Modular Communications Platforms: The Open, Industry-Standard Framework for Telecom Infrastructure Solutions

For many years, telecommunications platforms were based on closed proprietary frameworks that emphasized network availability. While the resulting proprietary network infrastructure achieved robustness, it was not designed to flexibly and costeffectively accommodate new voice and data services. The need for new revenue-generating services and applications is changing the way service providers design and deploy their networks.

The demand for services is also driving a fundamental shift in the solutions frameworks used by the telecom industry. To minimize the time and cost of delivering new equipment, telecom equipment manufacturers (TEMs) are adopting a new and open industry-standard development framework known as Modular Communications Platforms (MCP).

While multiple "standards-based" solutions frameworks are currently being advertised, they are not created equal. This paper provides an overview of why the MCP framework is important, describes the industry standards on which it is based, and outlines the benefits of these open standards for TEMs. It describes how MCP provides a clear alternative to proprietary frameworks.