ACIF calls for comment on inter-network VoIP QoS

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 22 March 2006 14:38

Business IT - Technology

The Australian Communications Industry Forum (ACIF) has issued a discussion paper about quality of service (QoS) - the capability of a network provider to provide better service to selected network traffic (eg voice calls) - in interconnected VoIP services.

It plans to circulate the discussion paper throughout the communications industry in Australia and overseas with a 60-day period for submissions to be received. Dr Paul Brooks from Consultel will then chair a group of industry experts to review the submissions and identify the steps needed to be taken by the industry to address VoIP QoS issues.

ACIF CEO Anne Hurley, said: "Australia appears to be the first country to address these issues from a whole-of-industry perspective. So we have an opportunity to set an example for the rest of the world."

The discussion paper was prepared by Market Clarity analysts Shara Evans and Richard Chirgwin following ACIF's VoIP Forum last December. According to ACIF, "QoS was identified at the Forum as one of the major concerns relating to VoIP interconnectivity, and is particularly complex because of the level of coordination required between VoIP providers."

Questions raised in the discussion paper include:
- What level of co-operation is required between providers to achieve inter-domain QoS;
- Whether a complete suite of industry technical standards exist to support inter-domain QoS;
- Alternatives to the creation of an inter-domain QoS fabric;
- Whether providers are willing to give preferential treatment to traffic (voice calls) sourced from other providers' networks;
- What role ACIF can play in facilitating a standardisation of contract terms and conditions necessary to address VoIP QoS issues.