IBD. Old Telephone Technology May Bring New Web Uses [Nice ASND SS7 references]
Excerpt: "So far, Ascend and Bay are at the forefront
of data signaling, Taylor says. ''I think Cisco's strategy is the weakest,'' Taylor said. ''I think Bay and Ascend really
understand this market well.''
Ascend is working with Hewlett-Packard
Co., a longtime player in providing SS7 gear
to carriers. This partnership could move
Ascend six to nine months ahead of its
competitors, says Current Analysis' Keniepp."
investors.com
Date: 7/23/98
Author: Michele Hostetler
Many devoted Web surfers often face the
dilemma of choosing between cruising the
Internet or taking a relative's call on their sole
phone line. But an old voice technology may
make that conflict obsolete.
The concept of Internet call waiting is one of
several ideas springing from a signaling
technology called SS7. SS7 is the technology
that organizes and routes phone traffic and
makes call waiting, call forwarding and caller
identification possible.
Network-gear makers, such as Ascend
Communications Inc., Cisco Systems Inc.,
Bay Networks Inc. and 3Com Corp., have
taken aim at SS7 for data networks in the
past two months. They are stepping up this
year to sell it to telephone carriers and
Internet service providers.
''The market's taking off right now,'' said Ted
Butch, product marketing manager for
Ascend's Access Division. ''I can't even tell
you how many carriers want trials to use
SS7.''
SS7 for data is becoming necessary because
voice networks are buckling under an
overload created by Internet traffic. Data
need to be offloaded from the voice network
to ease the strain.
US West Inc. is the first telephone carrier to
use SS7 to give its voice networks relief from
the data glut. The Denver-based carrier plans
to use the technology throughout its markets,
starting with the Seattle area.
The data version of SS7 works like its
ancestor for voice networks.
When a caller dials a telephone number, the
SS7 voice network sets up a path for the call
to travel. This approach works for voice,
since calls average five minutes and the
connection path generally is closed quickly.
But for bandwidth-hogging data, the average
connection time is 32 minutes. That crowds
the voice network, which then slows down
and drops calls, says David LaPier, a Cisco
product manager.
Data traffic also travels slower than voice
traffic. Instead of staying in data form,
Internet traffic is forced to mimic voice
signals and is transformed back again into
data when it reaches its destination.
But SS7 for data networks keeps the
information in its original form and takes it off
the voice network. That way the voice
network isn't bogged down and information
has its own fast-moving lanes.
And when someone dials into a network, he
or she won't get bumped off because the
network is too congested, says Ascend's
Butch.
''We're all used to logging on and then getting
logged off,'' Butch said.
With Internet call waiting, a pop-up window
might show up on Web surfers' computers,
telling them of incoming calls. It may even tell
them who's on the line and let them take the
call while they're still surfing.
Such new features could start appearing by
the second quarter of '99, although Internet
call waiting could take longer. This year is
setting the stage.
One new feature of SS7 is its more efficient
use of modems through an approach called
modem pooling, a form of call forwarding.
If all modems at an Internet service provider
in San Francisco are in use, for example, then
someone who tries to log on gets a busy
signal. But modem pooling automatically
forwards the call in San Francisco to a less
busy area or time zone, such as New York.
The process is invisible to the user, who
simply logs on to the network by dialing a
local number.
''It's more efficient for telecommunications
carriers to have modem farms,'' said Vern
Mackall, analyst with International Data
Corp. in Framingham, Mass.
Internet service providers could use SS7 to
become long-distance telephone carriers,
because the technology gives them more
control of the network and handles voice,
says Ray Keniepp, analyst with Current
Analysis Inc. in Sterling, Va.
''This is really important for long-term
scalability and opportunity for data and voice
networks,'' he said.
Internet service providers can offer specific
connection times to customers, says Dan
Taylor, an analyst with Boston-based
Aberdeen Group.
Guaranteed connection times are vital to the
future of virtual private networks, which use
the Internet to ship private data for
companies, Taylor says. Firms want the same
service that they'd have if they built the
network themselves.
Networking vendors aren't going to make
lots of money on SS7 itself, analysts say.
Instead, SS7 will create more uses for
networks, spurring carriers to expand.
Carriers and network service providers want
to beef up their networks so they can sell
more bandwidth to other service providers
and private companies.
''The whole trick of it is to be able to sell the
same network over and over again,''
Ascend's Butch said.
''If Ascend made $10 million off this, I'd be
shocked,'' Keniepp said. ''(But) if the
networking vendors didn't do SS7, they
would lose their business. This is to protect
their customer base, not to get more
customers.''
SS7 also is part of the convergence of voice
and data networks. It brings the data
networking gear makers closer to the
telecom players.
''The opportunity is for the networkers to get
their hands deeper into the carriers'
business,'' International Data's Mackall said.
''SS7 is part of how the network itself
works.''
Internet service providers will save money
with SS7, Taylor says. Without SS7, they
must use Integrated Services Digital Network
lines to provide basic signaling. But ISDN
lines are expensive - costing $900 a month.
SS7 enables them to use T1 lines to transmit
data and pay just $400 a month, he says.
So far, Ascend and Bay are at the forefront
of data signaling, Taylor says.
''I think Cisco's strategy is the weakest,''
Taylor said. ''I think Bay and Ascend really
understand this market well.''
Ascend is working with Hewlett-Packard
Co., a longtime player in providing SS7 gear
to carriers. This partnership could move
Ascend six to nine months ahead of its
competitors, says Current Analysis' Keniepp.
''The carriers need to be cautious . . .
because you'd be really upset if you picked
up the phone and didn't get a signal,'' he said.
(C) Copyright 1998 Investors Business
Daily, Inc.
Metadata: ASND CSCO BAY COMS USW HWP
I/3574 I/4811 I/3572 E/IBD E/SN1 E/TECH
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