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Technology Stocks : Newbridge Networks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Logain Ablar who wrote (12165)	7/10/1999 5:30:00 PM
From: pat mudge	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18016

Tim -- This article should be nailed to the networking equivalent of the Wittenberg door. >>>> Broadband Week for July 12, 1999 Sprint Takes ATM Approach To Voice Services By FRED DAWSON July 12, 1999 A new approach to delivering packetized voice services is rapidly growing within the DSL community, adding new momentum to the development of network components that are tightly integrated into the ATM framework. Several competitive local-exchange carriers specializing in digital-subscriber-line transport systems are working with suppliers of interface systems that will support multiple-line voice services together with high-speed data using asynchronous transfer mode at the operations layer 3 normally occupied by IP (Internet protocol) in packet-voice communications. Meanwhile, Sprint Corp. has opted to use the ATM format rather than IP in the voice component of its ION (Integrated On-Demand Network) service when the carrier moves to mass rollouts starting in the first quarter of 2000. Where does this put CSCO? Do they have an ATM solution to meet Sprint's requirements? And why are they now saying rollout in first quarter 2000? I thought they (Sprint) had been saying second half '99. "Once IP picks up congestion control, dynamic bandwidth allocation and the other attributes we need, there will be a paradigm shift where we can truly benefit from the bandwidth efficiencies offered by IP," Sprint senior vice president and chief technical officer Marty Kaplan said. What's the time frame for this? And isn't the ability to migrate from one to the other TereBridge's strength? Sprint will rely on the "Adaption Layer 2" segment of the ATM protocol stack to handle these tasks, directly packetizing voice into ATM cells and bypassing the IP-formatting process altogether. Again, I wonder where this puts Cisco. "The big item for us is being able to scale and offer a predictable quality of service, and ATM does that," Kaplan said. Here, Terry Matthews was the pioneer and deserves credit for leading the way. Widespread uncertainty over the scalability and reliability of the IP-voice framework has significantly altered expectations about packet-based telecommunications, in some cases delaying rollouts while players wait for new standards to replace key components of the H.323 protocols that were designed to support the transition from circuit- to packet-switched voice. "We may see some entities moving to launch services over the second-generation H.323 platform during the next year," said Joel Hughes, director of network products for Natural MicroSystems Corp., which supplies processor boards used in packet-voice gateways. "But we probably won't see real volume in deployments of non-H.323 systems based on things like MGCP [Multimedia Gateway Control Protocol] or SIP [Session Initiation Protocol] until mid-2000," Hughes added. The inability of H.323-based vendors to convince carriers that they can proceed with a solid, standards-based approach to integrating voice and data services at mass-market scales has triggered a search for other options among those who are anxious to exploit the surging demand for multiple lines and high-speed data. I don't understand the H.323 issue at all. Can you or anyone else give a short explanation? This is especially true for carriers that are providing DSL services to the business market. The obvious choice, these carriers said, is to tie their packet-based voice streams into the public switched network using the QOS dimensions of ATM in conjunction with the call-control and feature-provisioning power of the central-office switch, as conveyed through the telephone industry's GR 303 interface. . . . As you know John Cioffi is the genius behind ADSL/DMT and at a recent JV meeting he expressed support for VoDSL with a preference for ATM --- listing all the reasons stated here. Other manufacturers are making adjustments, as well, in many cases working with the same three leading start-ups in the voice-over-DSL (VoDSL) interface domain that many CLECs have been working with. . . . Lucent Technologies, for example, has decided that it's better off tapping into these suppliers' expertise than trying to compete with them through an internally developed product, Lucent manager for DSL-product management Chris Poer said. The company has been testing the VoDSL techniques supported by CopperCom, Jetstream Communications and TollBridge Technologies, Poer said. "We've done a lot of work, and we are quite impressed with the progress of these companies," he added. The surge in demand for VoDSL solutions is driving development of customer-premises equipment among a wide range of manufacturers to accommodate the new platform. Most suppliers predicted that the gear will be available to support market rollouts by the beginning of next year. Cioffi's on the board of CopperCom. "It's going to take time to get the flow-through of the provisioning aspects of the GR 303 interface integrated into the CPE," Poer said. DSL-based CLEC Covad Communications Group Inc. - which has conducted tests with CopperCom and Jetstream for delivering VoDSL in an end-to-end ATM environment - is developing an integrated-access device with DSL and Ethernet ports that will support connection to four to 16 voice jacks. Added Tom Hecht, senior product manager for voice services at Covad, "You'll see us using multiple vendors over time." The DSL connection, whether SDSL (symmetric) or ADSL (asymmetric), typically has enough bandwidth to support high-speed-data access along with the voice lines. This means that for a little more than the average per-line lease cost of $30 per month and the DSL-transport cost of $10, DSL CLECs can offer multiple lines of service that could generate hundreds of dollars in revenue per month, noted John Reister, director of product marketing at Copper Mountain Networks Inc. . . [Segment re: CopperMountain. . .] A big question haunting the surge of support behind the VoDSL architecture is how carriers will be able to migrate into the voice-over-IP domain once the scalability and quality issues are resolved to permit mass rollouts of what Kaplan called "anything over IP." Sprint, like most entities, remains committed to the long-term IP vision, so accomplishing some kind of migration strategy is important. "That's something we're really focusing on right now," Poer said, even as Lucent prepares to support the demand for VoDSL in the near term. "We'll have some announcements about this in connection with our 7RE switch," he added. The key is migration. It's a great article and I'll be watching for Loren Wirbel or someone else to explain it in grammar school English to the Street. In the interim, this week's broadband show here in San Diego should give me some opportunities to see what the different companies are saying. I'll take along shovel and hip boots, to be sure. :) Pat