Understanding standardization in eight points

By René Serres

• 1- What is a standard?

Specific standards allow the harmonious functioning and development of a system. Telecommunications networks are an example of systems where standards play an important role.

     2- The reason for standardization:

Standardization is vital to all areas and in particular to national and international telecommunications, in order to guarantee quality of service and secure exchanges.

• 3-Usefulness of standardization:

The drafting of standards is essential for industry, manufacturing safety, users and the economic chain of the product.

   4- Objectives of standardization: The objective of standardization is the production of reference documents containing solutions to technical and commercial problems relating to products, goods or services.

     5- Standardization and power: Ensuring standardization is a mission of the States. Today, the mastery of standardization is part of the power of a country. We are increasingly witnessing a shift of the centers of power of international technological standards from the West to Asia!

     6- Standardization and regulation: Standardization in telecoms enables telecom regulators to design technical specifications to facilitate their work within the framework of the approval system.

  7- Standards in telecommunications:In the telecommunications sector, there are international standardization bodies such as: the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The standards sometimes come from regional or national standardization entities. Europe has two main entities which are the European Committee for Standardization and the European Telecommunications Standardization Institute (ETSI) while in the United States there is the ANSI (American National Standards Institute). We can also mention the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the British Standards Institution.

  8- Without standards, there is no interoperability of telecom networks:Without standards, it would be impossible to exchange information and communication between networks and services. Thus, standardization allows interoperability between systems and equipments. Without the various standards designed and implemented, the telecom industry would not be where it is now.