November/December 2001

We Need Goals And Objectives

BY RALPH HAYON

Personal Note: My heartfelt prayers go out to the victims of the September 11th attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. Having been born in Manhattan and raised nearby, where I never knew a city without the Twins, I cannot begin to describe my feelings at the horror we all witnessed on that day. Let us stand proud and united on our principles and in the efforts we are now embarking upon. 

Legacy, or centralized-oriented communication networks, leave us vulnerable. If these networks become disabled, either by natural disasters or purposeful attacks, it renders us communication-less. Additionally, these types of networks take longer to restore when rendered inoperable. Until the September 11th attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., little serious thought was given to this. When Hurricane Floyd struck in 1999 and flooded a key telephone-switching center, disabling telephone service (fixed and cellular) in New Jersey and parts of New York for over a week, initial questions were raised but forgotten as time went on. 

It is clear now that this issue, as well as our overall communication objectives, must be addressed. The attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. have shown that our communication networks are vulnerable and that we need to promote and deploy technologies that encourage a different, more reliable telecommunications network. 

DECENTRALIZED COMMUNICATIONS, CENTRALIZED APPEARANCE 
In parallel, businesses are seeking out how their operations can become more decentralized. Rather then putting their entire company in a single location on one power and transportation grid, IT departments can segment their organization into dispersed groups. Some organizations, by the nature of their businesses, are already organized this way, such as retail stores and restaurant chains. But now organizations that could be located in a single location may choose not to. 

Telecommuting is another example. For a variety of reasons many organizations desire, require, and allow individuals or groups of individuals to work from home or small remote offices. Workers in these locations need to be in full communication with other offices and have complete communication capabilities. In each of these situations, a decentralized communications system that gives the functionality and appearance of a centralized system is required. 

RESILIENT COMMUNICATION NETWORKS 
Combining this need with that of recent events, the matter of the resiliency and decentralization of our communication networks is now an issue that must be raised to the highest levels. Ironically, though, these are not mandates driven or controlled by the people. While various local Public Service Utilities (PSUs) or federal entities, such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), play a role with the communications industry at many levels, not a single agency, either local or federal, plays any role in setting guidelines or time tables for the adoption of new technologies of our fixed or wireless communication networks. It was felt, and correctly so I believe, that competition should have driven U.S. communications companies to adopt the latest and most promising technologies. But it didnt. New competitors simply deployed the same old technologies of the incumbent carriers and squandered all of their money into Chapter 11. Now competition, sadly, is simply boiling down to a duopoly cable operators versus the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) over the local loop, that is. 

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
I feel our nation lacks clear goals and objectives with respect to our communications infrastructure. We have goals for our education system to achieve higher test scores, to send more kids to college, and to better educate our society. In the 1950s, we had very clear goals in the establishment of our national highway system. In the 1960s we put a man on the moon. 

But we lack clear and meaningful goals and objectives with respect to our national communication networks. These networks are critical to the security and economy of our country. In my estimation, the last meaningful national objective was Universal Service, which served this country well in providing landline communications throughout the United States. 

I believe our goals must be easy to understand and achieve. The list should be simple so that all can participate in the process of developing and evaluating the objectives. So let me get the ball rolling. As a nation, we should focus on the three following objectives over the next 10 years: 

1. 100 Mbps of broadband access to every home and business. This new local loop should have open access and be owned by the people;

2. Universal wireless (voice and data) for everyone; and

3. A 10-year communication technology plan for wireline and wireless networks that includes: 

• Softswitches;

• Decentralized telecommunication architectures;

• Security;

• Advanced numbering (ENUM or ENUM-like); 

• IP telephony (including IP telephones); and 

• Enhanced services.

These objectives should be addressed and incorporated into the highest levels of our country and government.

Ralph Hayon is president and CEO of congruency, Inc., a VoIP infrastructure platform and services provider to broadband data carriers for end-to-end IP telecommunications. He can be reached at [email protected]. 

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