InternationalTelecommunicationUnion
PREPARATORY CONFERENCE ON PREPARATORY CONFERENCE ON NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONNATIONAL COMMUNICATION
Brasilia, Brazil – 17 – 19 September 2007Brasilia, Brazil – 17 – 19 September 2007
Communication Policies in the Communication Policies in the technological Convergence Environment.technological Convergence Environment.
The impact of new technologies The impact of new technologies onon an an international perspectiveinternational perspective
18 September 200718 September 2007
ITU Americas Regional OfficeITU Americas Regional OfficeBureau for Telecommunication DevelopmentBureau for Telecommunication Development
September 2007
The Impact of New Communications Technologies
Technology-driven industries like the communications sector have historically been characterized by steady growth punctuated by “giant leaps” forward, usually when “new” technology is introduced
“Technology is not kind. It does not wait. It does not say please. It slams into existing systems. Often destroying them, while creating new ones” Joseph Alois Schumpeter (1937)
September 2007
Birth of Broadband Growth in wireless networks and mobile
data services Mobile overtakes fixed Convergence of IP-based networks with
telephone & mobile networks End game: towards ubiquitous,
pervasive, grid, mesh, wireless networksanywhere, anytime, anything
Networks in Transition: Big picture trends
September 2007
Factors that underlie the changing environment
Technological change: is a very significant driving force. All networks in the telecommunications, computing and broadcasting sector are shifting on to an all-digital,all IP Platform.
Market change: in particular the liberalization of infrastructure competition encouraging the rapid deployment of new and upgraded networks.
Availability of digital content:in terms of demand for it and its supply. Involvement by users in the supply of their own content – on websites such as YouTube, Wikipedia or MySpace and a huge increase in the consumption of such content, over broadband networks.
September 2007
Fixed-line, mobile and voice-over-IP for Telephone calls.
Fibre optics, DSL, cable modems or Wi-fi for Broadband Internet Access.
Cable satellite, over-the-air or IPTV for Broadcast Environment.
Today we have a choice between two or more different networks platforms:
September 2007
Drivers Affecting Network Change
Network Convergence;Distributed Intelligence;
New Competitive Landscape
End User
Service Provider
Vendors
The communications network is undergoing extensive changes to meet new market and service demands
• Policies
• Regulation
• Strategies to stimulate competition
Government
• Network simplification
• Lower start-up and operating costs
• Competition
• Fast service introduction and customization
• New service revenue • New products
• New markets
• New revenues
• Lower service charges
• Multimedia services
• Increasing data traffic
• Mobility
September 2007
Network Evolution
Lower cost and innovative services drives network convergence
Corporate
Video
PSTN
Services
Wireless
Voice
WWW
IP Core Broadcast
Academic
Corporate
WWW
IP
Broadband
1G-2G
GSM
CDMA
IP
CATV
MPEG
IP
September 2007
Implications of Convergence
New and innovative applications and services New revenues available to application and
service providers Same services are being offered using different
means of access Service providers can compete with other service
providers without competing against other forms of providers (network or access providers)
A converged network with IP core and access simplifies network operations Costs of operating a converged network are lower
New policy and regulatory frameworks Need coherent regulation of communications
infrastructure to deal with the fact that content can be delivered over all networks, network-dependent rules are being overtaken by technology, and markets are merging
Promote competition, protect consumers, and encourage efficient investment
Corporate
Video
PSTN
Services
Wireless
Voice
WWW
IP Core Broadcast
September 2007
Next Generation Network (NGN) The ITU-T has defined a framework for network
evolution, called the Next Generation Network (NGN)
Key Characteristics (Recommendation Y.2001) Packet-based network Independence of service-related functions from
underlying transport technologies Interworking with legacy networks via open
interfaces Generalized mobility Unrestricted access by users to different
services and/or service providers[http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/ngn/]
NGN is not only a network evolutionary transformation, but also a
radical overhaul of the telecommunications environment
September 2007
Convergence of IP-based networks with telephone & mobile networks (NGNs)
Faced with separate infrastructures for voice and data businesses, convergence and growing competition, almost all telecommunication operators and equipment manufacturers are making substantial investments in what can be referred to as IP-Enabled Next Generation Networks (NGNs).
IP‑enabled NGNs can be seen as a logical progression from separate PSTN, mobile and IP-network infrastructures to unified networks for electronic communications based on IP an extensive area of standardization within ITU
In the coming years, IP‑enabled NGNs will be deployed by numerous service providers around the globe
September 2007
IPTV emerging as part of NGN vision
IPTV is a Content Delivery Service IP Broadcasting Service: Scheduled Programs
delivered by IP-multicast streaming Video-on-Demand Service: On-demand videos
delivered by unicast streaming
Near Video On Demand Service: Programs delivered by IP-multicast in a carrousel manner.
Download Service: Content streamed or downloaded to a storage device on the terminal for later consumption.
Source: The IPTV concept model discussed in Japan, contribution from Japan IPTV companies to ITU standardization efforts on IPTV at http://www.itu.int/ITU-T/IPTV/docs/iptv006e.doc
September 2007
What is Content?
Popular use: material prepared/ packaged by professionals to be disseminated to large numbers of consumers, such as movies, videos/DVDs, books, newspapers, among others
September 2007
“Content Characteristics”
Until now, typically distributed by mass distribution or broadcast systems;Often packaged around geographical
boundaries (e.g., DVD zones)Typically bound by national/regional
licensing regimesOften timed release in different
geographical markets Culturally embedded (more on this later)
September 2007
Content Regulatory Issues
Convergence is setting two very different regulatory cultures on a rapid collision course: the highly-interventionist regulatory culture of broadcasting and less interventionist (at least with regard to content) culture of telecommunications
Particularly sensitive topic as the regulation of audiovisual content industries is culturally embedded and tied to national regulatory regimes consistent with cultural and religious values
September 2007
But will Content be King? Running the Numbers
Content: Hollywood box office revenues (2003): ~ 11 billion (Global
25-30 billion) Global music industry revenues ~ 35 billion Videogaming and all software ~ 40 billion
Telecoms: US only telecom revenues (2003): 348.0 billion! Global text messaging revenues for 2005: ~ 75 billion
September 2007
So will content be a major economic driver for carriers?
Probably not… We tend to glamorize “content” and underestimate value of core business of point-to-point communicationsThe “killer application” of communications is
person to person (voice, email, messaging, chat)People are more willing to pay for point-to-point
communications than “content”Not as glamorous as Hollywood but it pays the
bills!
September 2007
International
Telecommunication
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