The Focus Group on Security Baseline for Network Operators has issued a survey, results from which will be used in preparation of a new ITU-T Recommendation “Security Baseline for Network Operators”. Participants are asked about their level of preparedness in case of various security threats.

Once approved the Recommendation will show the readiness and ability of operators to collaborate and coordinate counteraction against security threats arising from interconnected networks.

The Security Baseline will allow network operators to assess their network and information security posture in terms of what security standards are available, which of these standards should be used to meet particular requirements, when they should be used, and how they should be applied. It will also identify security Recommendations and standards to support evaluation of operators’ network security and information security. Development of the first draft of the Recommendation will begin towards the end of 2006.

The online survey is aimed at network and service providers a deadline of 24 November 2006 has been set for responses.

 

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), with the support of the ITU, will hold two workshops on Numbering and Convergence January 2007.

The announcement follows the development of a draft National Numbering Plan (NNP) (for industry consultation) as mandated by the 2003 Communications Act.

The first workshop Impact and challenges of implementing NNP will be held 9 – 10 January the second Challenges of convergence 11 January.

Aims of the event include allowing participants to: gain a better understanding of the draft NNP and associated new services; identify implementation impacts to the network and possibly proffer a common solution to the articulated impacts; reach a consensus on efficient techniques to implement the services / associated modifications and also on the NNP implementation schedule; participate in producing guidelines for an industry committee that will oversee the NNP implementation / transition plan.

Delegates are expected to include Telecoms Stakeholders such as Interconnection / Core Network Staff, Equipment Manufacturers / Vendors, Programmers / Installers, Consumer Advocacy Groups, Internet Groups, other Sector Stakeholders and Regulatory Agencies worldwide. Nigerian Network Operators are specifically encouraged to send delegates that have sufficient knowledge of their systems as decisions taken during the workshops may impact on their networks.

Telcordia is supporting the workshops with expert speakers. Opportunities are available for experts to serve as panelists for days: 1, 2 and 3 and also to facilitate breakout sessions for days: 1 and 2.

In addition, the event will provide a venue for local and international solution providers who are interested in showcasing state-of-the-art solutions on Numbering, Number Portability, ENUM, VOIP and Convergence.

Exhibition and sponsorship Opportunities are available, for further information on these or any other aspect of the events, please contact Mrs. M.K Onyeajuwa (telephone +234-9-6700630, +234-9-2340330 ext 1052, +234804419088, email nnp@ncc.gov.ng).

 

ITU-T will hold a Workshop on Digital Identity for NGN Geneva, 05 December 2006.

In the last few years, the need for digital identity has risen as a strong driving force behind network architecture design, service provisioning, and content handling, billing and charging. Digital identity is expected to be a powerful tool for users to access unlimited digital resources via a limited number of trusted relationships, and for providers to offer these resources across the different layers of communication systems, administrative domains and even legal boundaries. However, the lack of a common view on digital identity across these different layers has so far resulted in independently developed and therefore often inconsistent identity management frameworks as well as incompatible applications.

Key challenges towards the development of a more consistent approach are to tackle the conflicting requirements of privacy, identification and security. This workshop, a Joint ITU-T/EU IST Daidalos Project Workshop, intends to investigate different approaches, analyze gaps in today’s standards, identify future challenges and find common goals which will provide direction to the work currently being undertaken in the different projects and standards development organizations (SDOs).

 

http://www.itu.int/plenipotentiary/2006/newsroom/elections/results/directors.html#tsb
Press release: http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2006/25.html

A major step towards dynamic and reconfigurable ‘smart’ networks has been made with the consent of a new standard.

Operators and manufacturers have pushed the development of the ITU-T Recommendation (G.667) that is the first for adaptive chromatic dispersion compensators.

Chromatic dispersion is a phenomenon that produces pulse broadening in optical fibers, and can limit the overall amount of data transported over them.  In some applications, the chromatic dispersion of the optical path varies with time or optical network re-configuration to such an extent that, to avoid signal degradations at the receiver, an adaptive dispersion compensator is used to dynamically compensate the chromatic dispersion change of the optical link.

The automatic management of chromatic dispersion of the optical path, previously not standardized, means that for operators it will be much simpler to change the path of an optical channel in the optical network while maintaining the desired degree of chromatic dispersion. The standard allows for chromatic dispersion compensation to be controlled automatically in real time rather than operators having to manually change physical devices in the network.

The need for chromatic dispersion compensators is increasingly influenced by bit-rate as optical transmission systems are being upgraded from 10 to 40Gbit/s. Distance is also a factor as optical systems – ultra long-haul - now extend to thousands of kilometers. In such situations the accumulation of chromatic dispersion variation with time or temperature of the optical path can exceed tolerance and therefore adaptive compensation is necessary. Network operation costs and flexibility should be favorably impacted by the ability to have chromatic dispersion compensation achieved automatically within the network. 

ITU-T's Study Group 15 has fast tracked a standard that significantly reduces costs for operators rolling out fibre to the home (FTTH). The new Recommendation G.657 "Characteristics of a Bending Loss Insensitive Single Mode Optical Fibres and Cables for the Access Network" gives fiber optic cable similarly flexible characteristics to copper meaning that it can be much more easily deployed in the street, in the building and in the home.

This increased flexibility in a fibre optic cable means that operators can follow tighter corners in buildings, can employ less-skilled labor in deploying the cable and can worry less if cables / fibres are laid with a sharp bend. This all makes installation work more engineer friendly leading also to less re-work. Moreover the closures for fibres can be half the size, important where space is at a premium for example in an apartment building.

The new standard, which allows optical fibres to flex and bend more than the previous standardized types has achieved consent nearly a year earlier than was expected. This has been due to a push by operators planning the introduction of FTTH. Operators are keen that manufacturers around the world immediately start producing fibres according to the specification with clear advantages in terms of flexibility of deployment and cost reduction.

Many telcos have plans to roll out FTTH. The number of FTTH users in Japan exceeded 6 million as of mid 2006. According to experts the impetus for the work came from Japan, followed by the USA, but there is now much interest from European operators.

 

Meeting of Study Group 16 - Multimedia terminals, systems and applications

Geneva, 14-24 November 2006

Registration Form

See TSB Collective-letter 5/16 for more information.

Study Group 16 Home

ITU-T will hold a Consultation meeting on cooperation between ITU-T and Universities, Geneva, 18 and 19 January 2007, to explore ways to improve cooperation between the ITU standardization sector and universities. Other objectives include discussion of how ITU-T can become better known to students and how to make it easier for academia to participate directly in ITU-T work.

Given a belief that many new technologies find life in the minds of the academic world, ITU is increasingly looking to attract more involvement from the world’s universities and other academic institutions. There are already many examples of this policy bearing fruit. Some standards that have emerged from ITU study groups have been heavily influenced by academic involvement. However often this is not recognized because academia has frequently chosen to participate under the banner of an organization other than its own. Exploration of how these important contributions can be better recognized will also be on the agenda.

Universities can benefit from participation in the standards making process by becoming part of an international ‘club’ of ICT experts. Among ITU’s key attractions are its truly international scope and its role as the architect behind many modern communication systems. All major ICT companies are ITU Sector Members. There can be no more enlightening a window on the world of ICT development. The opportunity to be part of a team that creates a worldwide standard provides an exciting opportunity for any university. For these reasons and others this consultation meeting will be an excellent opportunity for university representatives to explore ways to increase university involvement in ITU-T’s work.

ITU-T requests the input of universities on how best to further the relationship between ITU-T and academia for the benefit of both parties. See webpage for documents submitted so far and for details and how to contribute.

 

A new tool that will give a unique overview of ITU-T’s next generation network (NGN) work has gone live. The NGN Project Management Tool, was developed with the support of a voluntary contribution from Siemens.

Since the work towards standards for NGN is taking place across a number of different ITU-T study groups and other standards development organizations (SDOs) the ability to coordinate and view all NGN work in one place will be invaluable to the swift and efficient publication of NGN specifications.

Essentially a repository of information from ITU and other SDOs, the system was asked for by members of the various Study Groups working on NGN. Key will be the ability to keep track of the latest versions of Recommendations and provide detailed information for experts and summaries for management.

ITU-T will host the annual Broadband Europe conference 11-14 Dec 2006.

BBEurope is an annual event which was initiated by the FP6-BREAD-project (broadband for all in Europe: a multi-disciplinary approach), part of the "BroadBand for All"-strategic objective of the European Commission.

Peter Van Daele, Project Leader BREAD: “The concept of “Broadband For All” refers to a situation in which broadband is not only available to every citizen, but is actually used by all of them. In that respect it is a more demanding concept than the traditional universal service obligation in telephony, which merely stipulates the availability, at certain conditions, of a given service. The usage of information and communication technologies via broadband infrastructures by all citizens is a policy objective because it is considered to be a key component of transforming Europe into a knowledge-based society, thus enhancing economic growth and increasing employment.”

The BREAD project has amongst its objectives to develop a holistic vision encompassing technical, as well as economical and regulatory aspects. Another important aspect is of identifying roadblocks on European, national/regional level and share visions and best practices on national level to EU level.

BBEurope brings together on an international level all the BroadBand players, researchers, service providers, content providers, operators, manufacturers, policy makers, standardisation bodies, professional organisations.

A diverse agenda will cover topics including NGN, IPTV, wireless access, powerline, security, QoS, and broadband in rural areas. The event will conclude with a panel discussion titled: Future Perspectives in Broadband. A ‘full preliminary’ programme is available from the event’s website, with the call for papers ending November 10 when a programme committee will make a final selection of the papers.

 

John MacDonald, a member of the ITU team that created the new VDSL 2 standard, will take part in an upcoming Webinar on this topic, Tuesday, November 21. The Webinar, the second on the topic that ITU has contributed to, will outline what VDSL2 is, which are its competitive differentiators and benefits, and how it allows service providers to compete with cable and satellite operators - by enabling the delivery of enhanced voice, video and data services over a standard copper telephone cable.

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is a product of ITU-T, ITU’s standardization arm, and is the world's most widely deployed broadband access technology. It has enhanced users' experience of the Internet, provided access to digitized content, and fuelled the delivery of streaming video and the development of online gaming by offering downstream data rates of up to 8 Mbit/s. Today, service providers must ensure their DSL offerings can compete against other market options from cable operators. One way to do so, is by offering services over VDSL2 (ITU-T Recommendation G.993.2) - very high-speed DSL - a new version of DSL, which gives service providers the ability to deliver even higher bandwidth and more enhanced services to consumer and business customers.

Delivering up to 100 Mbit/s both up and downstream, a tenfold increase over ADSL (Asymmetric DSL) VDSL2 provides for so-called fiber-extension, bringing fiber-like bandwidth to premises not directly connected to the fiber optic segment of a telecom company’s network. By deploying VDSL2 operators expect to be able to offer services such as high-definition TV (HDTV), video-on-demand, videoconferencing, high-speed Internet access, and advanced voice services. Importantly VDSL 2 offers carriers a solution that is interoperable with the DSL equipment many already have in place. In addition, VDSL 2 will work with both legacy ATM networks and next generation IP-based networks.

Register to take part in this online event here