October 2000

BY CRAIG SWINN

The digital divide, a fundamental issue facing the telecommunications industry, has rightfully been receiving a lot of press as of late. The Internet is changing the way businesses of all shapes and sizes operate, as well as how end-users communicate with friends and family. Across the nation, access to the Internet varies based on geography. In major metropolitan cities, users have their choice of DSL and cable modem providers. In rural areas, however, Internet access may consist solely of 56 Kbps or 28.8 Kbps dial-up connections.

This divide is due in part to technology. Traditional digital loop carrier (DLC) systems, the incumbent access platforms, were designed primarily for voice, not data. Furthermore, digital subscriber line access multiplexers (DSLAMs) are primarily central office-based and have limited network coverage. Remote access multiplexers (RAMs) can be used as a DLC adjunct to provide DSL services to customers served by a DLC, but using a separate network for DSL services is costly.

Delivering voice services to rural areas has never been a problem, but to profitably offer high-speed Internet access in combination with voice continues to be a challenge. The good news for service providers and their customers is that technology is now on the horizon that could dramatically change the dynamics of rural deployments. Change lies in the form of integrated access platforms (IAPs). IAPs hold the potential to lessen the digital divide, but successful change also requires a review of service area planning in order to be part of any conversation about next-generation access systems.

Charting The Rural Access Dilemma: DLCs And DSLAMs
The deployment of DLC systems was predicated primarily on an economic analysis of the relative costs to reinforce old feeder cables or install new ones versus the cost to install the DLC system. Several factors influenced the decision to deploy DLC systems, including the distance from the switch, the nature of the switch interface (universal or integrated, concentrated or non-concentrated), as well as the cost, size, reliability, and power consumption of the terminal equipment. Over time, these factors have been favorable to the deployment of DLC systems, causing the economic prove-in distance from the central office (CO) to decline. Consequently, the percentage of access lines served by DLC systems is increasing and is forecast to represent more than 50 percent of all access lines by 2002.

In cases where feeder resources are available, customers served by DLCs can be effectively served with high-speed Internet access by adding ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) cards to ADSL-capable DLCs, or more commonly by the installation of an adjunct RAM. This solution, when feasible, is costly.

DSLAMs are the other option for delivering high-speed data and voice services to suburban and rural America. Also, a large percentage of customers served directly from central offices with DSLAMs are unable to get satisfactory ADSL service. For customers served directly out of a CO, DSLAMs can effectively provide high-speed data services. Under real-world conditions, users can expect full-rate ADSL (6-8 Mbps) on loops up to about 6,000 feet, and at least one Mbps on loops up to approximately 10,000 feet. Unfortunately, this represents only 25 percent and 40 percent of all U.S. loops, respectively. An even smaller percentage of customers are able to get satisfactory ADSL service in rural areas, where the distances between customers and COs are greater.

DLCs are ideal for voice, and DSLAM/RAMs are ideal for data. Yet, the platform of choice would be a single access platform, integrating the best characteristics of DSLAMs and DLCs, in order to offer quality voice and data services in rural areas. The IAP is such a device.

IAP Advantages
IAPs are less expensive, more compact, consume less power, and are easier to manage than other solutions. Their single platform nature offers service providers unmistakable cost savings.

ATM- based IAPs offer a number of advantages. ATM can efficiently transport bursty data services while maintaining the quality of service required for voice services. ATM also enables IAPs to be flexibly deployed in a variety of network topologies, meeting the specific needs of each service provider. Preferably, the network deployed should be able to efficiently and fairly deliver bandwidth to where it is needed, when it is needed. Network growth is difficult to forecast and costly, and providing for the extreme cases is not an effective solution.

A tree and branch topology is a good fit to the layout of many access networks. A tree and branch topology is also well suited to accommodate unanticipated demand by the growth of a new branch off an existing node. Tree and branch, ring, and general mesh topologies are all possible with IAPs. This enables carriers to economically push voice and data services closer to customers than ever before.

Rethinking CSAs for Rural Areas
The old criteria for determining when to deploy active electronics into the access network does not consider the implications of high-speed data services, both in terms of the nature of the equipment installed, and in the application of the equipment. The requirements for high-speed data argue for a more wide scale use of loop electronics (the IAP), but also smaller serving areas.

Traditional engineering rules for carrier serving areas (CSAs) lead to customers with diminished ADSL performance on the periphery of the serving area. Reducing the serving area dimensions offers the potential of full-rate ADSL service or VDSL services for an increasing percentage of customers. A consequence of the reduction in serving area size is a reduction in the number of lines served in each serving area and an increase in the number of serving areas.

Access networks, unable to keep up with changing market needs, have created a rapidly growing digital divide across the Americas. Planned high-speed Internet and voice service distribution into rural markets, along with the deployment of IAPs, can prove profitable to both users and service providers. 

Craig Swinn is vice president of sales and marketing at Pliant Systems. Pliant Systems, Inc., designs, manufactures and markets integrated multi-service access platforms for the telecommunications industry. 

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BY SALLY BAMENT AND JOHN MORRELL

In January, a freak snowstorm struck the mid-Atlantic states leaving workers across the region stranded at home for days. As the trapped masses proceeded to plug in their home computers or laptops and dial in to the Internet, they quickly overwhelmed the local circuit-switched phone network by tying up the standard voice telephony circuits for hours at a time. The result: Dramatically slower download times for those accessing the Web and frequent fast busy signals for those making simple voice calls. Even worse, heavy Internet dial-up usage can prevent phone companies from delivering PUC-mandated dial-tone availability levels for 911 and emergency operator calls, which can result in fines levied on the phone companies.

The remedy: A new generation of packet-based switches have arrived on the market and promise to relieve network congestion by offloading the capacity-consuming dial-up modem traffic from yesterday's Class 5 switches. These next-generation broadband switches not only enable carriers to better leverage their existing Class 5 infrastructure immediately, but also represent a cost-effective platform for the delivery of advanced integrated voice and data services going forward.

Internet Growth Drives Changes in Carrier Infrastructure
As illustrated above, the growth of the Internet has significantly affected consumers and businesses alike, and even more so the carriers that support them. Expectations for the rise of e-commerce and a 24/7, worldwide connectivity continue to drive the demand for access, which subsequently drives spiraling growth in network traffic. The growth in demand for "dial-up" modem access to the Internet has placed tremendous stress on the Class 5 circuit switches that populate traditional public switched telephone networks (PSTNs). These switches were designed to efficiently handle many thousands of voice calls of a short duration, usually lasting three to five minutes, not the hour-at-a-time, data traffic volume required by Internet call sessions. Furthermore, changes in the regulatory environment have affected competitive and incumbent carriers by altering business models, entry strategies, and carrier network architectures.

Demands by customers, increasing competitive pressures, and the arrival of new technologies are providing carriers the opportunity to solve their immediate business challenges while also establishing themselves as leaders in the new telecommunications service provider market. Many carriers today are evaluating the use of next-generation, packet-based switches as an alternative to their existing Class 5 circuit-switched network for handling Internet traffic, recognizing that this same infrastructure will allow them to offer new services, such as voice over DSL, in the near future.

To be successful, competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) pursuing a regional strategy, with plans to secure business based on aggressive service pricing and superior service levels in order to target local ISPs as customers, must offer differentiated service alternatives to the currently available incumbent offerings.

In order to accomplish this, the CLEC must deploy a solution that not only minimizes their cost of entry into the region while interworking with the existing PSTN, but also results in a more economical and reliable solution for their customers. The solution deployed must also be scaled to meet anticipated growth in customer and traffic demand. Traditional switching options are costly and limited in both their extensibility and scalability. Finally, provisioning all services from a traditional circuit switch platform limits the CLEC's ability to offer differentiated services in the future.

An attractive option available today is to provision integrated services digital network (ISDN) primary rate interface (PRI) from a next-generation convergence switch. Carriers who wish to increase dial-up capacity without installing circuit switches can leverage the packet technology inherent in these next-generation solutions to forward traffic originating from dial-up circuits to a remote access server (RAS) over ISDN PRI. Under this scenario, a typical Internet dial-up connection would travel from the user through the incumbent carrier's network to a multi-service convergence switch within the CLEC's central office via an inter-machine trunk. The network routes the Internet call (based on the assigned phone number) to the convergence switch. The convergence switch then routes the call either to a remote access server (RAS) hosted by the CLEC or by an ISP. The call is then routed from the RAS directly to the Internet or to an ISP network.

Investment Protection With Intelligent Broadband Network Equipment
Until now, this traffic has been handled by a traditional Class 5 circuit switch and when that switch reached its capacity, carriers were forced to invest millions of dollars for yet another Class 5 switch. Next-generation packet switches offer a cost-effective alternative, not only because they start out at one-tenth the average cost of a Class 5 switch (on a per port basis), they are also extremely scalable. By connecting as many as 20 convergence switches through an ATM switch, carriers can deliver over 320,000 DS-0 digital channels -- a heretofore astounding density that dramatically reduces both footprint and cost.

Next-generation convergence switches not only provide a cost-effective alternative to using Class 5 switches for handling dial-up Internet modem traffic, but also offer a platform for carriers to deliver other integrated broadband services, such as voice over DSL (VoDSL). Convergence switches, and their companion signaling gateways or "softswitches," are able to distinguish between voice and data traffic -- splitting the TDM-based voice traffic off to the PSTN, and the data traffic off to an ATM switch for backhaul to an ISP or the Internet. Using an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switch for backhaul allows the ISP to offer the various guaranteed service levels via the quality of service (QoS) mechanisms inherent in ATM, as well as enabling additional data service offerings. Any excess capacity available on the ATM switch can be used by the ISP to also offer ATM, IP, and frame relay-based "private line" services to business customers, creating additional revenue streams from the same investment.

Such flexibility will be the hallmark of this new generation of intelligent broadband networking equipment. In order for carriers to remain competitive in today's market, they must build an infrastructure based on an evolutionary platform -- one that meets today's demand to carry legacy voice and data while also providing a clear path to address tomorrow's challenge of delivering a host of advanced, converged services. Next-generation multi-service convergence switches can meet today's need for an economical solution to address the "pain" of network congestion caused by the growth in dial-up modem traffic, while providing a migration path enabling tomorrow's delivery of integrated services.

Sally Bament is vice president of marketing at Convergent Networks. Convergent Networks is a leading provider of packet-based infrastructure solutions that allow carriers to advance the delivery of innovative, integrated voice and data services. 

John Morrell is vice president of marketing at Marconi Communications. Marconi develops and supplies advanced electronic and information technology (IT) solutions to a wide range of retailers, manufacturers, and other businesses and institutions internationally. 

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BY CHRISTOPHER BERLUTI

Competition is as tight as ever. Prices and margins for basic services are falling. Many now consider customer loyalty a thing of the past. Why are young upstart carriers so optimistic about their prospects for dethroning their entrenched predecessors? Distinctive enhanced services are proving to be the answer.

A variety of next-generation network service providers are growing their market share by offering one-stop enhanced communications service offerings to their subscribers. Internet telephony service providers (ITSPs), competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs), Internet service providers (ISPs), and cable providers know that in the current, highly competitive telecommunications industry, distinctive services are crucial to successfully challenging the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) and inter-exchange long-distance carriers (IXCs). Time-to-service, time-to-market, and time-to-revenue races will be won by those who effectively implement enhanced services.

Enhanced telecommunication services are the key ingredient that will allow service providers to generate revenue and profits and gain and retain subscribers. CLECs, ISPs, ITSPs, and cable providers will be able to succeed by offering distinctive and compelling next-generation services that customers will require of their network operators.

Given that enhanced telecom services, such as voice mail, e-mail, fax, paging, unified messaging, and voice navigation of the Internet, are proving successful at increasing revenue, margins and customer retention, the question of to how best deliver enhanced services arises. Two main models emerge:

1. The direct purchase and installation of the enhanced services hardware and software platform;
2. The reselling of the services offered by an applications service provider (ASP).

Many service providers decide to purchase enhanced services hardware and software platforms to provide these services to their subscribers. Service delivery and interoperability assurance with legacy systems can happen quickly and a typical return on investment for a service like unified messaging takes three to six months. With an enhanced services platform the service provider can control the quality of their service offering, including customer support. By purchasing an enhanced services platform that operates with other vendors' applications, newly offered services can be tailored quickly and easily in order to meet providers' needs.

Service providers can deliver new services to their subscribers quickly without hardware and software platform maintenance worries if they choose to resell these services from an ASP. Although this method provides fast time-to-market and fast time-to-revenue gains, there are a few major issues that arise with this approach. With the ASP model, the provider will have to give up as much as 50 percent of their subscriber revenue every month to the ASP, affecting total revenue. Secondly, the ASP determines what services the provider may offer the customer. Furthermore, several providers may utilize the services of one ASP with little to no customization, which negates any possible marketing or delivery advantage for the renter. The service provider must also assess the quality of the services provided by the ASP, for they are a reflection of the service provider's attention to high-quality offerings.

What To Look For
Whether choosing to purchase an enhanced service system directly or "rent" one through an ASP, service providers need to evaluate enhanced service platforms based on several key criteria.

• Providers need to ensure that the platform has the flexibility to work in traditional TDM T1/E1 PSTN networks as well as next-generation IP and ATM networks that have softswitches and media gateways. A major consideration in this area is whether the system uses open and standards based interfaces such as session initiation protocol (SIP).
• The system also must have a comprehensive feature set that allows for a wide range of service options and profit generators. Some examples are voice mail, e-mail, unified messaging, fax, paging, and automatic speech recognition (ASR) (through which users can talk to the system, have voice portal capability and text-to-speech (TTS) capability so e-mails can be read over the phone to the subscriber).
• The software and hardware platform should have carrier-class reliability and also should scale from 10,000 to over 5,000,000 subscribers. 

Christopher Berluti is vice president of business development at IPeria. IPeria is developing NextGen communications and messaging applications and a carrier-class IP service platform. 

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