Intel: Embrace Open Standards In Telecommunication

Intel’s Barrett Calls On Telecommunications Industry To Embrace Open Standards

CEO Says Standards will Accelerate Growth, Innovation While Lowering Costs

AUCKLAND, Dec 5, 2000 - In a keynote address at Telecom Asia 2000 in Hong Kong , Intel Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Craig Barrett today called on leaders in the telecommunications industry to embrace open standards in building next generation voice and data networks.

“The telecommunications industry is struggling with traffic volumes and costs that are rising faster than revenues,” said Barrett. “We believe the solution to this problem is to move the telecommunications industry from products and services based on closed, proprietary technology, to those based on standards. Adopting common standards will accelerate growth and the pace of innovation while lowering costs.

“The ability to provide new communications services and features to consumers faster and at lower cost is the key advantage of implementing standards.” Barrett’s keynote address before government and industry leaders highlighted the challenges faced by the telecommunications industry as the range of communications devices, network capabilities and communications content proliferate. He also discussed the evolution of the computing industry and how the move to common standards helped it reduce costs and speed innovation. Barrett stated that the telecom industry can and must benefit from the same economic forces that drove standards in computing.

“Meeting the demands of the open market requires open standards,” said Barrett. “The old way of building communications infrastructure just can’t keep pace with the demands of the new economy.”

Standards and architectures that address everything from silicon to systems to services will be important to fully realizing the benefits of the Internet as the industry moves to a single packet-based communications network.

According to Barrett, developing to a common set of standards will reduce development costs as new hardware and software won’t have to be custom-made every time a new feature or function is created. Further, rather than developing new communications applications and functions in a slow fashion, standards will allow entire communities of applications developers to create and innovate without waiting new hardware to be developed.

In concluding, Barrett stated that the next generation communications network will be application driven, flexible and readily adaptable to meet changing demands. Broadly accepted standards are fundamental to building communications with these attributes.

Intel is actively helping to build the next generation open communications network. Specifically, the company is focusing its attention on helping customers build standards-based switches, routers and other communications equipment using the Intel® Internet Exchange Architecture™ (IXA). Intel is also in the process of defining a new standard for wireless communications devices that relies on the Intel Personal Internet Client Architecture (PCA). In addition, Intel is helping to drive standards-based converged communications server capabilities through its Intel Communications Platform, based on technology from its Dialogic subsidiary and Intel architecture-based servers.

As part of its work to support these initiatives the company has created the Intel Communications Fund, which invests in companies developing products and technologies that support the Intel IXA and the CT Media™ software platform. Intel today announced that the fund will be expanded to include specific investments in wireless communications and that the size of the Intel Communications Fund will be increased from US$200 million to US$500 million.

Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom

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