Euro-ISDN as a trans-European network

The European Commission, DG XIII, has published an open call for tender for feasibility studies in the area of Euro-ISDN as a trans-European network. Title XII of the Treaty on the European Union provides that the European Community contributes to the establishment and develo...

The European Commission, DG XIII, has published an open call for tender for feasibility studies in the area of Euro-ISDN as a trans-European network.

Title XII of the Treaty on the European Union provides that the European Community contributes to the establishment and development of trans-European networks, including in the field of telecommunications. Euro-ISDN was one of the first major proposals of the European Commission for the application of these provisions. In the "Bangemann-Report", Euro-ISDN and ATM-based broad-band networks were identified as the main building blocks (at the network level) for the information society.

This call for tender consists of a series of projects relating to Euro-ISDN as a trans-European network. These include:

- Euro-Label profiles: Desk-Top Multimedia Conferencing:
In view of the continuation of the programme for the establishment of a voluntary Euro-Label, it is requested that a Euro-Label profile be developed for a Desk-Top Multimedia Conferencing (DMC);

- Migration strategies from Euro-ISDN onwards:
The liberalization of the telecommunications infrastructure, by 1 January 1998, will have a profound impact on the technologies used. New bearer network providers will use state of the art technology, thus lowering operating costs significantly. The study will look into the migration path from Euro-ISDN onwards to allow the smooth introduction of applications which use Euro-ISDN today but will require bandwidth over time. Field trials regarding the reconnection of cable TV networks to ATM-switched networks will be examined. The study will define strategies for the evolution of both technologies and costs and will identify a realistic migration path for the next five years regarding the network, network accesses, terminals and services provision;

- Euro-ISDN Bulletin Board:
This study will analyse, based on user needs, the viability of an ISDN-based Bulletin Board and the definition of a corresponding concept, including research on information sources. This study will be conducted on the basis of the successful experience of Internet, which will be used as a comparative schema;

- Execution of the TEN-ISDN seminar 1995:
Organization and running of a 2-day seminar in Brussels;

- Geographic availability for Euro-ISDN:
A major bottleneck identified in a preceding study is the limited geographic coverage of Euro-ISDN. This study requires detailed analysis of means of overcoming this problem and the evaluation and pricing of solutions;

- Development of Euro-services: Euro GreenLine, Euro Kiosk
Analysis of the characteristics of existing European services and the actions needed to make them available on a trans-European scale. GreenLine and Kiosk services are considered in particular.
Requests for tender documentation should be sent to:

European Commission
DG XIII
Telecommunications, Information Market and Exploitation of Research
Administrative Sector
200 rue de la Loi (BU9 5/176)
B-1049 Brussels
Tel. [phone]; Fax [phone]

Completed tenders should be sent to the same address.