Tom Rebbeck, Analysys, UK

Faced with declining revenues from core services, new multimedia services, such as high definition television and video on demand, offer telecoms operators an avenue for growing future revenues. With traditional media companies and new entrants also circling, telecoms operators will need to break out of their network mentality, if they are to successfully position themselves as more than just access providers.  
This session will cover the competition between telecoms and media companies in shaping the future of next generation multimedia services. It will give Analysys’ view on the value of these new multimedia services and the value chains that will be put in place for delivering these services.
The session will explore::

• the plans of European incumbents for NGN investment
• the drivers behind these investment plans
• potential demand for new multimedia services
• the regulation of next generation access networks and multimedia, including the issue of net neutrality
• the positioning of different players in exploiting this market, including non-traditional players

The session will examine and illuminate key networks requirements and capabilities for multimedia content delivery, with emphasis given to ( but not limited to):

• Basic differences in deploying multimedia services over NGN infrastructure or over internet; 
• QoS assurance, Service level agreements (SLA) management, network security issues, providing network resilience, assuring end user privacy; 
• Service creation environment, service inter-working and interoperability;  
• Service discovery and access procedures, roaming scenarios; 
• Distribution of functional entities between SDP and AS;
• Collaboration models between SDP providers and AS providers; 
• APIs between SDPs and AS environments, with an emphasis on ParlayX API; 

Speakers may also give the attention to network capabilities required to deliver multimedia services securely, with guaranteed QoS, efficient end-user registration and authentication procedures like Single Sign On (SSO), etc…

Ishai Rosmarin, AcmePacket

Today’s broadband networks are expected to deliver an ever increasing amount of valuable revenue-generating services such as voice, video, data and mobility.  As the demands get greater, the stakes get higher.  Security challenges from basic customer authentication, to theft of bandwidth, to denial of service attacks become extremely complex.  Consumers demand that their entertainment and communication experiences be of the same high quality and reliability of their non-IP counterparts.  Service providers are also looking for new technologies that differentiate them from the competition, and simultaneously create new revenue opportunities and increase ARPU.  As a result, aspects such as security, service assurance, revenue and profit protection, and service reach become increasingly important for both the underlying network and the service offerings.  This session will address the business challenges in delivering a satisfying customer experience over today’s and tomorrow’s broadband networks and explore the technical solutions available to meet those challenges.  Issues that will be explored include:

• Assessing the real VoIP security threats and ways to mitigate them 
• Factors that can impact VoIP call quality and resources available to ensure premium services 
• Solutions to bridge heterogeneous networks for FMC and mobility applications 
• Technology to optimize network usage and profitability

• What challenges network operator to move to Quadruple play 
• The „How does IMS relate to Quadruple Play“ question
• Towards open independent testbeds
• Open IMS Playground Extensions and Projects in 2007

Digital home environment is becoming one of the service provider’s battlefields for the broadband end user attraction. Broadband connections gives service and content providers the ability to deliver different voice, video and data content to the digital home, mix them together in variety of ways in order to offer new attractive services beyond triple play solutions. The panelists shall give the attention not only to technology solutions, but also explaining the business models for efficient service offerings.
Topics to be covered in this session:

• Home networking, home gateways requirements and interconnection to operator’s NGN environments;  
• Extended (connected) digital home environment (service creation and service provisioning environments for connected digital home); 
• Advanced multimedia services and user scenarios beyond pure triple play solutions for digital home; 
• Entertainment services (on-line gaming, Advanced Audio and Video (streaming) services, …);
• Opportunities for new communication and on-line collaboration services based on the use of multimedia telephony, data collaboration, messaging, etc…;
• Home automation and intelligent ambient service scenarios (security and surveillance services, remote appliance monitoring and control, ambient assisted living);

Selim Tolaj & Bojan Imperl, Iskratel, Slovenia

In highly competitive markets service providers that introduce IPTV solutions and compete with established cable, satellite, DTH and other operators, have better prospects for setting up their market-entry strategy and for further development.
With integration of established interactive services that are mainly well-known in mobile, internet and fixed networks, operators can offer advanced multimedia services beyond pure triple play solutions. The basic services such as Caller-ID, Chat, e-mail and SMS, can be amended with more complex ones such as Click-to-Dial, Presence, Missed call catcher, Voice service control, Televoting, Interactive Meteo Info, and the like. The personalization of the services, adjustment to different user requirements, quality assurance of the services provided and connection to BSS/OSS systems are important aspects of implementing these services.

Connecting IPTV platform to other networks and maximum utilization of existing services is very important for operators. 
Interactive communication services over TV, which are a building block to IMS, can provide the operator with a powerful tool to respond to the rapidly changing market requirements and adapt the range of services to the competitive market.

Pierre-Yves Danet, Orange-France Telecom Group, France 

Networked and Electronic Media (NEM) is one of the European Industrial Initiatives, also known as Technology Platforms, established by relevant key European stakeholders, which address the convergence of media, communications, consumer electronics, and IT as a wide opportunity for future growth, by taking advantage of generalized broadband access, increased mobility, availability of richer media formats and contents, as well as new home networks and communications platforms.

Konrad Steblovnik, Gorenje, Slovenia

ESTIA project focuses on the design and development of technologies for efficient personalized management of audiovisual content and white goods functions, locally within the home. This goal will be achieved by specifying the required resources at:

• network infrastructure, 
• communications components (residential gateways and communication interfaces), 
• machine-to-machine interfaces, 
• middleware and service levels, with a view to enable seamless audiovisual content manipulation on users terminals in personalized manner. 

The main research challenge is to develop strategies for localized AV content distribution and white goods management and enhance the role of the residential gateway, currently used for simple interconnection purposes. Project started beginning of the year 2006 and ends end of the year 2007 and is organized in the ESTIA consortium with the participation of the following companies: Alcatel, Siemens, Gorenje, B/S/H, Thales, Keletron, Teletel, TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF DENMARK - COM Center.

Roy Kirsopp, VP and General Manager, Amino, Cambridge - UK

Consumers demand multi-play solutions (the concept of any content in any device), and the vision of a ‘connected home’ is increasingly appealing to the discerning homeowner.  However, for the connected home to become ubiquitous, some technical and commercial challenges must be overcome. Externally, IP networks are the obvious choice for delivery to the home. Telco’s are making enormous investments in IP networks, with many cable and satellite operators following suit.  The transmission medium and physical layer may evolve, but IP is here to stay. The situation within the connected home is more complex and although many standards exist, IP is likely to become the protocol of choice. Consumers have already widely accepted it (given the fast growth of broadband penetration globally), and it is supported by existing or more advanced new infrastructure.
The presentation would examine how the connected home would be delivered, building the picture from the bottom up:

• Multi-play: what devices would be connected (flexibility, content sharing, portability and who picks up the cost for this)
• Interfacing ethernet and coax - case study of 1st IPTV connected home deployment in the US
• Broadband over Power Lines technology
• The need for wireless - using case studies from Amino’s pioneering experience

Miran Nikolič, Siol, Slovenia

SiOL is the leading Slovenian internet service provider. It is a connectivity and content provider with innovative communications solutions that enhance users' life styles. Access-only business is not enough. Multimedia services and content is now our priority. Consumers require a compelling bundle of multimedia services, telephony, and other enhanced IP-driven broadband applications. In september 2003 SiOL, among the first in the world, started the implementation of the so-called triple play strategy with the launch of IPTV or television via ADSL. In March 2007 the new group of multimedia services (VoD, NPVR) is introduced. The presentation will examine the implementation challenges and future vision towards quadruple play and beyond.

Konstantin Savin, ZNIIS Technopark, Rusia

The wide experience of carrying out of tests of NGN technical means on a model network of TechnoPark ZNIIS has allowed bringing the big contribution to creation of concepts and specifications of NGN testing in the new research period 2005-2008 in ITU-T (e.g. Recommendation Q.3900 “Methods of testing and model network architecture for NGN technical means testing as applied to public telecommunication networks”).
The main idea, introduced by ZNIIS, is that the testing process shall incorporate two levels responsible for NGN Technical means (TM) testing (NGN TM local testing) and testing of comprehensive NGN solutions and the telecommunication services implemented with the aid of them (network under test – NUT). NUT testing includes interoperability testing which proves the end-to-end functionality between (at least) two NGN TM as required by those base systems' standards and some additional test sets as functional testing, QoS testing, service testing and others.
Also ZNIIS is now developing a new recommendation Q.tt3 “Distribution of tests and services for NGN technical means testing in model and operator networks”. This recommendation defines the necessary list of tests used in model and operator networks during the testing of NGN technical means, solutions and services.