Sonus CTO Vikram Saksena (News - Alert) will be a keynote speaker at ITEXPO this September. Saksena is responsible for the advanced technology direction in which Sonus heads and as such he is in a tremendous position to help service providers understand where carrier technology is going.

 

Sonus is a leader in the IP communications space and they have accomplished a great deal over the years. They have successfully taken on much larger players in the IP communications equipment space and done a great job.

 

I had the opportunity to ask Saksena several questions in advance of his participation at the upcoming ITEXPO (News - Alert).

 

VS: In 2008, Sonus has seen IP-peering become the leading technology for IP-voice deployments. As the penetration of IP-voice networks increases, session border control is becoming a key driver of security and interoperability. The Sonus NBS continues to be our Trojan horse in winning new customer accounts.

 

VS: Sonus’ strategic focus over the next 12 months is to continue our global expansion plans and to expand our technology and deployments into adjacent markets such as wireless and cable. We will also be driving new innovations in IP session control technologies to deal with the next-generation of rich-media services.

 

VS: I see one radical shift — personalized user experiences will drive the market forward. (*See my answers to the question on how the market might look like in five years.)

 

VS: I would highlight Apple — Apple changed the game by making the device the reason why subscribers are choosing carriers, not the network.

 

VS: Apple changed the mobile experience. They deliver existing services through a new user experience, and that has reshaped the mobile market. This changes the business model considerably; subscribers are now choosing the device — not the carrier. The differentiator becomes the point of experience, not necessarily the best service or tariff delivery.

 

By opening the platform for development, I think we will see an explosion of innovative services on the iPhone (News - Alert).

 

Google and Apple are the pioneers of the Web 2.0 experience. They are bridging the gap between the Internet and the mobile phone. Carriers will become focused on making access to the Internet and phone services seamless — delivering voice, data, and Web applications to the handsets without disruption — and that will drive sales.

 

VS: I have a single device — the Blackberry Pearl which I use for voice, data, and messaging.

 

VS: I like both companies — I think the iPhone is a real driver for innovation, but my device of choice is the Blackberry Pearl. I only want one device to manage — it’s enough having a desk, home, and cell number to use.

 

Apple and RIM have two different strategies — RIM is expanding from enterprise to consumer, and Apple is targeting the user’s stickiness of the iPhone to gain a foothold in the enterprise market. It will be interesting to see who comes out ahead. For RIM to win they will have to offer more than a phone and e-mail service to appeal to the consumer, while Apple will have to bolster its security capabilities to move into the enterprise.

 

VS: This is a very interesting question. I think broadband and mobile Internet will continue to shape our industry in the years to come. Innovations in handset software and Web 2.0 applications will unleash a plethora of new applications that will bring the user experience to new levels.

 

Competition between Android (News - Alert), iPhone, RIM, and Symbian will change the handset landscape dramatically from what we experience today. Third-party applications and over-the-air downloads will become commonplace.

 

Community-oriented social networking applications will evolve to support a higher degree of personalization. Personal video and place-shifted TV services will allow consumers seamless access to new forms of entertainment that is unavailable today.

 

Network operators will leverage their investments in fixed and mobile broadband networks and IP core infrastructures to deliver seamless access to services from any device — whether it is TV, PC, or a handset. Home networking — both communications and entertainment appliances — will continue to make the vision of a broadband home a reality.

 

VS: They will learn how the communications market is evolving and being driven by new user expectations.

 

VS: Anyone who is interested in hearing my thoughts on how the market will evolve over the next ten years. We are almost at an inflection point in the adoption of IP-based communications and the new drivers are not going to be coming from traditional sources.

 

VS: The game is about to change. Sonus offers a broad portfolio of solutions and services that get operators into market quickly. Anyone can offer an IP-voice solution, or a point product to plug a need, but only Sonus has the experience and the vision to help operators maximize their investments in their next-generation networks and get monetized services to market quickly.

 

VS: Someone else will come out with a real rival to the iPhone — and an innovation race will accelerate the delivery of video to 2010, not 2015.