Abstract: | This paper investigates the changes that are required in networking technology for ‘everything over IP’ to become a reality. Initially the changes that are taking place in the telecommunications industry are reviewed. This review ranges from a discussion about the companies installing massive global IP networks to the emergence of novel routeing technologies, e.g. multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) and terabit router technologies. The role of existing telecommunications operators is then discussed, along with the reasons why they are developing interworking and intelligence layers based on distributed computing principles to support all their networks — mobile, fixed, broadband and IP. |