Internet Protocol Networks are Still Two Years Away
According to New Report From Analysys
April 12, 1999
CAMBRIDGE, U.K.--(BUSINESS WIRE) via
NewsEdge Corporation -- - VoIP gateways must
prove themselves - IP on ATM provides
quality-of-service support today
Full service telecoms networks based on Internet
Protocol (IP) platforms will not be deployed for
another two years, according to a new report from
telecoms consultancy, Analysys
(www.analysys.com).
The report entitled 'Next Generation Networks:
Integrated IP Architectures' finds that there are still
missing elements in the architecture for carrier-scale
IP networks, particularly the voice gateways,
end-to-end call control, quality-of-service support
(except when over ATM) and network management
facilities.
"Carrier-scale voice gateways have been announced,
but have yet to ship, never mind prove themselves in
real networks," says Margaret Hopkins, Principal
Consultant at Analysys and the report's lead author.
"Products from companies such as Cisco are on the
market but have yet to be trialled in a network
supporting millions of simultaneous calls."
Whilst most data traffic is now IP, say the authors,
the technology must prove that it can also reliably
and efficiently handle the voice traffic which provides
the bulk of operator revenues. However, given the
speed of innovation in the Internet world, it is likely
that IP will eventually overcome these hurdles.
"The fact that it is now possible to transport voice on
IP (VoIP) makes it feasible to integrate voice with
data on a packet network," added Margaret
Hopkins. "The rapid growth in the use of the public
Internet and the proliferation of corporate intranets
and extranets strengthen the case for operators to
optimise their networks in this way."
The case for IP is supported by other compelling
factors. There are sizeable cost savings (up to 50
per cent) for both network operators and corporate
users which integrate their systems on one platform.
From this, further scope for new areas of added
value will arise.
The drive towards IP is also being pushed by IT
equipment vendors, determined to capture market
share from traditional telecoms equipment makers.
The falling costs of transmission bandwidth and
increasing computer power are also making fast
packet networks much cheaper to build and run.
"Datawave operators, such as Qwest and Carrier1,
see IP as an opportunity to undercut traditional
carriers from a lower cost base," added Margaret
Hopkins. "They do not have the legacy systems of
the traditional operators and can carry large volumes
of IP traffic using the latest DWDM (Dense
Wavelength Division Multiplexing) technology to
provide very cheap capacity. "
Few commentators doubt that IP will become the
application protocol of the future, but many,
including some of the companies profiled for this
report (Carrier1, Qwest, Cisco, Lucent, Nortel,
Marconi and Juniper), do not think it is inevitable
that IP will become the predominant network
protocol.
TOs, vendors and standards bodies have spent a
decade working on and promoting ATM
(Asynchronous Transfer Mode) as a multi-service
platform, and like the public switched telephone
network (PSTN), it is unlikely to disappear just
because IP has become the predominant application
protocol. Many operators have successfully
deployed IP on ATM to provide the quality of service
that current VoIP lacks.
"The likely evolution path for existing networks is to
create a packet network alongside the PSTN, which
supports voice as well as data, and to configure it to
behave like another transit switch," said Hopkins. "
Operators will then migrate voice gradually to the
new platform as and when they require the facilities
which that platform provides."
Written by Margaret Hopkins with Adrian Rawlings
and Karin Sherwood, the report is published by
Analysys Publications and is available either in
paper format or electronically via the Web
(www.analysys.com/publish) at a cost of US$2330
or US$2690 respectively.
NOTE: An executive summary of this report is
available on request from
Analysys Publications.
<<Business Wire, 04-09-99, 08:16 Eastern>>
CONTACT: Media: | Analysys Publications,
Cambridge | Laura Hobbs | Tel: +44 (0)1223 341300
| Email: laura.hobbs@analysys.com | or | Martin
Brooke Associates, Cambridge | Martin Brooke |
Tel: +44 (0)1223 264050 | Email:
martinbrooke@dial.pipex.com
[Copyright 1999, Business Wire] |
