Huawei solutions let you lead in the marketplace through efficiently delivering revenue-generating multi-play services over an all-IP architecture.

The current global telecommunication industry market remains competitive. In fact, under the influence of "substitution and differentiation", the price war is becoming fiercer, with operators, especially the fixed-line carrier, experiencing significant decline in service revenues than in traffic volume. Confronted with a continuous decrease of ARPU, decreased loyalty of broadband subscribers, fixed operators are now trying to strategically transform themselves, by constructing new and better business models and exploring new areas for growth, through continuous innovation in technologies and services.

Mr. Wei Leping, the chief engineer for China Telecom Group, the largest fixed-line operator in China, said telecom operators today must enter into the IPTV market, providing Triple-Play, or even Multi-Play services. "It is not optional but a strategic to survive," he said. As a matter of fact, the global telecommunication industry has widely recognized that providing multi-play services over All IP architecture is the inevitable choice for operators to increase ARPU, reduce churn and keep competitive strength. In order to deploy Multi-Play services on a large scale, telecom operators will have to attach special importance to the following aspects: firstly, set up an operable and manageable IP bearer network; secondly, protect the contents of CPs by means of CA/DRM (Digital Rights Management) and create a healthy industrial chain; thirdly, establish an open service platform and ensure sustainable network development; fourth, reduce operators' OPEX.

End-to-end multi-play leader

Bearing this in mind, Huawei put forward its end-to-end (E2E) Multi-Play solution for operators, which covers all links, from service networks, core networks, bearer networks, access networks, to digital households. Featuring strong service scalability and service-aware capability, the solution is capable of quickly providing services to end users and ensuring QoS in different services for different terminal users. In addition, this solution allows open interfaces for operators so that they can conveniently realize integration with applications of a third party, home gateways, set-top boxes, as well as with operators' operation support systems, thus, satisfying requirements on all links in the industrial chain.

Viewed from an operators' construction perspective, the Multi-Play solution of Huawei exhibits many features and technological advantages.

IP bearer network

The multi-service IP bearer network for future has to not only assure the service security, but also insure the carrier-class operable and manageable capability. The key for operators to make valued services available to their customers is to provide differentiated bandwidth and QoE (Quality of Experience) assurance for different services. By means of collaboration between terminals, networks and service systems, and from multiple aspects of security, protection, QoS assurance and fast service deployment, Huawei's Multi-Play solution impeccably ensures service experience and ably satisfies all requirements in regards to service operation.

To assure the security of bearer network, Huawei's patented technology of controllable multicast can help operators to prevent effectively illegal user access/sharing. And when it comes to protection, technologies MPLS, Ethernet OAM, and MPLS FRR, can all be used for protection cutover. Viewed from the aspect of QoS, Huawei takes the leading to provide IPTN solution adopting NASS/RACS architecture based on TISPAN standard. It resorts to distributed service awareness and a centralized calculation of network resources, so as to carry out user-based or service-based bandwidth QoS assurance and make services available, operable and manageable by means of telecommunications.

In the aspect of fast service deployment, Huawei released the multi-service control gateway ME60 measured up ITU-T Y.1291 standard, which is for the first time in this industry. ME60 can provide unified management and control of multi-service. Its introduction brings the opportunity for the operators to deploy new and existing services simultaneously, and will support the potential large-scale user and service expansion.

Moreover, according to the actual networking requirements of different operators, Huawei also provide IP bearer solutions based on optical transmit network. In 2005, Huawei successfully constructed the network bearing and transmitting multi-play services through optical MSTP and WDM for JAZZTEL in Spain. This is a carrier class multi-service transmit network, providing corresponding QoS for different services and service isolation for security. Its advantages are high reliability, manageable and operable.

Perfect security assurance mechanism

Rich content is crucial for operators to attract more subscribers and earning more added values. Therefore, operators should introduce and cooperate with more content providers and obtain abundant service content. The Multi-Play E2E solution of Huawei pre-integration has been performed between the Multi-Play E2E solution of Huawei, and the solutions of well-known DRM/CAS manufacturers such as Irdeto, NDS, and Beepscience, in order to protect the digital contents available from CPs and satisfy their requirements. As a result, operators can win the trust from CPs.

Unified service platform

An open service platform is the basis for creating a healthy Multi-Play service industrial chain. When establishing a service platform, operators should pay special attention to such factors as service openness and scalability. The Digital Media Center of Huawei's multi-play solution, on the basis of IMS architecture and idea, is responsible for the management, authentication and accounting of all services through a unified service management system. In the system, fixed and mobile streaming services are able to share the same platform, and MPEG-2/4 and H.264 encoding and decoding mode are all supported. This helps operators consolidate multi-CP/SP contents and services and provide many pleasant unified service experiences for subscribers. The Digital Media Center provides open interfaces, which allow convenient integration with applications of a third party, home gateways, set-top boxes, and operators' operation support systems, thus, helping operators to create a healthy industrial chain, and lay a solid foundation for a multi-win situation for all links in the industrial chain.

Reducing OPEX

As the network bearing more and more services, operators confront dual puzzle: on one hand, traffic volume increases while the revenue is not. The increase rate of CAPX rise for network expansion is higher than increase rate of service revenue rise. On the other hand, the OPEX of network is continuously increasing. How to reduce the OPEX of operable and manageable telecom network is the key for operators strengthen their competitive capability. Huawei utilizes open EMS/NMS, terminal auto distributing system and management system based on TR069 to fully support AMDF. As a result, operators can carry out service auto distribution and long-distance management to reduce TCO.

Working hand-in-hand

At present competition in the telecommunication industry is no longer confined to simple competition of services among operators. Instead, competition now involves the whole industrial chain, which supports new service and business models. Thus, the selection of strategic partners is of vital importance for operators.

Huawei's accumulated experience in successful cooperation with multiple leading global operators shows that, using a successful business models as a reference, to quickly create a Multi-Play industrial chain, with operators as the core, will not only release the development potentials of the broadband industry in providing Multi-Play services on viable scales, but also will help encourage traditional fixed network operators to transform themselves into becoming integrated information service providers.

Convergence era

While the communication era, with voice as its main feature, is virtually coming to an end, the convergence era, with Multi-Play services as its main feature, is drawing nigh. As a leading manufacturer of next generation network, Huawei is quite prepared for this transition when it comes. It has completed a comprehensive Multi-play solution, but also can provide operators business plan, TCO analysis, service/operation policy and all kinds of supports based on its powerful business consulting ability. Huawei also helps operators, by means of open service platforms, to quickly build up a healthy industrial value chain in order to achieve a multi-win situation for any and all parties involved in convergence.

For more information, please visit Huawei Technologies at Hall 1, Booth 1002.