Interface[s] Montréal

Audio and video IP

Denis Fluet

Director of VoIP and Video Business Solutions for Optical Networks at Nortel

Residential services – The future

View the presentation [In French]

IP technology as the convergence framework for residential services will enable a revolutionary approach to residential services.

Traditionally, and for historical reasons, residential services have been linked to the transmission medium used for delivery – coax cable for TV, copper pair for phone, and frequency for satellite TV. Such a model has imposed a fixed, pre-defined destination oriented connectivity layer. In short, distinct networks delivering distinct services. Over the past decade access technologies have enabled a first level of infrastructure convergence by enabling more than one service per physical link – Voice over coax, TV over copper pair, … However, from a subscriber perspective, nothing has changed except the billing process. IP technology is delivering true services convergence; it removes the relationship between physical link and services. The network access point becomes the content delivery point – “My Content Anywhere”.

IP technology is more than services convergence. It enables Application Innovation over multimedia terminals. Today, most of households are equipped with specialized terminals – TV set, Phone – wireless/wireline, LAN – wireless/wireline. Each end user device is tied to a specific service offering.

IP technology redefines the terminal specifications by having multimedia terminal which can be used for answering a call on TV set, watching a TV channel on the computer, sharing content over many different terminals being within the home or at remote location. It is clear that IP technology will accelerate the introduction of new applications, and enable new residential service offerings. Privacy, security and personalization will become important requirements as services and applications evolve.

Nortel is a leader in IP services convergence with a rich portfolio offering, and we are investing in R&D on convergence platforms and application software that will benefit residential subscribers for years to come.

Denis Fluet is responsible for setting packet optical solution direction for emerging VoIP and Video applications. Throughout his career, Denis has been at the fore front of defining and introducing successfully new optical and access technologies in Nortel’s largest customers’ networks. Denis has been with Nortel for over 15 years working in access and optical business units. He held several management positions – Product Line Management, Network Planning, Systems Engineering, and Test Engineering. He holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada.