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In summary, good operations principles, which are universal across all industries, call for the most efficient use of resources, maximizing the profit generated by the resource as it is consumed. The same holds true for network capacity.

With this principle in mind, then, operators need to establish Operations Support Systems that are able to actively manage in tandem the connectivity in the network with the application serving up content. This calls for the ability to orchestrate between these domains, and to do so at a level that is as automated as possible. This requirement places some further fundamental requirements on the OSS:

In effect, we are creating an environment where a content-serving application can be connection-agnostic.

• The provisioning and activation of the service itself must occur automatically, with minimal or no fall-out, and the orchestration between the application and the connectivity must be maintained as an on-going process. For example, a subscriber may self-manage their account and decide to add an HD channel to their service package. The connectivity for their service will then need to be ratcheted up to

• Service definitions and the service catalog need to contain representations of the “complete” service, both the connectivity and the application or content aspects. For example, Sports Gold IPTV service may have a certain channel collection, including a certain number of high definition channels, and the associated bandwidth defined to support those channels.
• The actual state of resources must be understood in as close to a real-time basis as possible. This is necessary so that resource contention can be avoided in the design phases of a specific service instance. In addition, it is essential to understand the actual availability and capability of network resources to ensure that a given service request can be fulfilled.
• The concept of an order must change and must be able to be managed from any direction, especially if customer self-service is to be established. This means an order or a service configuration change request may come from a traditional channel like a Customer Service Representative, or from a web site, a mobile phone, or a set-top box.

The primary point is that the fulfillment system must be able to handle this orchestration, or else contention and sub-optimal service delivery will result. If the neighbor starts a VoIP call and that causes the IPTV to jitter, there will be some very unhappy subscribers soon jumping ship.

The Connection-Agnostic Application

The relationship between applications and connectivity becomes even more challenging when you consider the leap to fixed-mobile convergence. For instance, a service offering may include the option for a subscriber’s phone to operate as a mobile phone when they are away from home, but then to have traffic directed over the wired connection via WiFi when they are at home. The application is the same – VoIP – but the connectivity can take two different forms. So the definition or template of that service must incorporate both the application and both types of