Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced a new global cooperation with Ericsson and Nokia that aims to unite the Network Equipment Provider (NEP) community and assist telecommunications operators and service providers. Coming together as the Telecommunications Platform Initiative, members are jointly developing the requirements for a standardized, integrated telecommunications technology platform to simplify technology integration by enabling design, development and supply chain efficiencies.
Jyrki Holmala, Vice President, OSS Software, Networks, Nokia said: "The Telecommunications Platform Initiative recognizes that technology integration is a common challenge for all NEPs and shows our willingness to work together to find cost-efficient and open standards-based solutions for the industry. There is an excellent fit with Nokia’s Operations Support Systems (OSS) middleware strategy and our Open EMS Suite platform product roadmaps."
Source: Yahoo Finance
Standards usually mean cheaper prices. I can’t really comment on how this will affect us as consumers since it’s above my head … but hey, like I said, when companies work together to promote a standard it more often than not benefits the industry.