User centric QoS standards and challenges for the future

Until the post privatisation and liberalisation era, standards on Quality of Service (QoS) were mainly network centric. With the onset of the commercial and cultural changes arising from the privatisation and liberalisation, user's demands and interests were slowly recognised and user centric standards work were undertaken. Currently the approach has evolved over time on an ad hoc basis. The purpose of this paper is to create an awareness of the need to focus professionally the management of user centric QoS standards by addressing some of the main issues and challenges facing the ICT (including telecommunications) industry. Recommendations are based on author's involvement in consultancies related to QoS as well as standards work for ETSI and the ITU-T over the past two decades.