TM Forum Online Community

Before you come along to a training course

Andrew Chalmers — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:53:00 GMT

Hello again,

I'm just back from an other adventure that included an unhappy interaction with the airline industry - if you like to see a man suffer, see my previous blog.This time I was booked on a flight that did not exist! When I arrived at the airport I felt a but like Harry Potter looking for the magical platform. The document said there was a flight but the departures board told a different story. Harry Potter caught his train I had to find another airline! Still third time lucky ( I hope).

A question that always comes up in a training class it that of what preparation is required before coming along. Some folks have used the frameworks for a time and are looking for the "official" perspective whilst other are new to the subject and come along with no experience at all. There is of course guidance on the forum website forum website for example Course requirements but a good rule of thumb is that introductory courses are for everyone. There a generally no pre-requisites to joining as everything is explained from first principles. However, attendees at our intermediate and advanced courses will certainly benefit from coming along to the introductory course before tackling one at the next level as these courses assume knowledge and go straight in at the deep end with little or no revision of the basics. So the maxim is, if in doubt ask!

Until next time

Cheers

Andrew

Can the iPad save CSPs?

The Insider — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:33:00 GMT

It’s not even being delivered yet but I bet most of you are already sick of hearing about the Apple iPad. If you are a CSP (Communications Service Provider) you are probably dreading the extra load it is going to put on your mobile network and how you won’t necessarily see an incremental increase in revenue. Think again! Rather than sitting around navel-gazing operators should be looking at the greatest potential use of iPad and similar devices and work out how to get onto the curve early. I wrote...(read more)

Google is no whisp of an isp

The Insider — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:14:00 GMT

A report released this week by Arbor Networks states that Google now boasts a network bigger than all but two of the world's ISPs. Don’t say you weren’t warned! The search giant looks like it’s just one step away from becoming an ISP itself. If it were, hypothetically speaking of course, it would now be the fastest growing one in the world and the third largest globally. The two leaders carry substantial volumes of Google transit themselves. More than half of its own traffic over its own network...(read more)

Where will the money come from?

Martin Creaner — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:11:00 GMT

Where will the next tranche of telecoms revenue come from. The conventional wisdom is that we will continue to grow and grow the available fixed and mobile bandwidth, and we will then monetize this through the delivery of multimedia entertainment services (High Definition Video and Music and Games). I just don't buy this vision of the future. For better or for worse, the world has grown to believe that on-line video and music (and possibly games) should be free. There are so many 'free' multimedia downloading sites on the internet, that the concept of the general public suddenly agreeing to pay for these in any significant numbers is hard to believe.

So where will the money come from? Advertising is one of the mechanisms that I personally believe in, and I have talked about this a number of times in my blog. This has great potential, but will be a savage battleground and not an untapped source of long-term wealth for the telcos. Other areas that I'm beginning to believe are the real gold mines are areas like Healthcare; Automotive, Home Management; Personal and Home Security, State Security. Each of these are things that people are already happy to pay for, have already budgeted for and are eminently suited to tele-applications. Remote monitoring of pace-makers and diabetes sufferers are two obvious candidates in health; constant remote monitoring of car engine performance; remote management of the home environment and home security and personal security; remote monitoring of convicted offenders. All of these are areas that may well be the future of the next generation telco.

Keep an eye out for a convergence where the major telco suppliers start acquiring innovative suppliers to the industries mentioned above!

Resilience to recession real, but expect reduced revenues in recovery

The Insider — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:07:00 GMT

The telecoms industry may have shown resilience during the recession but the focus on driving efficiencies and reducing costs looks set to continue, according to Ovum. A new report, entitled Telco Strategies for Recession and Recovery (March 2010) , examines how the economic downturn has impacted service providers and how they are shaping up for recovery. Ovum warns that although the economic downturn hasn’t resulted in the downward pressure on telco top lines that many expected, revenue growth is...(read more)

Forget H1N1, now there's a brain cancer epidemic coming?

The Insider — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:33:00 GMT

Maine (USA) legislators continue their determination of a bill requiring mobile phones to carry health warnings about the dangers of brain cancer. Supporters of the bill claim that Ignoring the health risks of heavy cell phone use invites a cancer epidemic, despite the fact that there is little scientific evidence supporting the claim. "We can do nothing and wait for the body count. That's what happened with smoking before warnings on cigarette packs were mandated”, David Carpenter, director...(read more)

Dumb Pipe vs. Smart Pipe: A Futile Discussion?

Monica Zlotogorski — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:32:00 GMT

My background is not in telecom or software development, but business. Perhaps that is why I get lost in translation when our industry discusses the future role of Communications Service Providers (CSPs) in terms of dumb pipes or smart pipes. In my view, the discussion should probably go in a different direction. According to Wikipedia, the term smart pipe refers to “an operator’s network which leverages existing or unique service capabilities as well as the operator’s own customer relationships...(read more)

Cloud goes app crazy!

The Insider — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:38:00 GMT

Google looks to do for the ‘cloud’ what Apple successfully did for the mobile world by setting up a Cloud-based app store. But that could be easier said than done. For third-party apps to successfully proliferate in this environment they will first have be integrated with existing Google Apps. The Google Apps Marketplace is an online store where Google Apps users can browse different cloud-based applications and select from a suite of online tools. The ability to share data between existing apps...(read more)

Using TM Forum Frameworx: A Developer’s View

John Reilly — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:26:00 GMT

Back in China this week, working on my chop stick skills and have now mastered (almost) the art of taking noodles, one of my favorites, out of a big bowl without leaving most of them in the bowl or all over the table! Also, tried some new things– cold goose with fresh chopped garlic and a soup of mushroom and donkey..that’s right donkey.

Speaking of noodles, I often call my brain my noodle or when trying to come up with an answer to a question, I often say “I am noodling it out”. So, here I’ll noodle out a question about how a developer could use the four frameworks that make up TM Forum Frameworx. Yes, I was a developer at one point in my life and I continue to work with them!

The obvious choice to start is the TM Forum Interfaces, which are part of the Integration Framework. A wealth of information can be found on the TM Forum Interface Program web pages. There is everything from ready-made interfaces that meet a variety of requirements to design guidelines in case an interface needs to be developed. Many of the interfaces come with reference implementations and compliance test suites. There is a tool to help with the development of new interfaces and extensions to existing interfaces. And, for those interested in a service oriented approach, The Integration Framework’s suite of guide books (GB942 series) may be of interest.

But there is more. Inquisitive developers often wonder about the source of the requirements that drove the development of the interfaces. Here is where the Business Process Framework eTOM) comes into play. Tasks that are performed by individuals or applications are contained in this framework. The descriptions of the tasks can be seen as a set of draft functional requirements for applications and their associated interfaces. Of course, more detail has to be added.

And, where does the content of the interfaces that are exposed to applications come from? The Information Framework (SID) fills this need for the TM Forum interfaces and can fill this need for interfaces not available from the TM Forum.

Not to forget another important ingredient of an application – the database. The SID can also be used as a starting point for database design for those in the development community that are involved in this type of work.

Lastly, from a Frameworx perspective, what are applications in which the interfaces can be used? Can any assistance be provided to defining application boundaries? This is where the Application Framework (TAM) comes into play. The TAM provides a template of applications that possess well defined boundaries.

For more you can visit the TM Forum’s Developer Community at… http://www.tmforum.org/community/groups/forum_developers_group/default.aspx

I’ll be traveling to Delhi, India the week after next, so look for another blog from there…

Getting into bed with the banks - creating a mobile money marketplace

Martin Creaner — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:17:00 GMT

One of the hot topics that I'm predicting is going to dominateour thinking by the end of this year is the topic of Mobile Money. Thishas had an interesting niche role for the past few years in Africa and Asiawhere the mobile infrastructure & credit is being used as an alternative tolegal tender in regimes with either high inflation or little generalaccess to banking facilities. That in itself is an interestingdevelopment, but in parallel with this we have seen a serious growth in mobilepayment, using near field technology, in developed nations such as Japan & Korea for small purchases likeparking, vending machines and cinema tickets.

An announcement today from China Mobile that they are buying a 20% stake in theShanghai Pudong Bank isanother very significant development. This announcement states that "...ChinaMobile joins telecommunications operators in Japan and South Korea that haveagreements with banks to offer payment services via cellphones as a way togenerate additional revenue. Most recently, South Korea's biggest telecomoperator by revenue, SK Telecom Co., agreed late last year to buy a 49% stakein the credit card unit of Hana Financial Group for $343 million to introduceproducts that bundle banking and telecom services...".

We already are seeing lite versions of this in Europe with mobile micro payments facilitated by SMS etc.., but I can't envision a future where the full-on payments approach doesn't rapidly migrate to Europe and USA, where an overwhelming portion of the population view their mobile device as the one device they never want to leave (and thats ahead of wallet, purse, car keys, medication, etc..). So keep a weather eye out for M&A discussions between banks and major operators!

Anyone seeing this happening already?