The telecoms industry needs to develop a broad information management framework for NGNs to better deliver a host of new applications, the president of Alcatel-Lucent's Bell Laboratories told the Show Daily.
'It's only a matter of time,' said Jeong Kim, president of Bell Labs. 'The lack of a framework is a real barrier to developing new applications.' He compared the needed framework to the HTML standard that enabled Internet development to move forward at a rapid pace.
Kim added that Bell Labs would like to be involved in the collaborative effort, but not lead it. 'We'd like to work behind the scenes and play a neutral role,' he said. 'We can play a catalyst role"&brkbar;but I like to work in a quiet way.'
Kim noted that many vendors are currently focused on delivering 'fat pipes' and bandwidth-heavy applications as a way of differentiating their offerings in the marketplace. He suggested a better approach might be 'co-opetition' where companies cooperate in working out the framework and 'compete when we need to.'
Kim said the greatest challenge for Bell Labs in the aftermath of the Alcatel-Lucent merger is funding. 'It is important to provide the necessary funding with the flexibility and patience to deliver,' he said. 'It's that activity which allows you to execute successfully in new markets.'
Being focused on the creative side of the telecoms business instead of the financial side poses special challenges for companies like Bell Labs. 'The spotlight is on leveraging the research assets on the rest of the [company's] business,' said Kim. 'We're trying to create opportunities for the company to play in new and expanding markets.'