IP Migration : Sparkle, founder and leading the pack
Eight major global carriers announce today at the Opening Plenary Session of International Telecoms Week (ITW) 2008, they are joining together and leveraging their communications’ expertise to propose a set of comprehensive recommendations on how to implement and foster the transition of International Voice interconnections to IP. This groundbreaking group, called “i3 Forum” includes AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, SingTel, Telecom Italia Sparkle, Telekomunikacja Polska, Telefonica IWS and Teliasonera International Carrier. These eight founders manage 40% of the world’s international carrier-to-carrier traffic and represent major operators with extensive fixed and mobile domestic networks, with an aggregated retail base of over 1 billion customers in more than 80 countries. This unified effort to expediate global Voice over IP implementation is a first in the telecommunications industry, and destined to change the way we communicate globally.
The i3 Forum will leverage its extensive industry knowledge to help the industry transition its international bilateral voice to IP. The longer-term objective of i3 Forum will be to contribute to, explore and promote innovative services within the International telecommunications sector, while considering international service interconnection requirements for different players and services. The desired end result of this collaboration means end-users will be able to enjoy IP-enabled services and applications, such as streaming video and high-bandwidth conference sessions and voice calls across all networks.
The i3 Forum’s approach is simple: pragmatic and fast decision-making to assure efficiency and focus. i3 Forum founders have invested in high quality networks of their own, to provide any quality requirement and to satisfy any customer need in terms of quality and price ratio - for any destination.
It is envisaged the i3 Forum’s recommendations will help carriers’ worldwide to migrate to all-IP networks in an efficient manner.
Even before announcing the forum to the global wholesale telecommunications community at ITW2008, i3 Forum’s efforts have already yielded results. The i3 Forum will be sharing its implementation and service guidelines, complete with technical specifications and a mapping of service quality to implementation alternatives and operational mechanisms, to the delegates of ITW2008. This three-day conference, held at Hilton Washington in Washington DC ends on Wednesday, June 4. If you are interested in learning more and speaking to the i3 Founders, please come to the event and register on-site.
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About I3 Forum
The i3 Forum was founded in Q4 2007 by 8 majors International Carriers, AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, SingTel, Telecom Italia Sparkle, Telekomunikacja Polska, Telefonica IWS and Teliasonera International Carrier. These carriers represent over 40% of international, carrier-to-carrier voice traffic. With this extensive fixed and mobile expertise, the i3 Forum is committed to helping the telecommunications industry transition its international bilateral voice to IP by fostering a faster and more efficient migration. For more information contact Stefano Olivieri, Telecom Italia Sparkle.
i3forum@telecomitaliasparkle.com