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Entering a Prosperous New World of Ubiquitous Broadband Communications via NGN

NTT President and CEO Satoshi Miura talks about the latest developments in the Group's NGN implementation efforts.

The future of communications is now in sight.
Entering a Prosperous New World of Ubiquitous Broadband Communications via NGN

NGN, the new world-class communications infrastructurev

NTT's next-generation network, or NGN, is an optical fiber-based full IP network that combines the stability and reliability of a telephone network with the convenience and economy of the Internet.
Under NTT's current Medium-Term Management Strategy, which went into effect in November 2004, NGN is positioned as a mainstay for future NTT business, and is currently under development for practical applications.
We are confident that the implementation of a new world-leading communications infrastructure compliant with international standards will help to solve many of the social and economic issues now faced by Japan, and contribute to its further growth.

New services developed with NGN

Any discussion of the next generation of information and communication technology is sure to refer to information digitization, IP networks, and ubiquitous broadband communications. These technologies are already evident in many emerging styles of communication, such as the increasingly diversified and sophisticated use of the Internet or the convergence of fixed-line and mobile communications and of communications and broadcasting. Responding to such changes in technology and market needs, NGN is expected to become a driving force in the creation of new business models and services.

This is a photograph of Satoshi Miura, president and CEO

Building the NGN together with our partners

Openness and interconnectivity are indispensable attributes of any network, because a network can only fulfill its true potential if it is used by large numbers of people. Seen in this light, it is obvious that the NTT Group could not successfully create such an NGN entirely on its own.
From the very start of development, we have based our NGN initiatives on the concepts of openness and collaboration, and we will continue to enable open access with the networks of other service providers and work with our partners in other businesses and industries to create new value and services.

Monitor service already underway

In addition to the 29 companies participating since the end of 2006, about 500 monitors including ordinary households also joined the NGN field trials in April 2007.
Field trials are designed to enable us not only to test our technology, but also to gain a clear understanding of market needs as we work toward making NGN available to the general public by the end of fiscal 2008.
We will continue to put feedback from our partners, monitors, and customers to use in further developing NGN, and we feel that with NGN, the future holds much for all of our stakeholders to look forward to.

The roles of NGN

NGN is designed to play three major roles.

To further drive the evolution of society through ICT and contribute to the creation of value and enhancement of productivity
To contribute to the resolution of ICT-related downside issues such as cyber-attacks and network fraud
To contribute to the resolution of social issues now faced by Japanese society, including an aging population and declining birthrate, and the need for ever greater levels of nursing and healthcare

In order to fulfill these roles, however, existing telephone systems and best-effort Internet service are not sufficient. We have undertaken the development of NGN precisely because we consider the establishment of a new network that combines the stability and reliability of a telephone network with the convenience and economy of the Internet to be indispensable to future communications.

NTT Group NGN initiatives

This is a diagram showing the relationship between the next-generation network that the NTT Group is aiming to build, and the three major roles of NGN.

NGN attributes

Four major NGN attributes.

1. Quality of service

NGN has been designed to allow any given application to be assigned the most suitable of four quality of service (QoS) classes: First Priority, High Priority, Priority, and Best Effort. The First Priority class ensures sufficient bandwidth to guarantee clear transmission over the network of audio signals or high-definition video data.

2. Security

NGN helps prevent spoofing and other kinds of identity theft by checking caller IDs such as IP address and telephone number allocated to a specific line. Other security features include the detection and blocking of unusually high levels of traffic at network gateways.

3. Reliability

NTT's accumulated expertise in ensuring the safety and security of telephone lines has been incorporated into NGN, with redundancy built into lines and equipment, and design that enables appropriate traffic control and the securing of critical communications when network traffic is congested.

4. Open interface

NGN is designed to accommodate a wide variety of applications, and provides functions compatible with interactive communications utilizing high-quality audio and video signals, unicast and multicast distribution of content, Internet connectivity, and high-quality, next-generation Ethernet functionality. NGN's open network interface specification is intended to promote the development of new communications applications together with third parties in other fields and businesses.

NGN has been designed to accommodate these advanced features in order to promote the creation of a flexible and secure communications environment for the development of new services and businesses.