NGN: Improving Softswitch technology to create a new business space

At present, there is no mature scheme for reference in the establishment of the NGN business profit model in the world. This is mainly because: on the one hand, the growth of new business needs of users has the characteristics of gradual change and imbalance. For the deployment of new networks, it is difficult to stimulate a "burst" of business demand growth in a short period of time. At the same time, in terms of operators, a new set of O & M personnel should be trained and added in the initial stage to maintain a new set of network equipment, therefore, network O & M costs will inevitably increase.

However, from the perspective of long-term development, with the continuous improvement, maturity, and cost reduction of the core technology of NGN-Softswitch, the advantages of NGN in network convergence, business convergence, flexible billing, and quick business generation will gradually be reflected, and the service development capability and network profit ability of operators will be significantly improved.

First, carriers can use new services to increase revenue. With the advantages of NGN, operators can develop new services for users to increase business revenue, especially value-added services and multimedia services provided by key users such as enterprise users, office buildings, and high-end communities.

Second, carriers can further segment users and provide voice, data, multimedia services, and mobile integrated solutions to enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of enterprises. With the development of social economy, the customer is no longer able to meet the needs of a single voice communication method, requiring operators to provide a package of communication solutions. In particular, high-end customers such as hotels, office buildings, banking and securities, Party and government organs, and enterprises have a stronger demand in this regard. They have two notable features: first, the traffic volume is very high, second, diversified business needs.

At present, the main difficulty for Business Development on enterprise networks is that each business is relatively independent and scattered, and there is no effective integration for a number of businesses provided by the group's customers without a complete set of solutions. As Softswitch fully supports network convergence and business convergence, carriers can provide business packages to major customers, tailored to the specific circumstances of different industries and customers of different groups, let the customer participate in the customization and implementation of the business, improve the degree of participation of the customer's business, and truly provide users with the appropriate available business, thus increasing business revenue. To prevent business distribution, you can also provide business packages and bundled sales to increase business revenue.

Again, carriers can use the advantages of NGN network technology to differentiate their businesses and win the initiative in the competition for high-end customers. Softswitch itself features fast service generation. Therefore, the NGN network with Softswitch as the core technology can use API interfaces, in the short term, we can quickly provide a wide range of new businesses to meet the personalized needs of high-end customers. In addition, by taking advantage of the technical advantages of the NGN network, we can also provide customers with more network solutions to better protect users' investment.

In addition, Softswitch separates services from bearer services and supports third-party business development. This will undoubtedly encourage operators to strengthen cooperation with other enterprises and build industry value chains. Especially in the information society, enterprises are increasingly closely linked. Operators must use social forces to develop new value-added services, develop cooperation alliances, and jointly expand the market to achieve "Win-Win competition.

As we can see, as the core technology of NGN, Softswitch is an inevitable trend of network development. The softswitch architecture is conducive to network structure optimization and resource integration, avoiding repeated construction and reducing construction investment and operation and maintenance costs. Its Open Architecture facilitates intercommunication between different equipment manufacturers and facilitates quick business generation. These are incomparable to traditional telecom networks. It is precisely because of the characteristics of softswitch that NGN can establish a profit model different from that of traditional networks.

At present, major carriers in China have all carried out tests on next-generation networks such as SoftSwitch. As a leading fixed-line telephone service operator in Beijing, Beijing Telecom has also actively explored the evolution to the next generation network.

Beijing Telecom has a major market share in Beijing. Based on the company's service strategy and technology innovation strategy, Beijing Telecom will make full use of existing fixed network infrastructure resources, introduce new NGN technology in a timely manner, and provide more value-added services to users, continuously improve the overall competitiveness of Beijing Communications in Beijing.

Beijing Telecom believes that the development of the telephone network to the segmentation will go through a long evolution process. The basic strategy of Beijing Telecom is: this product combines NGN with traditional telephone exchange technology, intelligent network technology, Internet technology, and broadband access technology to take advantage of the resource advantages of traditional operators, provide users with rich and high-quality new services. Considering that the NGN technology is not yet mature and is still evolving, the basic guiding ideology of Beijing Communication is: comprehensive follow-up research, active participation in standard formulation, and timely commercial experiments.

At present, Beijing Telecom has started preparations for the NGN Commercial experiment and provided the demonstration to the public in the new business demonstration Hall. The Technical Department has carried out some Softswitch technology tests and business tests. Currently, the demonstration Hall displays technologies for next-generation multimedia services, such as online 800, online conferences, and video conferences. It can connect to the public PSTN/PLMN through gateways, it can interwork with common PSTN/ISDN users and mobile users. The focus of Beijing Telecom's NGN business development is: to develop value-added and multimedia services for group customers; to traditional markets, use the value-added services of NGN to retain high-end customers and expand potential customer groups, adapt to fierce market competition and provide integrated and personalized services for major customers. For emerging markets, use the rapid deployment and soft coverage of NGN to expand business and quickly occupy the market. The important services of NGN are as follows. First, the current PSTN business is relatively difficult to implement or the implementation technology is more complex, or the implementation cost is high, combined with the services that are more easily implemented by NGN, such as wide area Centrex. Second, services that can promote the improvement and development of existing PSTN businesses, such as personal portals and No. 1 connections. In addition, the importance of new multimedia services has become increasingly apparent.

The proposal of the concept of NGN reflects the needs of end users and represents the development direction of the telecom network. Beijing Telecom is optimistic about the Commercial Prospect of NGN. In specific implementation, Beijing Telecom will be market-oriented and carry out the commercial experiment of NGN on the basis of fully understanding the user's needs, without taking the technical route alone. Beijing Telecom does not regard the NGN technology as an isolated new technology, but considers it as a whole in the context of the evolution of traditional telephone networks and the Internet.

Beijing Telecom said it will actively carry out the NGN test. In the initial stage, it will conduct small-scale commercial trials for some new residential areas or major customers to explore their commercial models. After the commercial model is mature, then we will consider a larger scale of construction.

In terms of the coordinated development of traditional voice networks and NGN, Beijing Communications considers that new business nodes, such as commercial buildings and parks, can be used for building cabling and resident networks, the integrated access device (IAD) is used to directly connect users to the NGN network, allowing users to enjoy a variety of multimedia integrated services. For local switches, it is difficult to implement value-added services, the relay gateway can be used to connect vswitches to different networks and implement new services and applications through application servers.

Profit models are crucial to operators and even the entire industry chain. While clarifying its position in the value chain, operators, manufacturers and the entire industry should carefully analyze the business profit model. In the final analysis, the fundamental point is to meet the increasing communication needs and promote the informatization of economy, society and life, which is the most fundamental driving force for the development of the next generation network.

1. Next Generation Network (NGN): Research Progress of Softswitch Technology
2. Next Generation Network (NGN): Research Progress of Softswitch Technology
3. Five protocols involved in implementing Softswitch