traditional network operators today is the need for improvement in the flexibility and cost effectiveness of the development, implementation and provisioning processes for new innovative services and attractive products.  

Network operators can use modern technological concepts, such as the all-IP NGN concept, to face up to this challenge. The NGN concept forces a shift from vertical network and service structures (the so-called “Stovepipe system model”) to convergent platforms with horizontal layer structures (see Figure 1, page 38). As shown in the figure, the management systems (NGOSS) provide the framework for and bracket between the different horizontal levels of these new structures. As the production and implementation of the services must always take place vertically over all levels this new network concept makes functional (network) management, covering all aspects of the development and implementation of services, more important than ever before. The expected operational cost savings and improved flexibility in “production” are only possible with the use of an optimally structured NGOSS.