Finding Services and Business Models for the Next-Generation Networks

Technologies and services built around NGN

The best way to show success is to lead by example. During the last years, many technologies have been created around the idea of IMS. Some of these technologies are based on the core, and others are based on the endpoints. This diversity enables service providers to come up with new and enticing services to offer their customers. The following are a few examples of very interesting technologies.
RCS: Rich communicate suite is an evolution of the typical basic services offered by service providers towards a complete and coherent service offering. Services such as instant messaging, presence and availability, video share, file share and others are defined at the handsets and the core network. The suite is built around many already standardised services and protocols, which allows faster definition and implementation. The success will come with the default inclusion of the client in every new handset sold.
LTE: Long term evolution is the next radio access for mobile devices. The UMTS (3G) provided speeds up to 2Mbps, then HSDPA provided up to 10 Mbps. LTE is a complete evolution in the way radio access works, providing speeds up to 300Mbps. LTE will enable mobile service providers to deliver richer multimedia services, with uncap video and audio. HD voice: High definition voice provides double quality from its predecessor. During the last decades, the voice channel has not been updated to provide better definition. Therefore, the HD voice is not suited for the old analogue world, as it was designed for a narrow band voice. Once the IP shift has been deployed, HD voice will be a common service.
WAC: Wholesale Applications Community is a joint venture from many leading service providers to provide a unique set of APIs and storefronts to enable sales of handset agnostic applications. This initiative was started by JIL (Join Innovation Lab), which merged with WAC to provide a unique development platform. The idea behind it is to expose core network and device information to developers so that a developer ecosystem is created. That ecosystem will be equal to anyone deploying a WAC store.

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