For Immediate Release
ATIS 1200 G Street, NW Suite 500 Washington, DC 20005	Contact: Trish Gessner Phone: 202-434-8851 E-mail: tgessner@atis.org www.atis.org

Service Providers, Manufacturers Meld Diverse Perspectives into Common Set of NGN Requirements for North American Markets

December 6, 2004, Washington – ATIS today announced it has developed a North American framework of requirements for Next Generation Networks (NGN) and will work with other regions through the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to develop a global definition and set of standards for NGN.

The ATIS NGN Framework is the first comprehensive set of next-gen requirements delivered internationally from the North American telecommunications industry. ATIS’ large and diverse membership of companies from across the telecommunications industry provided the forum to assemble a comprehensive and common set of technical requirements and to deliver them to the industry’s global standards community.

The framework defines a high-level architecture for NGN that meets the business and wide-scale deployment needs of the industry’s leading telecommunications companies in the region. Other principal communications standards development organizations worldwide also are in the process of defining NGN requirements for their constituencies.

Next generation networks will take communications beyond vertical silos of function and capability to one packet-based network delivering multiple services that are accessible by multiple types of devices. In addition to an architecture for future network services, the ATIS Framework also includes requirements for new networks to interface seamlessly with existing communications systems.

“The convergence of wireless and wireline services, circuit switched and IP networks, as well as voice and other media is creating exciting opportunities to bring new services to the telecommunications market,” said Bill Smith, Chairman of the ATIS Board and CTO of BellSouth. “The ATIS Framework and the potential for global standards will help us put the disparate parts of the communications puzzle together and roll out the customized, convenient advanced services that go well beyond our current capabilities.”

“Coordinating the industry and creating standards that meet real business needs will help speed delivery of the ‘one-network,’ anytime, anywhere user experience,” said Susan M. Miller, president and CEO of ATIS. “Working with other regional bodies to create a common global framework for standards will enable greater interoperability for next generation communications around the world.”

The document is a product of the ATIS Technology and Operations Council (TOPS) and is driven by the identified business needs of the North American market. The eventual goal is to produce, to the extent practical, a set of common international NGN standards that allow for the accommodation of regulatory, business and infrastructure requirements.

About the TOPS Council

The TOPS Council is a standing committee of the ATIS Board of Directors and is chaired by Balan Nair, CTO of Qwest. It is responsible for identifying the industry’s chief technical and operational priorities and coordinating necessary standards work within ATIS and with external standards organizations globally. The TOPS Council is comprised of chief technology officers and other senior executives from the communications industry’s leading companies and its standards work plans guide the advancement of suites of necessary standards that result in interoperable, implementable, end-to-end solution for priority issues.

About ATIS

ATIS is a technical planning and standards development organization that is committed to rapidly developing and promoting technical and operations standards for the communications and related information technologies industry worldwide using a pragmatic, flexible and open approach. Participants from more than 350 communications companies are active in ATIS’ 20 industry committees, and its Incubator Solutions Program. www.atis.org

-30-