issues of convergence
...lp in increasing teledensity in the country. UBIQUITY In an IP based infrastructure the physical proximity of users and systems (server farms) is immaterial enabling ubiquitous communication. Telecommunication Services previously restricted to the big cities can now become available to far flung and difficult to reach locations. Converged network architecture has rendered remote offices, virtual call centers and other wide area networking solutions more viable. Hence the goal of ¡§communication everywhere¡¨ can be reached taking advantage of digital communication, wireless technology and convergence. GROWTH OF TELECOM SECTOR The increased use of IP-related Call-Control protocols (e.g. SIP , H.323 , H.242 , and MGCP ) enables the development and deployment of innovative applications at a dramatic pace. This inherent open¡Vstandards architecture of IP based networks fosters partnerships among equipment vendors and software suppliers. Hence helping the over all growth of Telecom sector. CONSUMER RIGHTS The open architecture offered by converged networks gives greater choice of features and functionality to the customers as compared to the traditional monolithic system. the customers can set their own pace of improvement independent of the best interest of the particular vendor. It is easy to deploy applications across a network when and where they are needed to respond to changing customer demands and business conditions. It can also reduce access bottlenecks by allowing services to be delivered on a number of different platforms hence facilitating the customer. Convergence, with the help of IP-based applications, provides end user with simple integrated interface systems that eliminate the need for multiple devices for different communication services. The personalized interaction enabled by robust and sophisticated applications designed to capitalize on network convergence provide greater power to service provider and higher satisfaction to customers. INCREASED COMPETITION One of the main functions of the regulator is to promote healthy competition in the market to improve quality of service and protect consumer rights. Convergence may result in an increased competition in the telecom sector both across delivery networks and between services. RETURN ON INVESTMENT The Authority is very much concerned about the sustainability of players in the telecom sector since their survival is crucial to the survival of the sector. Convergence improves Return on Investment (ROI) of a company¡¦s networking investment and reduces the total cost of network ownership by taking advantage of factors like: ƒÞ Open standard architecture ƒÞ fewer device to manage and maintain ƒÞ Streamlined process of moves, additions and changes ƒÞ Greater productivity ƒÞ Customer loyalty ISSUES OF CONVERGENCE There are certain challenges , technological and other, that convergence may pose for regulation and PTA would have to overcome these challenges before convergence can become the norm in the telecom sector of Pakistan. QUALITYOF SERVICE ISSUES Most data networks are not designed to support quality of service comparable to traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). But without a high QoS service, the transmission of video, voice and data is simply not viable. Inside an IP packet the three different types of intelligence are virtually indistinguishable making Quality of service issues relatively complex. Ensuring quality of service in the packetized infrastructure of converged networks would require monitoring of data packets to reduce loss, latency and jitters . This may requires a different approach than the monitoring of individual data, voice and video transmission networks. NETWORK RELIABILITY AND AVIALABILITY Converged networks would have to offer high standards of reliability and availability to compete with the traditional PSTN networks. Ensuring redundancy with fault tolerance with ¡§five nines¡¨ availability across the entire networks may pose a big challenge. The Authority may have to formulate suitable standards to ensure reliability and availability of converged networks. WIRELESS FREQUENCY SPECTRUM Value of spectrum resources is also increased as a result of an increased number of converged and new services that can be provided over the airwaves. Voice and video applications demand considerably more bandwidth than the data applications. While some efficiency schemes have proven useful in lowering the required bandwidth, most have been unable to effectively balance the transmission speed with voice and video quality. This may result in an increased demand for wireless frequency. The Authority will have to develop an efficient system of management for frequency spectrum and appropriate regulations to ensure a fair competition among different sectors of communication. SECURITY In the traditional IP networks, Packets are transmitted over shared segments. IP packets can be decoded and secure information can be accessed. Hence if converged networks are implemented security standards would have to be developed for voice and other secure traffic traveling as data packets. LEVEL PLAYING FIELD In the converged telecommunication environment maintaining a level playing filed between players may pose a challenge because convergence is associated with vertical integration of global enterprise and if such firms control the gateways , they may attempt to deny access to the nonaffiliated service providers. PROTOCOLS & STNADRADS The current regulatory regime is designed to deal with the legacy telecommunication networks. This framework may prove to be inappropriate for dealing with the Converged networks and new rules and regulations would have to be designed taking into account the protocols and standards of converged networks. INTEROPERABILTY The Authority would also have to ensure interoperability between the current telecommunication infrastructure and the new converged telecommunication networks. This may require devising new standards to deal with the new breed of inter-operator agreements. REGULATORY CONFLICTS Converged networks are considerably different from the legacy telecommunication networks; the Authority will be faced with issues like what to regulate e.g. computers, VOIP etc; how to regulate and where to apply the regulation. The rapid development of internet and e-commerce has significantly changed the type of service available. Most of the newly emerging services do not fit in the current regulatory framework. The Authority will have to deal with several complex issues like the treatment of Audio visual content offered through internet especially when its origin is not national. Uncertainty and restrictive policies may inhibit the development of these services and related benefits to the consumer and the economy. Digital technology and the diffusion of new transmission technologies have increased the number of platforms capable of providing the same kind of services. This has made it impossible to draw a boundary line between broadcasting, telecommunication and data services. The emergence of electronic communication markets where the distinction between traditional telecommunication, data and broadcasting services is becoming increasing blurred calls into question the logic of maintaining separate regulatory frameworks for individual services. Design of a new integrated regulatory framework which is coherent across different sectors of electronic communication would require an extensive review of the exiting policies. In the present regulatory regime broadcast and telecom are treated separately. However in the converged network infrastructure broadcast and telecom data is essentially indistinguishable...