What is so special about voice Spring VON Europe 2006 Stockholm, Mai 17th, 2006

1
What is so special about voice?Spring VON
Europe 2006Stockholm, Mai 17th, 2006

• Richard Stastny, ÖFEG

The opinions expressed here may or may not be
that of my company
2
What is so special about voice?

• ... that it cannot be implemented like any other
  end-to-end application on the Internet?
• Why are regulatory interventions, managed
  networks and centralized service control planes a
  la IMS necessary?
• The answer is of course money, but whose money?
  Is it the money of
• the manufacturers,
• the operators or
• the customers?

3
Overview

• Thesis The circuit-switched telephony network
• the vertical silos,
• fitting into all kinds of legacy frameworks
• Antithesis The Internet
• End-to-end, horizontal layering, no central
  intelligence
• Synthesis?
• NGN, IMS?
• trying to rebuild the IN-silos on IP
• keeping the central intelligence by adding
  service control
• problems contrary to the Internet Architecture
• getting to complex
• loosing the innovation potential
• P2P SIP?
• Back to Keep it Simple, no administrative
  overhead, end-user control
• or The Balkanization of the Internet?

4
Voice is the Killer Application

• Voice Telephony is around since more then 100
  years
• Universal service
• State monopoly
• Proven technology
• Reliable, security by obscurity
• optimized for the purpose
• Cheap?
• Value chain
• Vested interests everywhere

5
Some data from the GTM last week

• 3,5 Billion persons worldwide have a telephone
• 2,3 Billion mobile (increase last year 500 Mio,
  28)
• 1,2 Billion fixed (decreasing -6)
• 2008 it is expected to be 5 Billion
• Open question how many people have an IP-phone?
• International traffic
• 2005 210.000.000.000 Minutes
• increase 15 Billion Minutes (8) from 2004
• an estimated 30 already over IP
• Where is the competition?
• fixed to mobile - fact
• fixed to VoIP? - myth
• mobile to VoIP? the real battleground of the
  future (the competitor will be the customer)

6
Thesis The PSTN A One Trick Pony

• Technology is optimized for 64Kbs voice and
  related services
• Embedded in a technology-neutral legal and
  regulatory national and international framework
  (e.g. numbering, legal intercept, emergency
  calls, USF, etc.)
• Embedded in a well-balanced framework of
  technical and also commercial interconnection
  regimes (billing and accounting)
• Even de-regulation (e.g. carrier selection) is
  technology neutral
• -gt implicit, hidden assumptions (Scott Markus)
• Embedded into well-balanced existing business
  modelsi.e. a value chain
• Manufactures operators governments
  (customers)

7
The vertical silos

• Dumb terminals - access transport services
  all in one silo
• Other one trick ponies are in other silo
  frameworks

8
Regulatory Stovepipese.g. US Regulation
Currently services (and its underlying
technologies) are regulated in these vertical
Stove Pipes
Title I
Title II
Title III
Title III
Title VI
DATA
VOICE
VOICE
VIDEO
AUDIO / VIDEO
Broadcast Radio/TV
InfoServices
Wireline Telephony
Wireless Telephony
CableTelevision
9
? Telcos are vertically integrated
Regulatory boundaries
T E LCO
T E LCO
T E LCO
T E LCO
Services
Transport
TISPAN3GPP ATISNGN
TISPAN3GPP ATISNGN
Access
10
Internet horizontal layering
This also leads to cross border issues
Regulatory boundaries?
...
Services Applications
SIP
MAIL
IM
WEB
GlobalInternet
Transport
P2P
...
xDSLCableFTTH
PSTN ISDN
GSMUMTS
Access
W-LAN
Viral or Meshed Networks
11
Antithesis the Internet

• The Internet is (or is intended to be) a network
  without central intelligence gt The stupid
  network (David S. Isenberg)
• The Internet is based on the end-to-end principle
• Every user may reach any other user via the IP
  address
• All services may be offered anywhere and may be
  accessed from everywhere
• This is of course also valid for voice and other
  communication services
• It simply happened
• Not (much) regulation (yet)
• Caveat legal intercept, emergency services, USF,
  access charges, net neutrality,

12
How the Internet Killer Apps emerged

• As academic (and military) network not on the
  radar of
• the telcos no competition
• the regulators and the government (not important
  enough)
• Killer app 1 the WWW
• access from end-users via dial-up
• still no competition overlay network to the
  PSTN
• Killer app 2 e-mail no competition
• Killer app 3 speed broadband (xDSL, cable,
  fiber, wireless, )
• was provided also by telcos (xDSL) - this is nice
  -)
• but Cable? this is not so nice (new competition
  between the ponies
• and wireless of all kinds (WiFi at first no
  competition, but WiMAX, HDSPDA, ...)
• but the real challenge
• broadband allowed also VoIP (and video)
• this is not so nice

13
The Internet is very innovative

• Telcos have a problem with innovation
• the internet is very innovative
• both in HW and in SW
• Cheap HW both at the edge and in the core
• Fosters innovation at the edge
• Many new applications evolved by third parties
• Service creation out of (telco) control

14
So what to do?

• First quick and dirty reactions
• all kinds of simple blocking
• the Internet is designed to treat road blocks as
  failures and routed around it
• does not work
• Next try
• do not allow VoIP
• make it illegal

15
Web n Walk professional

• From T-Mobile UK
• Read the small print
• To ensure a high quality of service for all our
  customers, a fair use policy applies. T-Mobile
  defines fair use as total UK data use (both sent
  and received) of up to 2GB per month. T-Mobile
  may contact customers who exceed this volume of
  data in two (or more) consecutive months in any
  six month period to ask them to reduce their
  usage. If usage is not reduced, notice may be
  given, after which network protection controls
  may be applied which will result in a reduced
  speed of transmission.
• Use of Voice over Internet Protocol and Messaging
  over Internet Protocol is prohibited by T-Mobile.
  If use of either or both of these services is
  detected T-Mobile may terminate all contracts
  with the customer and disconnect any SIM cards
  and/or web n walk cards from the T-Mobile
  network.
• And what applications will be prohibited next?

16
The Tipping Point

• The existing value chain is forced by
  de-regulation to cut costs
• The green-field competitors have no legacy and
  use IP technology from the beginning
• The incumbents see of course the benefits of
  IP-technology
• But they do not want to give up service control
  and their business models
• The answer is the NGN i.e. IMS

17
Synthesis Next Generation Networks?
A very simplified picture of the NGN lookes like
this
Applications
Next Generation Service Control
Next Generation Access
Customer PremesisEquipment
Next Generation Core
18
NGN Definition from ITU

• service-related functions are independent from
  underlying transport-related technologies.
• unfettered access for users to competing
  service providers and/or services of their
  choice.
• ? Real NGNs seem to develop differently

19
Internet Horizontal Layering
...
Services Applications
SIP
MAIL
IM
WEB
Next Generation Service Control
GlobalInternet
Transport
...
xDSLCableFTTH
PSTN ISDN
GSMUMTS
Access
W-LAN
Customer Premises Equipment
20
ITU-T NGN System Architecture
21
The IETF SIP Trapezoid
DNS Server
Location Server
These are optional
DNS
SIP
Inbound Proxy Server
Outbound Proxy Server
SIP
SIP
SIP
Media (RTP)
User Agent A
User Agent B
Henry Sinnreich and Alan Johnston
22
Overall ETSI TISPAN IMS Architecture all
(optional) subsystems
Rf
/Ro
Ut
Rf
/Ro
Charging
Application Servers
Ut
Functions
Sh
Rf
/Ro
ISC
Dh
UPSF
Iw
SLF
IWF
Cx
Dx
Ib
P3
IMS / PSTN Simulation
PSTN Emulation (R2)
Mw
Mw/Mk/Mm
IBCF
Ic
I/S
-
CSCF
Mk
Mi
AGCF
These are optional
P2
BGCF
Mk
Mw
Mr
Mj
Gq
'
Mg
e2
P
-
CSCF
SGF
MGCF
MRFC
Ie
Other IP Networks
P1
Gq
'
Gq
'
Network
Gm
SPDF
PSTN/ISDN
SPDF
Attachment
Resource Admission Control
Resource Admission Control
Mp
Mn
Subsystem
A-RACF
e4
MG
Re
Ia
MRFP
T
-
MGF
I
-
BGF
UE
BGF
RCEF
IP Transport (Access and Core)
CNG
-
23
3GPP IMS Architecture Overview (optional)
These are optional
The 3G IP Multimedia System (IMS)Gonzalo
Camarillo and Miguel A. Garcia-Martin
24
Not to forget the charging
These are optional
25
The Future of Interconnection as seen by GSMA
(optional)
This is NOT the Internet
These are optional
Note this
So much about IMS is NOT a Walled Garden
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Who has the benefit?

• of all these boxes in the value chain?
• the manufacturers? yes
• because the can sell it to the service providers
• the service providers?
• only if they can sell it to the customer
• otherwise it will be stranded cost
• Because the customer (end-user) will have to pay
  for it finally
• Will he?
• Not if he has a choice

27
What does the customers want?

• (End-)users want connectivity via any device,
  anywhere, at anytime
• global mobility
• personal communication
• global reachability
• They also want
• ease of use
• fair prices
• control over additional services

28
Synthesis SIP P2P plans to get rid of all the
optional boxes
Henry Sinnreich

• DNS, ENUM?
• SIP registrar and proxy servers,
• Presence servers
• Application servers
• Announcements, voice mail, media servers,
  conference servers
• Session border controllers
• Softswitches Local switch emulation, PBX
• Media servers
• Network elements for QoS
• Policy servers
• Network management
• Voice quality monitoring probes
• Network engineering
• System integration
• VoIP network IT (OSS) systems for all the above

The sum of all IMS
.. and it wants to get rid of Skype
29
Are there choices for the customer?

• Yes
• The use of the public Internet
• SIP as defined by the IETF in RFC3261
• SIP Peer-to-Peer
• With the new multi-mode general purpose user
  devices the customer has the choice to select if
  he uses the public Internet or the walled
  gardens.
• You may compete with everybody, but not with your
  customer

30
What is your conclusion?

• Which approach will succeed, if the end-user has
  the choice what to use?
• The cheaper one?
• The one which is available (everywhere)?
• The one providing more features?
• The one easier to use?
• The one which will provide eventually more QoS
  for additional cost?

31
Collected Quotes this week

• IMS is the evolution of the old system to IP
  (Hakan Eriksson)
• IMS is needed for Push-to-Talk (Hakan)
• There will not be much multi-mode terminals
  (Hakan)
• SBCs lack throughput (Sir Terry Matthews)
• Put the intelligence back into the network (Sir
  Terry Matthews)
• Peering with other networks there is no demand
  from users yet (Niklas Zennstrom)
• VoIP Peering a new paradigm (Steve Heap)
• There is a nuclear arms race in access (James
  Enck)
• The customers choice has to be between pipes, not
  silos (Michael Haberler)
• If the telcos are finishing the walls around
  their gardens, the customers will already be save
  outside (John Horrocks)

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What I did not talk about

• The IMS myths
• improved QoS
• improved security
• improved reliability
• enabling new and innovative services
• And the only asset IMS really has
• The SIM-card i.e. User Identity
• ENUM
• I did also not talk about the need for a new
  business model for service providers and how it
  should look like

33
I also did not talk about

• Access Re-verticalisation, first mile
  right-of-way
• Net neutrality
• Internet governance
• ICANN, ITU, WSIS,
• The US DoC in charge of the Internet
• BTW, this reminds me
• 'It has been said that democracy is the worst
  form of government except all the others that
  have been tried' (Churchill)
• Maybe my next talk will be about the danger of
• The Balkanization of the Internet

34
Public Policy NeedsAdded to the IMS Debate
manufacturers

• What is good for operatorsmay not be good for
  nations

Jay Batson
35

• Thank you

Richard Stastny ÖFEG 43 664 420
4100 richard.stastny_at_oefeg.at http//voipandenum.b
logspot.com