NGNs and the changing face of voice migration

Abstract

All next-generation network (NGN) architecture has two purposes: to enable new and faster revenue streams and to lower the cost of delivering existing services. Core NGNs were meant primarily to deliver cost savings, and at the centre of this re-engineering was the plan to migrate all switched voice onto a single IP platform. In the middle period of this decade, a number of ambitious and, at the time, far-sighted plans were drawn up for this transformation. Five years on, few of the plans have been implemented and few appear likely to be implemented, at least in their original form. Virtually all major operators - fixed incumbents and mobile network operators - still see packet voice as the future, but most of them are reluctant to engineer that transformation, and prefer instead a gentler approach, driven more by customer demand. This means that circuit switching is likely to have a rather longer lifespan than was previously expected.

NGNs and the changing face of voice migration explains why operators have changed their priorities. It provides case studies of the voice transformation strategies of a number of key fixed-line operators. It focuses on two key areas affecting the future of voice carriage: the risks and benefits of using MSANs to extend the IP core and of using voice over broadband as a means of transforming voice; and the effect on voice architecture of plans for FTTH.

NGNs and the changing face of voice migration answers your key questions:�E

• Are operators planning to phase out PSTN/ISDN and, if so, is there still a timetable for change?
• Why have operators de-prioritised PSTN-to-VoIP migration?
• Has the economic downturn affected this change of strategy?
• How are cable operators' and altnet operators' strategies changing?
• Is there a future for the MSAN/baseband voice solution?
• Is the life of circuit-switching being extended in the mobile core?
• If demand pushes customers towards voice over broadband - multi-play packages, how should the PSTN be switched off when it is commercially unsustainable?