Comarch Has Become a Member of TM Forum’s Catalyst Project Team
The Polish company has joined TM Forum's "Wholesale Fiber Broadband Standardization" Catalyst project. The initiative aims to standardize and simplify the process of selling, buying, and managing wholesale products. Comarch has joined a team of operators and technology vendors to standardize and harmonize the fiber connectivity solutions for a country-agnostic approach.
What are the Catalysts?
Catalysts are proof-of-concept projects involving champions (operators) and participants (technology vendors) working together to analyze different aspects of the telecommunications industry and find optimal standardization methods. They aim to create solutions for more efficient businesses, optimize end-user experiences, and showcase the progress of the program overall.
Previously, Comarch participated in the "AI-powered cooperation for efficient networks" Catalyst project. Currently, the company is a technology vendor involved in one of the latest TM Forum's initiatives.
The goals of the Wholesale Fiber Broadband Standardization project
The program aims to simplify and improve interoperability among communication service providers (CSPs) by adopting standardized processes, application programming interfaces (APIs), and data models tailored to specific contexts. This initiative will use the latest updates in TM Forum's APIs to create common frameworks for product and service ordering, addressing, appointing, and managing trouble tickets, thus facilitating smoother interaction between fiber wholesalers and service providers. By aiming for an 80-90% commonality in integration and orchestration services, the project seeks to balance the benefits of standardized tools and the flexibility for individual company innovation and differentiation. Much of this effort involves developing templates and a prototype on the open digital architecture (ODA) canvas, which serves as an execution environment for open digital architecture components. This approach not only helps current market players reduce integration costs and complexity but also provides a valuable starting point for new entrants by offering a technology-agnostic reference implementation. This accelerates their time to market and reduces initial costs.
Comarch’s contribution
Together with other members of the Catalyst team, Comarch is currently developing a standardized framework for telecommunications operators who provide services through cable networks, specifically focusing on fiber optics. This initiative involves implementing common business scenarios and APIs with a fiber-related product payload in a NetCo platform. Effective collaboration is essential in scenarios where internet services are purchased from one operator while another entity owns the underlying fiber network infrastructure. The primary goal of Comarch's work is to improve the interoperability and efficiency of service delivery across different operators' networks by utilizing the existing TMF OpenAPI standardization framework.
Comarch partners within the Catalyst
Comarch works closely with leading telecom operators, tackling industry challenges, embracing new opportunities, and promoting innovation for mutual benefit.
The Catalyst team consists of champions and participants who can share knowledge and experience to create common ideas for a given area of the telecommunications industry. It is worth mentioning that cooperation is announced to meet the requirements of TM Forum's standards. Comarch’s partners for this initiative include:
- 1&1 Versatel GmbH
- AT&T Inc.
- BT Group plc
- CityFibre
- Deutsche Telekom AG
- PlatformX Communications (PXC)
- Lightstorm Telecom Connectivity Private Limited
- Lyse Tele AS
- Telecom Italia SpA
- Vodafone Group
The collaborative work between these renowned experts in the telecommunications industry guarantees the best theoretical practices will be brought to life with practical, real-world applications. Their research will produce valuable resources for the industry, such as API specifications, models, frameworks, reference codes, and materials such as white papers and case studies.
The results of all Catalyst projects will be showcased during the upcoming DTW24-Ignite event in Copenhagen.
Learn more about Catalysts on the TM Forum website.