ITU-T Recommendations

and other International

Standards Relevant to
QOS/QOE
 Introduction

ITU-T Rec. E. 800 defines QoS as collective effect of service

performance which determines the degree of satisfaction of a user
of the service

ITU-T Recommendation P.10/G.100, defines Quality of Experience
(QoE) as, the overall acceptability of an application or service, as
perceived subjectively by the end-user

QoE includes complete end-to-end system effects (client, terminal,
network and service infrastructure)

Overall acceptability may be influenced by user expectations and
context.
 Why the need for good QoS/QoE?

For the development of telecommunications products and services

acceptable to the industry and users/consumers

Making interconnected networks work seamlessly well together
(inter-operability)

Ensure consumers get value for money

Mobile has become de facto means of communications in Africa

Signal Availability (QoS/QoE) on mobile networks is essential for
economic and social survival in Africa

Necessary for effective e-communications such as e-government,
e-money transfer

Ensure fulfillment of universal access

Encourage fair competition-good quality (and not necessarily
price) will guarantee customer retention
 ITU-T QoS Perspective

ITU-T Recommendation E.800 has four (4) QoS view

points namely:

Customer's QoS requirements;

Service Provider's offerings of QoS (or
planned/targeted QoS);

QoS achieved or delivered;

Customer Survey ratings of received QoS.
The closer the 4 view points are in a given
service, the better the QoS delivered.
 ITU-T Four Views QoS Perspective

Customer Service Provider

Customer's QoS Service Provider's

requirements offerings of QoS

Customer Achieved or
received QoS delivered QoS
 QoS Parameters

Are also called; metrics, indicators, measures, determinants

Are premised on indicators such as: speed, accuracy,
availability, reliability, security, simplicity, satisfaction

Characterize the QoS level of the service being offered to the
satisfaction of the user

Ensure the users of a services are getting QoS levels matching
what they are paying for

Used in development and implementation of SLA

Can be classified as; objective-measurements of physical
attributes of a circuit, system, network etc or subjective-
conducting of customer opinion surveys
 QoS Targets

Also called; objectives, benchmarks,

thresholds, minimum standards, reference
values etc

A potential value (or range of values) to be
achieved to ensure satisfaction with service
delivery

Used to maintain good QoS levels based on
international, local or benchmarked standards

Used to improve QoS levels following
consumer complaints
Telecoms Services QoS Targets
Fixed Telephony:

Service Supply Time

Fault Report Rate

Fault Repair Time

Call Success Rate

Call Set-up Time

Response time for operator service (call centers)

Response time for directory enquiry service

Billing accuracy

Billing Complaints Resolution time

Call Connection Delay

Ratio of working payphones
 Telecoms Services QoS Targets
Mobile Telephony Service
No significant difference with fixed telephony
parameters:

Service Supply Time

Fault Report Rate

Fault Repair Rate

Call Center Answer Time

Billing and Tariff Accuracy

Completed Calls

Dropped Calls

Blocked Calls

Speech Quality (MOS, PESQ)
 Telecoms Services QoS Targets

Mobile Telephony (contd)

SMS Message Transmission Success Rate

Call Set-up Time

Handover Success Rate

Geographic Coverage

Received Signal Strength (RxLv)

Received Signal Quality (Rx Qual)
 Telecoms Services QoS Targets

Data Networks and Internet QoS parameters-cannot be

isolated from the fixed or mobile telephony parameters
due to convergence of technologies. IP packets are used in
both fixed
and mobile services.

Bandwidth

Latency

BER

Jitter and Jitter Variations

Throughput

Data Transmission Success Rate

Internet Session Login Success Rate
 QoS Measurement Method

Objective- circuits attributes, networks, signals

Subjective-through customer satisfaction surveys

Subjective good- fits the QoS definition but time
consuming

Therefore a mix of the two methods recommended
 Enforcing Compliance

Regulators monitor, measure and enforce operators

obligations

Obligations normally in licenses or regulations

Enforcements sometimes entails consultations

Regulator needs techniques to ensure compliance
even after consultation
Enforcing Compliance (Contd)
Some of the enforcement methods are:

Publication of QoS measurement results

Reprimands

Directives

Imposition of Penalties

Requiring operators/service providers compensate their customers

Imposition of embargos to persistent violators (no Gvt Contracts)

License Revocation-as a last resort

Encourage Self Regulation-
Enforcing Compliance (Contd)
Service Level Agreements (SLA)

Signed between service providers or between service providers
and their customers

Define service characteristics, responsibilities and priorities
between parties

May include statements on specific performance, billing, QoS
levels etc

May also include remedies for breach

Regulator needs to enforce SLA where parties fail to do so
International Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs)

Besides ITU-T, other international telecommunications

standardization development organizations (SDOs)exist

ISO, ETSI, IETF, INTUG, TM Forum, etc

They deal with the general and special telecommunications
quality of service issues.
International Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs)

(Contd.)

ITU-T organizes its work in study groups

subdivided into working parties .

SG12 is the lead SG in the performance, QoS
and QoE.

One of its affiliates is SG12 RG-AFR

Most of the ITU-T Recommendations
dealing with QoS exist in the E, G, I, M, Q, P,
X and Y series.
International Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs)

(Contd.)

ITU-T gathers together

Governments,

National telecommunication administrations.

Recognized operating agencies.

Manufacturers.

Service providers.

Scientific and industrial organizations

Consumer protection groups
International Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs)

(Contd.)

In addition, Quality of Services Development Group

(QSDG) is involved in QoS/QoE.

Its main aim is to improve the quality of international
telecommunication services.

Its activities were transferred from SG2 to SG12
during the WTSA08 in Johannesburg, South Africa
in 2008.

Held its last meeting in Maputo, Mozambique
List of ITU-T QoS-related Recommendations and other

international QoS standards

No. Organization Standard Content

1 ITU-T ITU-T Rec. G.109 Definition of

categories of speech
transmission quality

2 ITU-T Rec. G.1010 End-user multimedia

QoS categories

3 ITU-T Rec. G.1000 Communications

quality of service: A
framework and
definitions
List of ITU-T QoS-related Recommendations and other

international QoS standards (Contd.)

4 ITU-T Rec. E.800 Terms and
definitions related
to QoS/NP
including
dependability
5 ITU-T Rec. I. 350 General aspects of
quality of service
and network
performance in
digital networks
including ISDN

6 ITU-T Rec. X.641 Information

Technology-QoS
Framework
List of ITU-T QoS-related Recommendations and other

international QoS standards (Contd.)

7 ITU-T Rec. G.107 E- Model. A

computational
model for use in
transmission
planning
8 ITU-T Rec. G.1000 Communications
quality of service.
A framework and
Definition

9 ITU-T Rec. E.801 Framework for

service quality
agreement
List of ITU-T QoS-related Recommendations and other

international QoS standards (Contd.)

10 ITU-T Rec. E 802 Framework and
methodology for
the determination
and application of
QoS parameters
11 ITU-T Rec. E.860 Framework of
service level
agreement

12 ITU-T Rec. P. Vocabulary for

10/G.100 performance and
quality of service-
Definition of QoE
List of ITU-T QoS-related Recommendations and other

international QoS standards (Contd.)

13 ITU-T Rec. P. 800 Methods for

subjective
determination of
transmission
quality
14 ITU-T Rec. P. 862 Perceptual evaluation
of speech quality
(PESQ). An
objective method
for end-to-end
speech quality
15 ITU-T Rec. Y.1540 IP packet transfer and
availability
List of ITU-T QoS-related Recommendations and other

international QoS standards (Contd.)

16 ITU-T Rec. Y. 1541 Network

performance
objectives for IP-
based services
17 ITU-T Rec. Y. 1542 Framework for
achieving end-to-
end IP
Performance
Objectives

18 ITU-T Rec. X.140 QoS parameters for

public data
networks
List of ITU-T QoS-related Recommendations and other

international QoS standards (Contd.)

19 ISO EN ISO 9000:2000 Quality management
systems.
Fundamentals and
vocabulary
20 EN ISO 9001:2000 Quality management
systems.
Requirements

21 EN ISO 9004:2000 Quality management

systems. Guidelines
for performance
improvements
List of ITU-T QoS-related Recommendations and other

international QoS standards (Contd.)

22 ETSI EG 202 086 Objectives and principles for

"traditional quality"
telephone service
23 EG 201 377-1 Part 1: Introduction to objective
comparison measurement
methods for one-way speech
quality across networks

24 EG 201 377-3 Part 3: Non-intrusive objective

measurement methods
applicable to networks and
links with classes of services
List of ITU-T QoS-related Recommendations and

other international QoS standards (Contd.)

25 EG 201 474 Speech transmission quality across
multiple interconnected networks

26 EG 201 769 QoS parameters of voice telephony

required under ONP Voice
Telephony Directive 98/10/EC

27 EG 202 009-1 Part 1: Methodology for

identification of parameters relevant
to the Users
List of ITU-T QoS-related Recommendations and other international

QoS standards (Contd.)

28 EG 202 009-2 Part 2: User related

parameters on a
service specific
basis
29 EG 202 009-3 Part 3: Template for
Service Level
Agreements
(SLA)
30 EG 202 057-1 User-related QoS
parameter
definitions and
measurements
Part 1: General
List of ITU-T QoS-related Recommendations and other

international QoS standards (Contd.)

31 EG 202 057-2 User-related QoS parameter

definitions and measurements
Part 2: Voice telephony, Group
3 fax and modem data
services
32 EG 202 057-3 User related QoS parameter
definitions and measurements
Part 3: QoS parameters
specific to public land mobile
networks (PLMN)

33 EG 202 057-4 User related QoS parameter

definitions and measurements
Part 4: Internet Access
List of ITU-T QoS-related Recommendations and

other international QoS standards (Contd.)

34 IETF RFC 1633, QoS in intserv

35 RFC 2475 QoS in diffserv

36 RFC 3031 MPLS

37 RSVP 2205-2209 RSVP

Thank you