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D. Murali

Chart the course of the US Navy on the sea of technology. And there's more for the telecom enthusiast, a triple play initiative that could bring your bills down. Read on for the details.

JEWLS or Joint Expeditionary Warfare Logistics System has been in the news recently, as a novel application of Web services technology in the US defence.

Sapient, the company behind the system, received from its client an `eGov' award, as recognition for "successfully transforming Department of the Navy processes to reduce costs, improve mission performance and support effective information sharing."

Good that a customer not only awards contracts but also gives awards, but what is this JEWLS?

From Sapient's communiqué, one learns that the product is "an integrated logistics decision support and execution system" to enable "total material and operational visibility in a joint command environment."

With this, the Marines, Naval Construction Forces and other expeditionary Naval units can "access shared information across geographies, regardless of service."

Apart from facts that `mission critical systems' were built in `accelerated timeframes' using `fusion workshop approach' and `agile development methodology', there are points to interest the finance professional too. That the new system can: effect a 20 per cent reduction in man-hours needed to collect, aggregate, and disseminate logistics information; leverage construction material inventory; maximise efficiencies for request and order management; use existing communication assets; deploy fixed-price/fixed-time model; and connect stove-piped networks at minimal marginal cost.

With our cops running from State to State, chasing suspects, a system such as JEWLS providing `interoperability in a tactical environment' may be required here too.

Triple play over single line

From a white paper on `Triple Play' issued by www.alliedtelesyn.com, one learns that the term refers to "the delivery of voice, video and data to residences over a single line." Gas and water would still need separate lines, but keeping such playful jokes apart, you can look at this from a revenue angle: "With traditional revenue streams under fire, Triple Play is a breakout strategy that can enhance a carrier's profitability and open up new streams of revenue."

Old carriers see their subscriber base eroded, even as cable operators offer telephone service in addition to television programming and broadband Internet access.

The Plain Old Telephone Service or POTS is, therefore, left holding the can, locked-out of growth and profitability. For instance, BSNL has lost 3.2 million fixed line subscribers in 2003-04, according to a written reply given recently by Shakeel Ahmad, Minister of State for IT and Telecom, in Rajya Sabha.

Triple Play is looking at revenue in the form of increased Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). "Customers prefer one provider for entertainment and communications services," is what the paper declares. When acquired from multiple providers, the monthly bill, as Allied Telesyn computes, is $150 for a user having high-speed Internet, cable TV, renting movies, and utilising phone service. Bundling up services can reduce prices up to 30 per cent and `still retain attractive margins,' reads the paper reassuringly.

Well, one thought they should be able to reduce prices more drastically, to make the concept attractive to subscribers, than to appropriate attractive margins for themselves.

ITworks@TheHindu.co.in

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