For Immediate Release
1200 G Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20005 202/628-6380 202/393-5453 (fax)	Contact: John Bernhards Director of Public Relations Phone: 202/434-8850 E-mail: jbernhards@atis.org

Committee T1 Announces First Application for Telecommunications Markup Language (tML)

August 7, 2001 Washington, D.C. - Standards Committee T1 Technical Subcommittee T1M1 - sponsored by the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) - completed the initial stages of standards formulation for tML (telecommunications Markup Language). The initial tML standard application provides support for DSL Service Provisioning OSS (Operations Support System) Interconnection.

The tML is the telecom-specific derivative of XML (eXtensible Markup Language), which is expected to become the standard for OSS transactions. Just as other industries, such as the automobile industry, have their own XML derivatives for communications among trading partners for e-commerce, so too will the telecommunications industry via tML. The expected benefits of using tML include lower OSS development costs, lower operating costs, more flexible systems integration, and improved time to market.

The general aspects of T1M1's work efforts on tML are in the process of being submitted to the International Telecommunication Union-Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) as a contribution toward an international recommendation.

"The progress in the tML project has been astounding - T1M1 is truly leading and aligning the industry with tML - this is to the credit of the devoted members of T1M1. The rapid progress will bring the business benefits to fruition in a more timely manner," said Mike Fargano, T1M1 Chairman.

In an effort to ensure broad acceptance of the tML standard, Committee T1 collaborated with many industry organizations, including the ATIS-sponsored Telecommunications Industry Forum (TCIF) and its Electronic Communications Implementation Committee (ECIC) and DSL Forum. ECIC completed the Telecommunication Interchange Markup Guide - an industry guideline that was developed to allow carriers and vendors to exchange technical documentation using XML tags.

"Committee T1 has demonstrated again that openness, transparency, and due-process are enablers to progress. The work of T1MI, ECIC and DSL Forum is a clear example of how cooperative efforts across multiple forums can lead to successful, important results for the entire industry," said Ray Hapeman, Committee T1 Chairman.

T1M1's DSL-specific tML work is based on a soon to be released Technical Reference document by DSL Forum that defines the management interface for DSL service flow-through fulfillment. This DSL Forum Technical Reference will serve as the basis of industry and service provider requirements for DSL service fulfillment.

DSL Forum's technical research and best practices on Service Flow-Through Fulfillment are designed to accommodate the DSL market to facilitate:

• Common order sharing - tracking customer contact, order and loop qualification status and invoicing details - arming providers with accurate and timely information that can be relayed to customers via call center, automated attendant or the Internet.
  

• Standard order deployment - ensuring faster delivery of DSL modem equipment and service provisioning to the customer premises.

• Common Customer information records - giving technical support organizations better "upstream" visibility to the DSL network provider.

"Successful and rapid DSL deployment depends significantly on clear, standardized service fulfillment information between ISPs (Internet Service Provider), DLECs (Data Local Exchange Carrier), and ILECs (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier)," said William Rodey, DSL Forum chairman and president. "DSL Forum's collaborative work with Committee T1M1 on service flow-through fulfillment will help DSL providers address these needs while also widening profit margins by making significant savings in provision time and deployment costs. DSL Forum is pleased its work will be utilized towards the creation of a possible ITU standard."

Absent of any major requirements issues, it is likely that a set of Letter Ballots for the tML standard for the DSL Service Flow Through management interface will be generated out of the November T1M1 meeting. Further information about the T1M1 meeting schedule and documentation plan can be found in Document T1M1/2001-120, available via the Internet at: (ftp://ftp.t1.org/T1M1/M1.0/2001/1M101200.pdf).

About Standards Committee T1

Standards Committee T1 develops American National Standards, technical reports, technical requirements, and specifications for telecommunications services, network interconnection, interoperability, and performance. Committee T1 provides technical input to the United States Department of State supporting U.S. participation in international standards bodies. More than 1,500 telecommunications engineers and technologists bring their expertise to Committee T1's six technical subcommittees. Committee T1 is a founding member of the Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) group of regional standards development organizations and works closely with the FCC on network reliability issues. Committee T1 is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). More information is available via the Committee T1 Web site at www.t1.org.

About ATIS

The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) is a member company organization that is the leader for standards and operating procedures for the telecommunications industry. Nearly 3,000 experts from more than 500 telecommunications companies participate in ATIS committees, whose work focus includes network interconnection standards, number portability, improved data transmission, wireless communications, Internet telephony, toll-free access, and order and billing issues. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) frequently refers operations issues to ATIS committees for recommended solutions. Members of ATIS and committee participants include, but are not limited to, telecommunications service providers, manufacturers, software developers, resellers, enhanced service providers, and providers of operations support. For more information, visit the ATIS web site www.atis.org.

About DSL Forum

DSL Forum is a consortium of more than 330 leading industry telecommunications, equipment, computing, networking and service provider companies. Established in 1994, the Forum continues its drive for a mass market for DSL, to deliver the benefits of this technology to end users around the world over existing copper telephone wire infrastructures. Details about forthcoming events, DSL Forum and DSL are available on DSL Forum's web site at www.dslforum.org with information for end-users at www.dsllife.com.

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