From vl2006 at ViewsLetter.com Thu Feb 18 14:32:22 2010 From: vl2006 at ViewsLetter.com (ViewsLetter on VoIP) Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:32:22 -0500 Subject: [VL2006] - 77: There Goes the Cellular Neighborhood . . Message-ID: <4B7D95C6.5080201@viewsletter.com> VL on VoIP *There Goes the Cellular Neighborhood* By William Flanagan Did you notice? It wasn't a big bang, just a mixed series of product introductions, service announcements, and speeches that appear to point the way for the voice network of the future. * If you want fast Internet access on fiber to your premises, be prepared to give up powering your phone from the central office battery and settle for 99.9% uptime rather than the "five nines" of the PSTN (Verizon FIOS). The difference is about 8 hours per year of outage. * Carriers who resisted voice over frame relay recently agreed with equipment makers on a standard for handling voice over IP on 4G (LTE) /*data*/ networks (Voice over LTE, VoLTE; GSM Association). * The telephone company that isn't a telecommunications service is working with Verizon to put an always-on VoIP client on cell phones that can use a 3G or 4G data plan for worldwide voice calls (Skype). * 4G radio service--either LTE, WiMAX, or both--will soon cover the globe with enough capacity for a video feed to every phone at once (thus providing bandwidth for a few billion phone calls, too). * SIP trunking gains respect as an enterprise service. The common thread is that each item depends on Voice over IP. Each item reinforces the others. The trend to "all IP" is, if possible, /gaining/ momentum. Ten years ago I didn't consider an IP network suitable for everything, particularly not voice telephony. Now the standards have developed, network capacity is vastly increased, and a new generation of users values mobility above reliability. So here's a take on where we're going. The avalanche of traffic moving to IP networks (including MPLS and their supporting Layer 1 optical components) likely will sweep away not only circuit switching for voice but also the POTS land line. Why pay to install and maintain copper loops any more? The upside for speed over copper, despite the leaps in DSL performance, will never exceed the capacity of 4G wireless. What carrier really wants to pay to power those stationary lumps of low functionality called desk phones? Eventually what we've heard for years will be true: There's no real need for a dedicated voice network; voice is just another form of traffic on the IP network. Voice (and real-time video conferencing) will need low latency so the network will have to prioritize these packets, but we know how to do that. Why put in any cable, even fiber, if 4G radio links can provide adequate capacity and acceptable availability? Instead, drop in a picocell/WiFi router, with an LTE/WiMax uplink, for phone, fax, Internet, TV, gaming, burglar/fire alarm, etc. The very product showed up while I wrote this edition: http://www.greenpacket.com/dl_devices.html. Some devices will have their own 4G radios/modems. Truck roll? Let the customer buy and activate the picocell like a cell phone. Repairs? Bring the device into the phone store to swap for a new one. That will be hard on the unions. Legacy Cellular? Yeah, it will hang on, the way circuit switching did. A few people will use it because they like the simple 2-function handsets with the large numbers on the screen. HSPDA will be enough from many machine-to-machine applications. E911? GPS in the picocell or the handset tracks locations, stationary or mobile. This service will require additional infrastructure to route calls to the proper answering point. Long distance? How the world has changed. Recall that AT&T, when forced into divestiture, had the choice between Long Lines and the Local Exchange Carriers. They chose to stick with LL--oops. The AT&T name survives today only because the LEC that bought it chose to keep the name. Costs of cell phone plans today are determined almost completely by the number of minutes of local air time. Distance no longer matters within the US. Skype on a phone does almost the same for international calling. So what's the future business model for long haul transmission? Perhaps it will look like some other forms of transport: * Early highways in the US started as private tollways. A few still operate that way, but most roads (including toll roads) are owned and maintained by some governmental body. * Subways in New York City and many other locations started as entrepreneurial enterprises, generating profits for their owners. During hard times, profits stopped; owners walked away or ceded the "lines" to the government. Let's make some assumptions about the future: all transport is IP; net neutrality on the Internet requires equal access to all comers; LECs are based almost entirely on IP over wireless local loops. Won't that make the Internet the natural (least expensive) choice for backhaul from "cellular" base stations? Most of the traffic will be "Internet" or data, much more than voice. There might be some extra margin in charging more for prioritized voice/video packets, but the bulk of traffic (data) won't need that level of service. Will any private corporation want to bother with LD? Even today, carriers contend that net neutrality will make the Internet unprofitable. If true, carriers could decide to sell their long haul facilities. The buyer of last resort? Some new government or non-profit agency set up to run the public Internet. Carriers could lease back capacity for base station backhaul. The new "public corporation" will restore the concept of "common carrier" to telephone service. A few carriers would probably keep a private wide area network, to offer premium services. But it would be a content distribution service, rather than a telephone company. Hey you copper thieves! Bring it on! You're making way for the future. Just leave my neighborhood alone until 4G is fully deployed. NEXT ISSUE: provisioning VoIP as a service. To comment, visit our post at http://www.webtorials.com/discussions/ __ *How Can Flanagan Consulting Help You?* We understand not only the technology of networks, but also the surrounding business processes: procurement, bid preparation/analysis, statements of work, financial analysis, consensus building around a solution, and more. * Find out now: call +1.703.242.8381* or email *Bill at Flanagan-Consulting.com * ___ *Flanagan Consulting Supports Litigation Professionals* Several associates are experienced in analysis of patents, trademarks, contracts, and other intellectual property related to IT and communications. We have assisted attorneys preparing claims, depositions, and testimony. How can we help you? Queries to +1.703.242.8381. ___ /*Advertise Here*/ /Reach over two thousand interesting people in Telecom and IT./ /For details, //call +1.703.855.0191 / *__* *Responses to /ViewsLetter/ and Subscriptions* Mail is welcome when addressed to publisher at viewsletter.com . Mailman, the Linux application, keeps the mailing list, which does not accept postings. Replies to this message are discarded. You can unsubscribe or subscribe at: http://lists.viewsletter.com/mailman/listinfo/vl2006 You will need a password to unsubscribe, but Mailman will send you one on request. __ *Special thanks* for supporting ViewsLetter to www.webtorials.com *,* your best source for communications tutorials and white papers. -- Flanagan Consulting *In Converged Networking We Have the Experience* 3800 Concorde Parkway, Suite 1500, Chantilly, VA, USA Ph: +1.703.242.8381 Fx: +1.703.242.8391 *www.Flanagan-Consulting.com* /Flanagan Consulting is a Service Mark of W. A. Flanagan, Inc. / "Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance." --George Bernard Shaw -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.viewsletter.com/pipermail/vl2006/attachments/20100218/5cb831dc/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 8614 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.viewsletter.com/pipermail/vl2006/attachments/20100218/5cb831dc/attachment.jpe -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: FCtinyLogo.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 6431 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.viewsletter.com/pipermail/vl2006/attachments/20100218/5cb831dc/attachment.jpg From vl2006 at ViewsLetter.com Wed May 5 10:21:48 2010 From: vl2006 at ViewsLetter.com (ViewsLetter on VoIP) Date: Wed, 05 May 2010 10:21:48 -0400 Subject: [VL2006] - 78: VoIP in Tough Neighborhoods--the Payphone Idea. Message-ID: <4BE17EFC.4020102@viewsletter.com> VL on VoIP *The VoIP Payphone Idea * By William Flanagan Remember the public phone booth by the side of the road? Plain Old Telephone Service (analog technology POTS lines) worked pretty well without environmental controls. Cell phones have almost eliminated phone booths, but we still have work environments in tough neighborhoods like power substations, pit heads at mines, and remote railway switch points. Multi-tenant building with no air conditioning in the wiring closets qualify as harsh, too. Moving from circuit switching to IP introduces three key concerns. 1. Power for active routers/switches where passive copper loops needed none. 2. Cooling for that electronic equipment. 3. Extending Ethernet LANs to match the reach of analog phone lines. Sales literature for VoIP equipment typically shows high-end phones on executive desks or in business call centers. The assumption is that the user and the wiring closet enjoy a controlled "office" environment. It ain't necessarily so when the phone system extends beyond the office. Electrical power is seldom a problem. The utilities will drop a feed if you're willing to pay. For low-power equipment you can deploy a solar panel and a storage battery to run through the night, or a fuel cell. Low drain reduces the cost of power infrastructure. There are items that boast of low power. Snom says its model 300 IP handset is the lowest, at 1.7 to 2.7 watts. Encore Networks has a ruggedized router that draws only 7 W. That's a total of less than 1 amp at 12 V for voice and data connectivity. These days, wherever voice is wanted there's almost always a need for data as well, so it's best to budget for both. With power that low, the need for cooling may disappear. Encore's router is hardened to operate in ambient temperatures from -40 to 85 C (-40 to 193 F)--and that's not a typo, that's the IEEE 1613 standard . Phones to cover that range are "less common": most phone are 4 to 40 C (40 to 104 F). Cisco's 6901 IP phone , relatively low power at 3.11 W, is rated for -5 to 45 C (23 to 113 F). An interesting exception is a ruggedized adaptation of the Cisco 7961 IP phone that's "dust proof," but it needs a heater for the LCD when it's cold. In a migration from a legacy switch to VoIP, we can assume a copper loop is in place, perhaps even a 4-wire cable capable of T-1 transmission. Old copper is not much good for native Ethernet, as in 10 Mbit/s LAN, but well-proven technologies (ISDN BRI or PRI, DSU/CSU, or DSL) can push IP and Ethernet over legacy cable for more than a mile. These digital services from a local exchange carrier (LEC) typically cost more than the existing POTS line, but enterprise versions of the hardware are available if you have the right of way or own the cable. As an alternative, Encore's router offers an internal cellular radio (for a data service) in addition to a CSU (one can back up the other for higher availability). VoIP payphones don't look like a hot item with LECs in the US. More likely the technology will find use in private networks, for control functions (think SCADA protocol) and voice connections on sprawling infrastructure such as power lines, pipe lines, and railroads. To find IP versions of real payphones look on the WWWeb--not at the side of your road. __ *How Can Flanagan Consulting Help You?* We understand not only the technology of networks, but also the surrounding business processes: procurement, bid preparation/analysis, statements of work, financial analysis, consensus building around a solution, and more. * Find out now: call +1.703.242.8381* or email *Bill at Flanagan-Consulting.com * ___ *Flanagan Consulting Supports Litigation Professionals* Several associates are experienced in analysis of patents, trademarks, contracts, and other intellectual property related to IT and communications. We have assisted attorneys preparing claims, depositions, and testimony. How can we help you? Queries to +1.703.242.8381. ___ /*Advertise Here*/ /Reach over two thousand interesting people in Telecom and IT./ /For details, //call +1.703.855.0191 / *__* *Responses to /ViewsLetter/ and Subscriptions* Mail is welcome when addressed to publisher at viewsletter.com . Mailman, the Linux application, keeps the mailing list, which does not accept postings. Replies to this message are discarded. You can unsubscribe or subscribe at: http://lists.viewsletter.com/mailman/listinfo/vl2006 You will need a password to unsubscribe, but Mailman will send you one on request. __ *Special thanks* for supporting ViewsLetter to www.webtorials.com *,* your best source for communications tutorials and white papers. -- Flanagan Consulting *In Converged Networking We Have the Experience* 3800 Concorde Parkway, Suite 1500, Chantilly, VA, USA Ph: +1.703.242.8381 Fx: +1.703.242.8391 *www.Flanagan-Consulting.com* /Flanagan Consulting is a Service Mark of W. A. Flanagan, Inc. / "Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance." --George Bernard Shaw -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.viewsletter.com/pipermail/vl2006/attachments/20100505/56816dab/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: VLvoipTinyLogo.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 8614 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.viewsletter.com/pipermail/vl2006/attachments/20100505/56816dab/attachment.jpg -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: FCtinyLogo2.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 12207 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.viewsletter.com/pipermail/vl2006/attachments/20100505/56816dab/attachment-0001.jpg