ABSTRACT
Explosive expansion driven by internal growth and acquisition is forcing telecommunications providers to increase the productivity of their current support systems. Growth and acquisition mean that the number of subscribers grows for existing services, new services are provisioned on existing intrastructures, and completely new services on new infrastructures are deployed or acquired. Several support systems vendors have worked to capitalize on this opportunity with solutions that reduce complexity. These support systems vendors do not usually replace existing systems, but add functionality to accommodate new services, such as:
• Internet, intranets, and extranet
• Special data services on top of voice networks
• Wireless services and fixed wireless services
• Cable and video services
• Voice services on top of data networks
Adding functionalities that interoperate with each other opens new business opportunities for support systems vendors. The coming years will experience a bitter competition between circuit-and packetswitched services. Tradition, stability, and quality of existing services will compete against new technologies with easier maintenance and reduced operating expenses. The transition from circuit-switched to packet-switched technologies may take decades.
