Next-generation telco IT architectures and transformation to support service production and operation in all-IP (NGN) networks [Guest Editorial]

Recent years have witnessed the convergence of the traditional telco world to the IT and media worlds. With the migration to all-IP NGN networks to deliver next-generation telecommunication services, the service production infrastructure will undergo fundamental changes. Today's communication service provider (CSP) architectures are based on separate stovepipes for fixed, mobile, and data services. In the pre-NGN era the business logic was mainly integrated in the software controlled digital switches.