ITU
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Pictured at the
Forum on Next-Generation Network Standardization are
(left to right) Malcolm Johnson, Director of ITU’s
Telecommunication Standardization Bureau; Priyantha
Kariyapperuma, Director General of Sri Lanka’s
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, and Marcel Belingue,
Senior Manager of Programmes at the Commonwealth
Telecommunications Organisation |
Sri Lanka hosts ITU forum on next-generation networks in
Asia
Over 150 delegates from
25 countries met in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 7–10 April to discuss
standardization and regulatory issues related to next-generation
networks (NGN). These form a new architecture, based on the
Internet protocol (IP), which unifies today’s fixed and mobile
networks, as well as broadcasting. NGN can seamlessly deliver a
greater range of services and applications at lower cost.
The event was jointly organized by ITU
and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), and
was hosted by Sri Lanka’s Telecommunications Regulatory
Commission (TRC). Malcolm Johnson, Director of ITU’s
Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), described the
forum as “an historic event”. Priyantha Kariyapperuma,
Director-General of TRC, said Sri Lanka is “committed to such
collaborative arrangements with ITU and CTO, as we see the ICT
sector as a driving force of our economy.”
Mr Johnson went on to comment on the
high quality of services in Sri Lanka, especially mobile
broadband. “Mobile technologies offer the most promising means
of access to ICT for people in developing countries,” he said,
and “mobility has been a key focus of the global studies on NGN
in ITU.” Mr Johnson also emphasized the need for technical
standards on NGN in order to smooth the path to deployment — and
that it is essential to involve all stakeholders, from the
entire ITU membership, in the process of developing such
standards. He said the meeting in Sri Lanka was an important
opportunity “for us to meet with you the stakeholders,
understand better your needs, and encourage your involvement in
our work.”
Various operators in the region have
started the migration of their networks to NGN; however there is
a pressing need to agree a set of global standards on a range of
issues, including interconnection and interoperability between
networks, quality of service, mobility, and the implementation
of Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6).
Leading operators, regulators and
manufacturers took part in the forum, and participants agreed to
invite ITU to establish a web-based “NGN Gateway”, linking
activities in the three ITU Sectors. The online gateway would
act as an information sharing point, particularly aimed at
developing countries, and would provide such resources as
tutorials and guidelines.
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