Standards bodies have played a useful part in the past. The changing requirements due to increased competition, formation of global alliances, convergence of telecommunications, broadcasting, computing and information industry will test the ingenuity of standards bodies. Their contribution in the future will also be tested severely by the increasing range of technical applications and the speed with which these applications are put into large-scale use. Correct timing of developing standards will be a major issue. Other bodies, such as regulators, user groups and research organisations could alleviate the difficulty of producing standards at the right time by making contributions to standards bodies. There is an overwhelming case for an internationally agreed architectural framework for the study and management of QoS. On this frame work the current standards may be mapped and areas requiring further standards may be developed. This could lead to better QoS provided by the network and service providers.

Inspec keywords: telecommunication services; quality management; telecommunication network management; quality of service; telecommunication standards

Other keywords: service providers; telecommunication standard; research organisations; telecommunication quality of service management; QoS; information industry; network providers

Subjects: Network management