VOIP Tech Chat → Re: [General] June 15, 2018?

I thought the phone network, except for the "last mile" was all digital already? What is this going to change?

Presumably instead of dedicated circuits that go from one facility to another they will just start to use IP transit in more of a mesh set up.

An all-IP network will allow all kinds of applications that are not presently possible using the dedicated circuits approach of TDM networks. Think various forms of HDVoice, multi-channel audio, video, etc.

In essence this is the final phase of the IP world swallowing the TDM world. Once internet access was:

modem -> analog copper line -> Channel bank -> TDM network

So the internet was effectively tunneling through the TDM realm. That situation has evolved from the network core out to its edge. At present the final phase is hindered by legal and regulatory legacy.

And vice versa, too.

I seem to recall UUNET and a major carrier (AT&T voice?) signing an agreement in the mid-to-late 1990's to off-load peak traffic to each other's network. The peaks were almost 180 degrees out of phase at that time.