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There was a time when standards, beyond proprietary, in-house standards, were unnecessary in the telecommunications world. With just a few companies controlling the entire industry, who needs interoperability or uniformity? However, the world is growing and standards are essential to manage that growth and provide a framework on which that growth can occur. Standards are, without a doubt, the cornerstone of any industry...

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July is a fine month. It's sunny, warm, and generally bright. Of course, there are thunder storms, too. Much like July, this month's NewsWatch has sunny spots and a few stormy items. Apple has chosen to make the new iPhone more accessible and Starbucks settled its issues with T-Mobile, but poor Yahoo is still looking for a suitor after snubbing Microsoft's initial proposal. As usual, Pipeline is here to inform you about what we think you'd like to know. Read on for some interesting information and enjoy the rest of this beautiful summer month.

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For the last few years, New Paradigm Resources Group (NPRG) has been honoring companies that have led the way in innovation in the telecommunications space. This year, Pipeline was honored to be a part of the process of winnowing the many deserving nominations down to just three winners. Those winners, announced during NXTcomm 2008, typify the very highest in innovation, courage, and willingness to take a new approach to telecom...

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In the past decade, it's evident that networked devices have become commonplace in our every day environment. ATMs have been around for decades and are no longer remarkable, but living in a city like Chicago, one sees newer types of devices everywhere. The neighborhood UPS driver carries a wireless-enabled clipboard. The stock boy in the local 7-11 uses a specialized tablet PC to take inventory and manage orders and deliveries. Nearly every shop, café, restaurant, supermarket...

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This issue is based around the central theme of standards in the telecommunications space. One way in which standards manifest themselves is within benchmarking studies that track key performance indicators (KPIs) within a given industry.

Recently, the results of just such a study were announced based on an initiative that emerged from within the revenue assurance working group...

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This month, Pipeline headed to the Strip for the annual collaboration between the TIA and USTA: NXTcomm 2008. Las Vegas represented a new venue for NXTcomm, which was in Chicago last year, and will return to Chicago in 2009.

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We have all heard that B/OSS can be built on standards, but if there is one characteristic that categorizes a B/OSS application, it's the interface. Frameworks like the TM Forum's New Generation Operations Systems and Software (NGOSS) define processes, data structures and application characteristics in a technology-independent manner. Recently, technology-specific interface specifications like Multi-Technology Network Management (MTNM), Multi-Technology Operations System Interface (MTOSI)...

The tone of the Billing & Information Management Systems (BIMS) conference was set early on Day 1, with an excellent presentation by Bob Webb, CIO of ACN. In describing his love affair with telecommunications billing systems, and yes, even those legacy work horse versions, he simply said: "A river of revenue runs through those systems."

I had the opportunity to audit and review a few NGOSS courses at the TMForum Management World in Nice. It has been a long time since I attended a TMF sponsored course. Before the bubble collapse, I volunteered to teach for a day at each TeleManagement World and did this for four or five years. Most of these courses were titled "Policy-based Management" and were team taught at first by myself and Jerry McDowell. Later we added...

“The nicest thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from."

Tannenbaum should know a thing or two about what he speaks. In his work with MINIX and other projects in the computer world, he surely became familiar with any number of standards, both valid and half-baked.

The problem persists and exists in the telecommunications world as well. Standards are necessary, sure, but which ones? And how stringent should they be? And who is best to set them?