Convergence

Convergence is a hot topic these days. IT people speak about it. Network people speak about it. Each has similar yet unique points of view. However, I believe both domains share a common set of drivers of convergence.

I think at the most fundamental level, the primary driver of convergence is the recognition that all media and content is digital in nature and should traverse a common "stack", whether you are talking about the infrastructure "stack" or application "stack". Finally, we have reached an evolutionary point with the various technologies (radio access network, edge and core, signaling, device operating system, BSS/OSS) where they can finally support convergence of services.

For those of you that don't know, carrier networks today have, for the most part, a separate network for data and a separate network for voice. As an example, data services like Internet surfing use a separate billing and rating system from that used by voice. In addition, voice and data use different and separate signaling systems. The Holy Grail is to have a common radio access network, billing and rating system, signaling system, and device "stack" for voice and data. Some of the hindrances to this have been quality of service issues and latency on the data network as it relates to the transport of voice services. Moreover, rating of large volumes of voice as a data service has often times proven problematic. There have been other issues, but these are two fairly significant ones. Enhancements to the protocols in the core and radio access networks have minimized the quality of service issues and latency issues. More efficient processing algorithms within modern rating systems have mitigated the scaling issues that have hampered legacy rating engines.

So what are some of the benefits of a fully converged system? Managing one network is easier. Moreover, there are cost efficiencies to running one network versus two. End-user services can be blended and delivered and billed in ways not possible with two networks. As an example of a blended service, including live video in a voice conversation between two users allowing the respective users to see the video as they converse. This is only possible in a cost efficient and customer friendly way with convergence. Another example is blended prepay and postpaid services. Imagine family accounts where the parents want the kids on their account but only want the kids to share the adult or family minutes via a prepay mechanism. Or, how about an account where the account holder wants their voice rated as prepaid but data services as prepay. All of these scenarios really require some type of convergence and ideally full convergence. So, people ask me all the time what I think of convergence. This is what I tell them and some of the key examples or use cases I use in describing what convergence means.

A couple of other key areas to consider when discussing convergence, in addition to those I mentioned already: product catalog, content management ingestion and delivery, billing and invoicing, and operational support systems. From a practical standpoint, some of these still can't be converged yet from a purist's point of view. Nevertheless, great progress has been made.