DMR

Mobile Broadband Networks – What’s Next ?

Dr. Hans-Peter Petry, Dr. Wolfgang Knospe — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Wireless technologies dominate our lives today and have changed our daily habits. The unlimited possibility to communicate anywhere at any time is attractive for many reasons. While the available services in the past were essentially limited to voice communication and narrowband data traffic, the latest technologies enable us to take the first step in the direction of true broadband communications. These prospects give rise to many new questions concerning the performance which can be expected in future and the consequences for the fixed networks. This article attempts to answer these questions and to describe their commercial context.

Interview with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ulrich Trick: Access with a Future

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0100

The research group for telecommunications networks at the University of Applied Sciences of Frankfurt supports the migration to all-IP networks and the related service platforms with its research, an important contribution in view of the major changes going on in the telecommunications industry. The research group and the results of its work are significant for the continuous improvement of technologies, products, and standards. Two research projects investigating the topics of emergency calls and service delivery in NGN have been successfully concluded in cooperation with Detecon. While public discussions are concentrating primarily on the core networks and service delivery, the greatest investments continue to be made in the access networks and their installation and expansion. That is why we spoke to the head of this research group, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Trick, asking about the relationship between all-IP transformation and the changes in access networks.

Interview with Mohammed Khalfan Al Qamzi CEO, Etisalat (UAE), etisalat

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Etisalat is the largest Telco operator in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and one of the leading operators in the Middle East and North Africa. Etisalat was launched as the first operator in the UAE some 30 years ago and today offers a wide range of fixed and mobile voice as well as data services to its customers. Additional services are provided through its subsidiaries, for example cable TV, Internet access and clearinghouse services.

Business Models for Access Networks

Dirk Münning, Frank Wisselink — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Access networks incur high costs for the operator and require a long-term planning outlook, which is why the utilization of economies of scale is especially important for incumbent network operators. At the same time, there is increasing regulatory pressure in the direction of network neutrality. Special strategies are needed to survive in this environment of high investments, which is also driven by fast technological developments. Access networks are generally operated as an integral productive platform for a telecommunications provider, whereby access networks are offered as wholesale products to third parties in addition to the operator’s own services based on these networks. However, there are also providers who offer exclusively access functions as a service. Will the one business model be more successful than the other in the future?

Service Supporting Equipment at the Customer Premises

George Salisbury — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0100

In the early days of telephony, the end-user device - the telephone, was provided by the service provider, end-users were not permitted to connect “foreign” devices to the network. This situation continued until 1968 when a U.S.A. court ruled in favour of allowing suitable approved third party devices to be connected to the service provider’s network. Today’s broadband based telecommunications services are complex and require support from equipment located at the customers’ premises. This article considers whether such functionality should be provided by network owned equipment, as in the pre-1968 ruling, or via equipment provided by a third party.

Farewell to the Copper Pair?

Dr. Kai Grunert, Stephan Schäfer — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0100

The copper double lead (copper pair) can look back on a history of astonishing success. Originally installed for the transmission of analog telephone signals, the leads today carry bandwidths large enough for triple play services. Yet its future appears to be highly uncertain. Today’s wireless technologies such as CDMA and WiMAX are at least as good as the copper pair for the transmission of lower bandwidths such as those for example needed in developing countries. But it is physically not capable of transmitting really high bandwidths. Does the network upgrade with VDSL2 technology herald the last chapter in the long story of the copper pair?

"1M – 10M – 100M – 1G"

Andreas Melcher, Dr. Mathias Schweigel — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0100

The communications landscape of the present is characterized by a broad diversity of highly varied services, beginning with the classic voice service and continuing via various types of data services on to triple play offers. The consequent increase in bandwidth requirements all the way to the end customer has led to new technical framework conditions for the access network. Fixed network operators must make greater use of active technology in this part of the network, while mobile network operators are focusing on raising the density of their base stations and expanding the connections among existing stations. At the same time, solutions which meet all of the technical framework conditions and can also be realized at low cost must be found, yet taking into account the specific properties of the existing networks. Scalability and flexibility with respect to the adaptation to new services are further important basic conditions.

Digital Entertainment – the next opportunity

Dr. Eckart Pech — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 00:00:00 +0200

For more than two decades, it has been a material challenge for Telecom and Media companies to solve the riddle on how to capitalize on content provisioning and distribution through virtual channels. In the early 1980’s, existing content, products, and services did not translate well into the channels of a digital distribution network. Once content was translated into a form that fitted the technical requirements and limitations of the network, the service offering, usability, and discovery were deemed substandard when compared to existing channels; resulting in a slow uptake rate in markets - the bet on technology alone instead of an integrated alignment with markets and content led to the perception of a lack of compelling online content on overbuilt networks.

The Evolution of Digital Entertainment

Thorsten Claus, Yasmin Narielvala — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Digital Entertainment is changing the way we live. Starting from the early 1990’s, fundamental changes in markets, content and technology have altered the traditional entertainment industry, creating a significant and growing shift in how people interact, socialize, relax, and spend their time – at work and at home. The challenge and opportunity for organizations, from telecom operators to media companies to publishers, is to capture a business model that provides services and functionality within this new Digital Entertainment space that will capitalize on content through the current disruptive evolution cycle and into the future.

Telcos and Television:

Susan Tucker, Susannah Spellman — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0100

AT&T, Microsoft X-Box, Joost, TiVo, Apple, France Telecom, Democracy TV, Limewire and Bit Torrent, Joost, mobile TV - who is not getting into the TV business these days? From the billion dollar investments that Telcos are undertaking to compete with the cable companies encroaching on their home voice turf to the Internet startups like Democracy and Joost, it seems like anyone and everyone wants to deliver TV or video services. Is TV as we know it dead? Not really, it is just going through a rebirth, is evolving and going to be better than ever!

Interview Atish Gude: Digital Entertainment 2.0

Sat, 31 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0200

Atish Gude serves as the senior vice president of Business Operations in Sprint Nextel‘s new 4G Mobile Broadband business unit called Xohm. Sprint recently selected mobile WiMAX as the technology platform for building its next generation mobile broadband business. Atish was appointed head of business operations. In this role, he is responsible for building operations including sales, marketing, product/ service delivery and customer management. Prior to this, Atish was the senior vice president of Corporate Strategy for Sprint Nextel. His team has driven the company‘s three year strategic plan including the company‘s SmartGrowth coverage strategy for managing growth and profitability, managing Sprint‘s Balanced Scorecard and performance metrics, and developing Sprint‘s broadband strategy including program managing two market trials.

Telco TV – What Next?

Patrick Pfeffer, Susan Tucker — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0100

The Internet Protocol (IP) has had a mix impact on the telecom operators (Telco). On one hand it has allowed them to build and market broadband access services. On the other hand it has allowed new entrants to offer at a very low cost voice over IP services, attracting an ever increasing number of subscribers away from Telcos. To mitigate this loss of customers and revenues, Telcos are building network and media infrastructure to offer television and video services. Cable operators (often referred as MSOs) have relied on IP to steal voice customers from Telco. Telcos are using IP to steal video customers from MSO.

Technology Enablers –

Lars Bodenheimer, Raman Krishnan — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Evolution of digital entertainment applications, content, and technology is forcing the existing fixed and mobile TV ecosystems to morph so as to achieve accessibility to and shareability of digital entertainment from everywhere any time. The need for increasing bandwidth, ubiquitous coverage, and seamless connectivity is driving fixed and wireless service providers to consider innovative and hybrid delivery models in combination with walled garden as well as Internet based content sources to reach as many end users as technologically feasible. Besides the principal fixed broadband technologies like xDSL, Cable, and FTTx that are currently leveraged to deliver (IP)TV-based entertainment, wireless access technologies including WiMAX, Satellite Networks (DVB-SH), and Third Generation Cellular Networks (EVDO, HSPA) are being positioned as either alternative access platforms or means to expand overall coverage.

Convergent ICT Services

Dr. Thomas Götz — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0200

It doesn’t often happen that IT and the IT services business is shaken up in the way that it has been in the last two years. Increasing pressure to adapt and change rooted both in changing customer requirements and the dynamic market environment, the complexity of technologies and solutions, and growing insecurity concerning market and price developments all contribute to the overall picture. One of the main drivers of this development is easy to identify: the convergence. However what is hidden behind this and how does this effect IT Management?

Making IT more dynamic

Dieter Wendel, Marc Nisch — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0200

Globalizing the scope and value-creation of IT is a challenge to be faced up to, capitalizing on this as a way of making IT more dynamic is a must. But if the CIO is not only expected to react professionally to such dynamics, but also to influence them directly, then solutions beyond the limits of today’s standard forms of business/IT alignment clearly have to be found. We are convinced that CIOs must push ahead with making IT more flexible and become actively involved in the creation of value. Consequently, next generation business/IT alignment centers around the systematic generation of competitive advantages. CIOs are in need of appropriate managerial instruments to tackle this. Three ways to accomplish the foregoing, which have been tried and tested in practice, are presented here.

Production Strategies for Managed ICT Services

Christian.Moews, Dr.Volker Rieger — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0200

Current market dynamics demand that ICT service providers are able to offer a continuously broadening portfolio of individually tailored services at ever lower prices using fewer and fewer resources. In order to succeed in this balancing act between market flexibility and internal efficiency, modular portfolio and production strategies have become an attractive option. They enable the efficient production of product variations including customer specific variants. This article provides options for dealing with the increasing competition, including the presentation of a business architecture which enables the complete modularization of both the product portfolio and the ICT production and related processes using a SOA methodology.

Business Support Systems

Johannes Ewers, Randolph Nikutta, Thorsten Wolter — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:00:00 +0100

In the future telecommunications companies will have the option of trying out new business models through the combination of services from a number of partner companies. In addition to the traditional models of cooperation such as roaming and interconnection, new models including content aggregation, triple play or SIP/IMS based fixed/mobile convergence services are appearing. Partnership and performance management along the entire value chain will lead to significantly more market players. These players will take on the diverse roles of sales, service or factory – either individually or performed in cooperation with one or a number of partners. In order to be able to offer the consumers new, more-or-less completely IP-based, basic and value added services in a package which does not suffer from production complexity, flexible business support systems and interfaces are necessary to control the interactions between all partners and services from order entry onwards.

Remote Device Management

Dr. Uwe Alkemper — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0200

The concept of a universal operating platform with standardized processes and open interfaces for the installation and operation of all of the user’s end devices is more of a vision than reality for service providers. From the user’s point of view this is however what convergence means: from a single contract over a single self-service portal and through to one interface in case of problems. The present status becomes clear when the existing degree of standardization and the activities of the suppliers in the area of Device Management are examined. The range on offer extends from extreme proprietary through to open platform solutions. Here we will take a look at the challenges to be faced on the route to next generation Device Management from both the commercial and technology points of view, and we will critically examine the potential solutions which are presently envisaged.

Sourcing and Service Management for Convergent ICT Services

Carsten Glohr, Dr. Norbert Hövelmanns — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0200

The sourcing and operation of convergent ICT services is a tough challenge for providers, particularly for their contract and service management. Innovative cooperation models, methods and instruments intended to deal with the market’s extreme dynamics are just as critical to success as the adaptation of accepted best practice. Here we will use real examples to describe ways in which the sourcing and service management for convergent ICT services can be conceived and implemented successfully. It can be seen clearly that the new challenges cannot be dealt with satisfactorily using the processes of the past, however successful they may have been in their time. Innovative cooperation models must be included as part of the optimal solution.

IT - Media companies agent of success

Dieter Wendel, Marc Nisch, Martin Gomolka, Thomas Grota — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0200

Digitalization and convergence are unstoppable trends which are having a revolutionary effect on the competitive conditions in the media industry. Start-ups, market entrants from other industries, new business models, flexible value creation networks and, time and again, innovative technology characterize the strategic considerations being made. Media companies must react and here organization and IT are central levers of optimization and innovation. This article describes how and why media companies can use the horizontalization of their value chain alongside the implementation of radical platform strategies to (re-)achieve their desperately needed flexibility, and to attain a profitable position in this dynamic market.