ITU

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.