Towards a unified global ICT infrastructure

A successful evolution towards a unified global WAN platform allowing for the coexistence and interoperability of all kind of services requires careful planning of the next generation global cooperative wired and wireless information infrastructure. The absence of commonly agreed upon and adopted design principles, allowing for smooth and cost efficient scalability without loss of control over the structurally based properties may prevent or seriously delay this evolution and as consequence be a barrier for introduction of new foreseen types of demanding services. Some of the key problems to be solved can be found in the interrelation between communication, connectivity and convergence. This paper will focus on steps to be taken in planning the physical infrastructure as a prerequisite for a successful evolution.