March 17, 2010, Washington, DC – ATIS’ Ordering and Billing Forum (OBF) recently published the Next Generation Network Operations Business and Functional Requirements for Ordering and Billing/Settlement. This document maps the operations business processes applicable in an IP-based packet environment. The processes outlined in the document describe the exchange of information necessary to accomplish NGN settlements such as retail billing, wholesale billing, intercarrier settlement, customer care, performance management, and traffic engineering.

Increasingly, next generation networks are resulting in service convergence. This transformation from disparate, individualized service networks to a single, unified network is evolving services (e.g., voice, data, short message service, video), and simultaneously impacting the underlying business and operations processes, thus necessitating these functional requirements.

The OBF collaborated in the development of this standards document with other ATIS Committees, most notably the IPTV Interoperability Forum (IIF), Packet Technologies and Systems Committee (PTSC), and the Telecommunications Management and Operations Committee (TMOC). Work will continue in order to identify and develop defined ordering and billing standards to a specific service level.

“This document is valuable to the service provider, vendor and infrastructure communities,” said Susan Miller, ATIS’ President and CEO, “This Roadmap establishes a transparent, consensus-based business framework essential to next generation networks’ deployment and success.”

About The Ordering and Billing Forum
The Ordering and Billing Forum (OBF) provides a forum for customers and providers in the telecommunications industry to identify, discuss and resolve issues which affect ordering, billing, provisioning and exchange of information about access services, other connectivity and related matters.

About ATIS
ATIS is the leading technical planning and standards development organization committed to the rapid development of global, market-driven standards for the information, entertainment and communications industry. More than 250 companies actively formulate standards in ATIS’ 18 Committees, covering issues including: IPTV, Service Oriented Networks, Energy Efficiency, IP-Based and Wireless Technologies, Quality of Service, Billing and Operational Support. In addition, numerous Incubators, Focus and Exploratory Groups address emerging industry priorities including “Green”, IP Downloadable Security, Next Generation Carrier Interconnect, IPv6 and Convergence.

ATIS is the North American Organizational Partner for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a member and major U.S. contributor to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio and Telecommunications’ Sectors, and a member of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). For more information, please visit www.atis.org.