A wide range of articles of topical interest and relevance to the ICT industry.

The Contents of this issue.

The Internet is an open platform that embraces users' freedom and innovation. We pay a flying visit to Australia, where Google’s vice president, Vint Cerf, shares his thoughts on how the design of the Internet led to its economic and social success, and why sustaining its openness should be an integral part of broadband policy.

The penetration of broadband services in Australia’s rural areas is – not surprisingly - constrained by the cost of network deployment. Here, telecommunications colleagues from Australia use their experiences of that vast country to examine deployment costs of three broadband access technologies - passive optical network (PON), fibre-to-thenode, digital subscriber line (FTTN DSL) and broadband wireless (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX)).

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is changing the way we communicate. Trefor Davies and Louise Lancaster examine how VoIP technology has already become part of everyday life, and how it is overcoming technical hurdles to secure its pivotal role in the future of the UK telecommunications infrastructure.

David Donnelly brings recent history back to The Journal pages, as he recalls the exciting era of innovation within the ranks of Post Office Telecommunications – the ‘70s. Embracing new technology and improving the efficiency of the telephone exchange played an important part in the shaping of today’s telecommunications.

Standard product offerings v. bespoke solutions? It’s no contest for Ed Smith, who explains why customer-tailored Information and Communications Technology (ICT) solutions differ from off-the-peg offerings. Three case studies crystallise his thinking and illustrate why he believes solutions should be adapted to client requirements.

Carrier Ethernet presents both challenges and opportunities to service providers in the context of services delivered to enterprise customers and home users, says Nigel Stephenson. Here, he explains how the reduced ‘cost per bit’ Carrier Ethernet services can be complemented with ‘value per bit’ managed services to deliver new, higher margin and sustainable business models. He also tracks the evolution of new services such as Cloud Computing and ‘X-as-a-Service’ (XaaS).

In an exclusive seminar, ITP invited industry experts to share their vision for Cloud computing. Just how far reaching will its effects be? What are the new market opportunities for telcos? Should Joe Public be concerned about data protection? What measures will vendors have to take to implement effective access controls? Couldn’t join us at the event? Then turn to page 53 to find out who said what – and why.

Subscriptions, contact details and information on the ITP.