“Telecom General’s” Warning (cont'd)

For example, large Internet players like AOL are already moving beyond basic user name-password security measures and offering multi-factor authentication processes such as RSA secure ID, where users must supply a password and a constantly changing secure token ID number. GSM-based mobile operators are also moving toward secure SIM-based authentication to utilize their existing secure infrastructure.

In the “extended” network world, service providers will want to allow enterprise customers to roam onto networks they don't own, and yet maintain a direct link to insure things like single sign-on applications remain secure. For instance, when a user signs onto the network, the server sitting on the “home” provider's network can check to ensure that the device has the latest firewall settings and software patches before allowing the user to long onto the enterprise network. In such a case, the client software would communicate with an endpoint that validates the user's settings before launching the VPN. If the user isn't up-to-date, the system would prompt the user to update her software before permitting her to log on.

Assuring Quality for Cash
Another way to gain extra revenue is through quality-based billing - charging separately for different levels of quality of service for specific applications. Quality-based billing is admittedly much more difficult to support when a service provider does not own the serving network. Here again, a move to client-based monitoring is critical. Client-server software can determine in real-time what quality is being delivered, and could make a decision to switch networks if an alternative is available that could offer better quality.

Once quality is monitored, service providers must insure that they deliver quality and usage information back to the enterprise, to show the customer they've been billed accurately and their SLAs are met. A related concept is to provide the customer with control over connection rules that determine which network to use based on the service in question or the quality required for that service.

Keeping Control
Service providers today are accustomed to maintaining control, and the concept of not controlling every network across which they offer services may deter them. But the migration to an IP-based world is opening the application floodgates whether carriers embrace it or not. With any application provider able to deliver service to any IP user, carriers that don’t take advantage of new application opportunities are endangering their health and relegating themselves to little more than a dumb pipe. There is yet a much larger piece of the Internet and telephony value chain for carriers to capture.

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