Next-generation network

The general idea behind the NGN is that one network transports all information and services (voice, data, and all sorts of media such as video) by encapsulating these into IP packets, similar to those used on the Internet.

NGNs are commonly built around the Internet Protocol, and therefore the term all IP is also sometimes used to describe the transformation of formerly telephone-centric networks toward NGN.

[weasel words] Nonetheless, most of the telcos are extensively researching and supporting IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), which gives SIP a major chance of being the most widely adopted protocol.

This was originally a VoIP device, which converted voice and data from their analog or digital switched-circuit form (PSTN, SS7) to the packet-based one (IP) using gateways.

The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is a standardised NGN architecture for an Internet media-services capability defined by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

The core optical network uses dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) technology to provide scalability to many hundreds of gigabits per second of bandwidth, in line with growth demand.

In Bulgaria, BTC (Bulgarian Telecommunications Company) has implemented the NGN as underlying network of its telco services on a large-scale project in 2004.

The inherent flexibility and scalability of the new core network approach resulted in an unprecedented rise of classical services deployment as POTS/ISDN, Centrex, ADSL, VPN, as well as implementation of higher bandwidths for the Metro and Long-distance Ethernet / VPN services, cross-national transits and WebTV/IPTV application.

[4] The capital investment worth 14 million euros makes Macedonia the first country in the South-East Europe whose network will be fully based on Internet protocol.