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

ATIS Roadmap Paves the Path for Next Generation Networks

ATIS NGN Framework Part II Released to International Standards Bodies

August 18, 2005, Washington – ATIS today announced that the ATIS Next Generation Network (NGN) Framework Part II: NGN Roadmap 2005 has been approved by its board and sent to international standards bodies with which it is collaborating for global NGN standards.

The purpose of the NGN Roadmap is to document the phasing and prioritization of network capabilities to ensure the deployment of the NGN and its services in a coherent manner. It focuses on the underlying service enablers that will allow many potential new services to be introduced on the NGN rather than identifying specific services.

“The communications landscape is changing rapidly, and ATIS is a leader in efforts to ensure service providers, equipment manufacturers, and other telecommunications companies are sharing the same vision and goal for a ubiquitous network,” said Susan Miller, president and CEO of ATIS. “The NGN will be IP-based, delivering voice, data, video and services we can’t even imagine today to consumers over any device, anywhere. Our industry is breaking out of the traditional silos of function and capabilities and building a network that will be the infrastructure for the next generation, and generations to come.”

Building on the necessary service enablers identified in November 2004 ATIS NGN Framework Part I: NGN Definitions, Requirements and Architecture, the recently published Roadmap prioritizes the enablers that require the most immediate attention, and targets a standardized deployment in the network no later than year-end 2007. Supporting standards are targeted for availability by mid-year 2006.

These prioritized enablers include: unified user profile, which would enable service capabilities to be accessed from a range of locations and devices; security; presence; admission control based on service requirements and capacity, which enables the reliable delivery of real-time services; service transparency; QoS; accounting settlement; Ordering, Administration, and Management (OAM); multicast; address resolution; digital rights management; user control of profile/services; media resource functions; and group management.

The NGN Roadmap 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.

ATIS’ next step will be to conduct a gap analysis of required standards supporting the prioritized enablers as well as identify existing standards or those in development within international standards bodies.

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’ 23 industry committees and Incubator Solutions Program. www.atis.org

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