Some Day, Each phone, etc...
Perhaps, Mardy. The problem is when this 'some day' will dawn. The network which provides these lines associated with a number and a pair of wires, (not forgetting that there is a network which provides us telephone numbers NOT associated with a pair of wires), will be here for quite a while.
The PSTN: pair of wires, switching fabric, processor/memory, SS7, analog interface, trunks, transport, shell, is built up in a modular way. So you can replace parts of it and provide interim solutions. If these interim solutions make business sense, IF THEY ARE COST EFFECTIVE, it delays that day when IP is everywhere.
The makers of these traditional switches have a very big advantage against the new entrants: They know where the costs are. The new entrants know too, but the manufacturers know where they can improve on their platforms to save money for their customers saddled which are the ones that have invested in $250 billion of PSTN hardware in the US.
Less than 10% fo the overall internal costs of a carrier can be ascribed to PSTN switches and voice services. Out of these 10% the bulk of the expenses comes from the administration of subscribers, voice services and features rather from the network infrastructure itself. Thus placing the same services onto a different network would not do much to lower operation, administration and maintenance costs.
Comcerning the article you pasted: It is very important for companies to be viewed in the forefront of the technology. So they have to keep conveying to the market that they are doing working towards making the next generation networks.
But look closely. They are raking in their money out of the old stuff. Nortel, Lucent, Siemens, NEC and Ericsson are. |
