ABSTRACT
The story of the next-generation network is a history in three parts: the original carrier concept of Broadband-Integrated Services Digital Network, the unlooked-for arrival of the Internet, and the carrier project, the International Telecommunication Union Telecommunications standardized Next-Generation Network. Back in the 1980s, the telecoms industry was dominated by large, regulated monopolistic carriers. Technologies were often proprietary, always complex and innovation was refracted through cumbersome national, regional, and global standards bodies. Carriers knew that the technology of end-systems was rapidly evolving, with the invention of personal computers and LANs. The major feature of carrier standards-setting is that the standards will define the equipment, and the equipment will be expensive and will be in the network for decades. In the early years, carriers viewed the Internet as a frivolous distraction. However, as the nineties progressed, most carriers developed an Internet arm that often achieved a dominant market presence.
