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TOKYO, JAPAN –– On October 10, 2002, NTT Worldwide Telecommunications Corporation (NTT-WT), a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com) will launch a multi-protocol/multi-vendor compatible VoIP service *1 for interconnection among carriers/Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs) that use different types of protocols and VoIP equipment. The global VoIP market *2 has been growing rapidly and it is expected that IP telephony *3 will become the next generation network (NGN). However, difficulties in interconnection among different VoIP protocols and vendor equipment have been a major obstacle in the service development of VoIP. NTT Communications Clearinghouse (NTT-CH), provided by NTT-WT, will offer a new VoIP clearinghouse service eliminating this barrier and will also provide interconnection with a number of carriers/ITSPs. The remarkable feature of the new VoIP clearinghouse service is the new platform, which contains protocol conversion servers to support a variety of VoIP protocols, such as H.323 *4 and session initiation protocol (SIP *5), used in VoIP gateway equipment. Another important characteristic is that the open settlement protocol (OSP *6), which has been written by TIPHON *7 project, is incorporated for authentication and accurate settlements among carriers/ITSPs. The protocol conversion servers also ensure compatibility for carriers/ITSPs using VoIP gateway equipment not directly compatible with OSP. The
platform also supports “ClearConference,” NTT Communications Clearinghouse service was first launched in January 2000 and now connects carriers/ITSPs worldwide. With the new platform, NTT-CH will continue to promote IP telephony business. In the future, NTT-WT and NTT Com will integrate Clearinghouse services with Arcstar Global IP-VPN (MPLS *8 Type) services for high-quality, low-cost voice services. Notes:
1.
Multi-protocol/multi-vendor
This offers compatibility between equipment for different call-control protocols, such as H.323 and SIP. The service aims to realize connection with media gateway control protocol (MGCP) and media gateway control (MEGACO) in the coming future.
2. VoIP market The market in 2001 was worth 9,634 million minutes of traffic, an 81.5% increase from the previous year (source: TeleGeography, Inc., 2002).
3. IP telephony General term for voice and facsimile services using IP (Internet protocol). VoIP refers to technology used to transmit voice via packets. Voice is made into packets using a VoIP gateway. The service is also named Internet telephony, net telephone or computer telephony, depending on terminals and transmission networks.
4. H.323 The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) standard for sending voice, data and video via IP-based networks, including the Internet.
5. SIP Text-based application-layer control protocol for setting up call-control of telephones over the IP network. It has been standardized as RFC2543 at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
6. TIPHON (Telecommunications and Internet Protocol Harmonization Over Network) Technical project under the ETSI to study specifications to transmit voice over IP networks.
7. OSP Inter-carrier protocol to manage user authentication and settlement in VoIP systems. In order to realize VoIP service between multiple carriers, it is necessary to transmit authentication and settlement information. Study is progressing under ETSI TIPHON.
8. MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) Technology that sets protocols and other standards for high-speed label switching in large networks; enables construction of IP-VPNs that use labels, not IP addresses, to determine destinations.
For more information, please contact: Terufumi Maki or Takenori Shigetomi IP Business Development, NTT Communications Tel. +81 3 6800 4100 Mail: info@clearinghouse.ntt.com URL: http://clearinghouse.ntt.com/
Arcstar Global IP-VPN URL: http://www.ntt.com/globalipvpn/
ClearConference URL: http://www.ntt.com/NEWS_RELEASE_E/news02/0001/0130.html
About NTT Clearinghouse Service IP-based communications services, otherwise known as IP telephony, have been booming due to the proliferation of the Internet. The main drawback with Internet telephony service providers (ITSP) is that most are small-scale operators, unable to make the sizable investments in time and money required to secure international communication service areas. With standard international calls, the service provider has needed to: 1) negotiate and conclude a contract regarding interconnection charges with each telecom operator in each individual country, and 2) set-up a direct network between the countries. The clearinghouse service was created to overcome the aforementioned problems involving ITSPs. With the service, the clearinghouse operator handles routing of individual ITSPs and payment settlement operations. ITSPs can establish global communications and quickly begin providing their services by establishing a single contract with a clearinghouse operator. Additionally, corporate users can gain access to the clearinghouse with gateway equipment and an IP network.
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