[enum-wg] ENUM Adoption - Does a business case matter?

Hi!

> 2nd - the "new IMS network" that will appear in a couple of years.

Hopefully.

Right now, for example, I don't now of anyone who could offer me
end-to-end QoS over the Internet. I may be wrong, but I see no movement
at all in that direction. Well, maybe in other places of the world? I am
speaking about consumer trunks here and I am speaking about the
Internet, not about offers for corporate networks and QoS which works as
long as the traffic stays with one carrier.

> Yes. What kind of information/pressure can be applied to the regulator
> to force the ENUM querying by the operators? Open the market to small
> operators? Detach numbers from landline/mobile service? What can be
> the drive to this change?

"Open the market to small [innovative] operators?" would typically be an
argument that the regulator might listen to. Though the argument would
have to come from one of those small, innovative operators.

Critical mass is definitely an argument, no doubt.

Of course, one could think about making attempts to generate a critcial
mass outside the PSTN world at first to have a good argument then for
the PSTN operators to give their users a reasonable access to that cloud.

But then I am stuck again.

IMO there are two types of telephony:

1. PC based telephony. This is the people who spend their lives (or a
major portion of it) in front of computers. Now if I want to use a
computer to make and receive phone calls, would I care about ENUM or
rather call directly to SIP addresses which are so much easier to
remember and easy to type on a computer?

2. Handset based telephony. This is whenever I *don't* have a computer,
i.e. on the move, where I don't have my own computer that has the proper
Internet connection and VoIP software (in the office of my employer, in
the university, ...). Handset based telephony means GSM in more and more
cases. Where it's not GSM but landline, still, it's those devices with a
keypad that has *01234567890# and on which it would be quite cumbersome
to type an alphanumeric address. This is what ENUM was made for IIUC.

When we speak about GSM, the operator is the only one who can do
anything about ENUM.

When we speak about landlines (fixed phones, DECT phones) then there is
a whole dilemma again.

I just bought a snom m3. A genuinely designed VoIP DECT phone. First of
all, it cost 3-5 times the price of a simple ATA / PSTN DECT phone,
approx. 150 EUR versus offers starting at 29,00 EUR and below. And guess
 if it has ENUM support; even optionally?

I mean, what scares me as that even the people who make VoIP don't seem
to believe in ENUM at all. snom could market this telephone saying: Call
everywhere in the world for free. (*) With (* = if the called party has
an ENUM domain.) Why don't they do that? Because they didn't have the
idea or because they don't want to. (Anyone from snom, AVM, LinkSys, on
this list?)

One could build a PC app which uses ENUM, but (see above) I would have a
problem explaining someone why she should use it and not use SIP
straight or ... and that's what 95% of the people around me do ... Skype.

I am out of ideas. Sorry.

Regards,
Torsten

Rui Ribeiro schrieb:
> Hi Torsten,
> 
>>> User ENUM will pushes governments,
>>> regulators, operators and companies to the new paradigm.
>> One possibly extremely successful method would be to convince Skype that
>> they do ENUM lookups on their SkypeOut service and deliver the call via
>> IP (and free of extra charge, of course) if there is a valid IP target
>> returned or to offer a way to terminate skype: URLs as a means of
>> SkypeIn. Both would boost ENUM! The only problem: SkypeIn and SkypeOut
>> as they are are sources of revenue for Skype.
> 
> What I see in this situation is that Skype is assumed as a non "public
> protocol" firm. Everything about skype is "closed", while the
> internet, ENUM and SIP are on the other way. You have to see also that
> the value of ENUM is the same as Skype, the size of the network. More
> the users, more the value of the network. I believe that Skype has
> already reached it's critical mass, while ENUM didn't. Why should
> skype "give a hand" to ENUM? Will it have some kind of "business
> case"? Any advantage in it? Don't think so.
> 
> If skype starts to support SIP, then ENUM has a chance... does any one
> knows if they will support SIP soon?
> 
>>> The second will be to "force" operators to question the ENUM tree
>> I think they are doing that a lot, unfortunately. ;-)
> 
> LoL! (good thinking...)
> 
>> No, sorry, but I think here you don't say what you mean. I guess you
>> meant to say:
>>
>> The second will be to "force" operators to *query* the ENUM tree
>>
>> I agree with you that - as much as I hate saying this - it will have to
>> be the regulator who needs to so something about this.
> 
> Yes. What kind of information/pressure can be applied to the regulator
> to force the ENUM querying by the operators? Open the market to small
> operators? Detach numbers from landline/mobile service? What can be
> the drive to this change?
> 
>> Unless someone
>> could come up with a different compensation for the network operators
>> for the lost revenue of IP termination.
> 
> I really don't think that there will be any "lost of revenue". You
> have to think in two ways:
> 
> 1st - the "traditional PSTN network" that was up until 2004. The
> cost/revenue model was based on circuits fees and voice calls. The
> operator received per call. The interconnect rates were high, and the
> business model was there for decades...
> 
> 2nd - the "new IMS network" that will appear in a couple of years. The
> cost/revenue model will/is based on broadband access, bandwidth,
> quality of service, while voice will be just a commodity. It will
> bundled... in fact, they will be happy not to pay anything to
> interconnect carriers to deliver the call. More the users with ENUM,
> more the revenue (less the cost) for the call initiator.
> 
> The problem is the present... the 1st model is moving towards the 2nd
> and no one knows/wants to take the first step.
> 
>> If you need any links in / information about German telco regulation,
>> feel free to ask me.
> 
> Yes, I need some information. I will contact you personally. Thanks.
> 
> Thank you all,
> 
> Rui Ribeiro
> racribeiro at gmail.com