1. Interconnection Issues in NGN
V.K. Agarwal, Dy. Advisor
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
11/19/2018
TRAI

2. Present Telecom Scenario
Present licensing framework is mapping different Telecom services with specific telecommunication licenses
Low penetration of high speed Internet and Broadband
Limited availability of Value-added services and content
Restrictive regulatory framework for launch of new services
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3. Present Telecom Scenario (contd.)
Separate networks for PSTN, wireless and data
Huge growth of wireless deployment
Complex network design to support increasing bandwidth hungry applications
Telecom service penetration is high in urban areas. Digital divide needs to be addressed
Huge investments are required to set-up access infrastructure.
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4. Present Telecom Scenario (contd.)
Migration from PURE voice traffic in early eighties to pure IP traffic in near future
Growth of voice traffic is stagnating while data traffic shows exponential growth (nearly 100 % annually)
IP networks are
stable , robust and time tested
able to support triple play application
efficient to support emerging service requirements
Supports required QoS
Network Traffic Growth
Source: Cybermedia Center, Osaka University
IP Networks are future requirement
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5. Drivers for NGN
Increasingly acceptability of IP platform to provide triple play services
Low cost of IP equipment, reduced power & space requirement and ease of maintenance
Flexibility to provide different Value Added Services and content quickly
Increasing convergence of devices pushing for convergence of Networks
Competition demands integration of the network to reduce cost as parallel networks means high costs.
Fast growth in telecom sector is reducing average revenue per user. Therefore need is to boost revenue earnings through launch of new value added services and applications
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6. 4-Key Business Drivers of NGN Consumer / Business Services
Reducing Cost
Raising ARPU
Enabling Convergence
Consumer / Business Services
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7. Support System Convergence
Device Convergence
Network Convergence
Service Convergence
Support System Convergence
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8. 4-Key aspects of NGN Architecture Quality of Service (QoS)
Scalable
Reliable
Granular and modular
On the fly enhancements
Flexibility
Carrier grade
High availability
Trust
Openness
Quality of Service (QoS)
Standard interfaces and protocols
Plug-n-play
Consistent performance
Preservation of key information
parameters
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9. 4-Segments of NGN Architecture
IP Core
Service s and Applications
S-CSCF
I-CSCF
P-CSCF
BGCF DB
IP Networking, Transport
and Aggregation – IP / MPLS
Multi-Access
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10. Networks in NGN Scenario
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11. Networks in NGN Scenario (contd.)
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12. Stages of NGN Implementation
NGN is basically Network Convergence which consists of
Core Convergence
Switching convergence
Access Convergence
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13. Present Telecom Networks
GMSC
MSC
BSC
BTS
End-to-End Mobile Network L2
TAX L1
TAX L2
TAX
Local
Exch.
Local
Exch.
End-to-End PSTN Network
ADSL
DSLAM
Int’l Internet
Bandwidth
Provider
National
ISP
Local
Exch.
Broadband Network
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14. Convergence at Core Network
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15. End-to-End convergence
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16. Stages of NGN Implementation
Core Convergence
Switch Level Convergence
End-to-End Convergence
Core convergence is presence of Unified backbone
IP Backbone is being used in converged core network since IP based packet transmission is more efficient
Introduction of Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) is favored as it is now one of the most powerful technology for converged core network.
Migration from TDM based switches to IP based soft switches
Media gateways are used to communicate with legacy central office (CO) TDM switches
Media gateways will not be required in fully converged IP Network.
Class-4 Softswitch: Used for Trunk Automatic Exchange (TAX) and Tandem Switching
Class-5 Softswitch : Deployment in access network
A fully IP based network from one end user device to other end user device is end to end convergence.
Only IP based access devices will be permitted in access network.
This is third stage of Network Convergence and will require sufficiently long time due to migration from traditional TDM to total IP user devices.
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17. Supportive & Regulatory Framework
Regulatory framework should facilitate expansion of Infrastructure, especially in rural and remote areas.
Promoting Competition and technology neutrality
Focus on ‘Light touch’ regulation with special emphasis on regulatory forbearance
Time bound resolution of regulatory impediments for rollout and migration to NGN services
Govt. support for upgradation of end link will be desirable
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18. NGN Interconnection Issues
Migration from service based interconnection to service neutral interconnection
Reference interconnect offer (RIO) in NGN environment
Maintaining Fair cost based interconnection
Ensuring equitable & non-discriminatory interconnection
Point of interconnect between various operators
Basis of charging

19. Point of Interconnection
Direct Interconnection among service providers.

20. Point of Interconnection
Interconnect Exchange

21. Comparison of two methodology of Interconnection
Issue
Conventional Interconnection Scenario
Interconnect Exchange
Scenario
Complexity of Network
Very High
Low
Interconnection and port charges
High
Capacity Utilization
Inefficient
Efficient
Bandwidth Scalability
CAPEX Requirement
Initially Low
Initially high, as cost of setting up Interconnect Exchange will be shared among all operators
OPEX Requirement
Low, however the OPEX involved in Exchange will have to be shared
Overall Performance
Depends on Individual Operator
May also depend on Interconnect Exchange
Call Handling
IUC settlement
Difficult
Easy
Implementation of Number portability and carrier selection
Sharing of IN platform

22. Interconnection in Legacy Networks
Charging methodologies
Calling Party Pays (CPP) – widely used
Receiving Party Pays (RPP),
Bill and Keep – mostly in Internet scenario
Costing techniques
Distance Based
Element Based
Capacity based

23. Current Interconnection Usage Charging(IUC) Scenario in India
IUC determined based on minutes of usage for various Unbundled Network Elements and the cost of these elements.
The IUCs for Origination, Transit and Termination are based on the principles of element based charging i.e. one operator charging the other for the resources consumed for carriage of its calls in terms of minutes of use (MOU).
The total Interconnection Usage Charges for carriage of a call in a multi operator environment are shared for Origination, Transit and Termination on the basis of work done in each segment for the carriage of the call.

24. Charging methodologies in NGN
Calling Party Network Pays,
Bill and Keep,
Based on Quality of service,
Bulk billing.

25. Service Level Agreements across multiple networks in NGN Scenario

26. Issues and challenges – for IUC Billing and Accounting in NGN
Inter-operator settlement issues- content and quality based pricing, usage based or bulk billing.
In an NGN world, the network service provider will not necessarily be the application service provider.
The network provider will have only limited visibility into third party applications running over its network. The application provider may have extensive visibility into the application that it provides, but only limited visibility into the use of network resources.
Usage-based billing will be possible only to the extent that the usage can be rigorously and unambiguously measured.
How will providers and customers ensure that service commitments are met? Whose statistics will govern?

27. Issues and challenges – for IUC Billing and Accounting in NGN cont.
Competitive providers may be reluctant to share statistics about their respective networks with one another, and peering agreements may typically restrict the ability of the providers to disclose information about one another‘s networks to third parties. Can sufficient information be disclosed to customers?
How will responsibility be allocated if a customer’s traffic fails to achieve its committed service level specification in case of multiple networks? Traffic data can legitimately be interpreted in more than one way. Will it be possible to administer payments and penalties rigorously and fairly?
How can providers prevent fraud? How can they distinguish between fraud and legitimate use?

28. Thank You
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