ISDN - THE PATH TO BROAD-BAND NETWORKS

We are in the midst of revolutionary improvements in data communications. The need for connectivity has never been as great as it is today due to the rapid growth of desktop processing machines which must communicate among themselves as well as with centralized computing and database facilities. Alas, in the midst of this progress, we find ourselves burdened by the curse of incompatibility among vendor-specific products, protocols, procedures, and interfaces. At the same time, the national and international bodies have been hard at work attempting to provide some stability by introducing standards for connectivity. The problem, of course, is one of timing; a premature standard stifles the development of mature technology, while a tardy standard is in danger of being rejected by a community that is locked into irreversible commitments to cumbersome ad hoc solutions. ISDN is an emerging standard which represents an international effort to solve some of our connectivity problems. If it rolls out in a timely fashion and addresses real needs to the end user community, it has a chance for success in the networking world. The carriers are committed to ISDN and have a clear motivation and potential for succeeding in its development. Narrowband ISDN is a hohum service for which some important applications have been identified, but which has not sparked a stampede of acceptance. On the other hand, broadband ISDN (BISDN) is a service that has identified capabilities that are truly exciting and could very well dominate data networking in this decade. The success of BISDN will depend strongly on the rollout of products, the ubiquity of its presence, and the tarriffing of its services.