Wires crossed on common ground

By PETER GRIFFIN Telecoms writer


A Government-funded project set up to look at network interoperability issues has hit a roadblock - the Telecommunications Users group has pulled its support for the initiative.

The Broadband for all New Zealanders project has been ticking along for the past six months, with its membership including Tuanz, the IT Association, Telecom, TelstraClear, Broadcast Communications, Alcatel and Cisco Systems.

Set up by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, which has contracted its administration to InternetNZ, the group is aiming to set technical standards to ensure wireless and fixed networks are compatible with each other.

But Tuanz has criticised the initiative, saying on its website that the imposition of a wide range of standards on the industry is potentially dangerous.

"Procedurally the best way to secure users against interoperability problems is through the contracts let to vendors. In the case of [Project] Probe we know the Government is aware of the issue and we expect that watertight clauses on interoperability will be included in the contracts."

Tuanz chairman Graeme Osborne said Tuanz had abstained from voting on resolutions passed by the group, which he thought would only serve to duplicate other initiatives and waste money.

"The scope of the project has grown to a level we think is incorrect. We're not 100 per cent comfortable with it."

But industry insiders say Tuanz's opposition has more to do with the increasingly political issue of who gets what funding.

The initiative, ironically, is headed by former Tuanz chairman Judith Speight, who is being employed part time on the project. Speight remains a member of the Tuanz board but leaves board meetings when the project is discussed.

She said less than $100,000 had so far been secured for the initiative.

"It's not about establishing a new organisation or expensive funding," said Speight.

She had also been asked to head e-Regions, an organisation that will promote broadband uptake in the regions in the wake of the Probe tendering. That body is also seeking Government funding.

Earlier this year, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise said there were too many Government-funded IT industry groups and that consolidation would be necessary.

It had identified at least 46 significant groups and up to 300 with an interest in IT and communications.

But as the Government preaches consolidation, new IT bodies are being set up, the most significant of which is the Hi Growth Project.

Headed by Catherine Calarco, the former head of defunct online marketplace Onezone, the project's aim is to implement the ICT Taskforce's report that proposed building 100 new $100 million ICT companies within 10 years.

The executive director of InternetNZ, Peter Macaulay, said the opposition by Tuanz was "bizarre".

"It's cutting of their nose to spite their face."

It was important to have Tuanz involved because the initiative sought to have input from end users, which Tuanz represents.

"We don't need them [to continue] but we want representation of the user community."

He said 12 major interoperability issues had been identified by the group, including consistency of packet delivery across grid computing to ensuring voice over internet protocols work over multiple networks.

Representing Wellington network provider CityLink in the group, Neil De Witt said the group's work so far had widespread support but a framework for standard setting had yet to be drawn up. Tuanz said it would continue to turn up to meetings of the group but only as an observer.


What is interoperability?

* International standards such as ITU-T, 3GPP and IMT-2000 already exist to ensure interoperability between fixed line and wireless networks.

* A wide range of fledgling wireless technologies are being deployed by companies including Woosh Wireless, Broadcast Communications, Wired Country, Pacific. Net and TelstraClear which interconnect with Telecom's circuit-switched and network.

* Some of the technologies employed have different architectures, upstream and downstream connection speeds, latency issues and different methods of delivering voice, video and data, creating interoperability issues with video conferencing and other applications.

* Standardisation is necessary to ensure reliable service delivery, eliminate packet loss, jittery video streams and codec delays.