The Bellhead vs Nethead war is back with a vengeance. The European standards committee ETSI launched a new “Group on NON-IP Networking.” The telcos want to own the new 5G services. It has very strong support from the European telcos for major changes in IP networking. Those who remember the bellhead vs nethead wars will recognize what is going on.
The telcos – again – want strong control and quality of service, claiming it will be much more efficient. I believe Vint, David Isenberg, and many on this list discredited that argument 20 years ago, but it’s back with a vengeance.
China Mobile at the ITU made similar suggestions under the meme “New IP.” I don’t think that anyone would be surprised the Chinese government is strongly supporting central control. Some uninformed reporters think this is about China trying to take control of the Internet and restrict freedom of speech in China. That’s nonsense; China already has the tools for censorship domestically and doesn’t need help from the ITU.
This is a telco versus the net battle, with the net advocates almost invisible. Traditional allies, like Google, are now so big they are conflicted.