The telecom industry is now making use of digital technology that allows transmission integration, switching, processing, and retrieval of information and it also provides opportunities to merge various service models into an integrated whole.

Even though digitalization and merging of communications and computation functions has caused dramatic advances in device and material technology, there are concerns about the integrity and authenticity of the information to be provided, as well as the protection of privacy. The following diverse set of issues faced by the telecom industry need to be addressed.

SOFTWARE CRISIS
As the telecommunication industry is becoming increasingly digital and computer-oriented, one major problem is the increasing cost of software development and production. Even though advances in device technology are lowering hardware costs, software costs are soaring. This increase is the result of constant demand for more sophisticated and diversified types of software, along with the high labor costs associated with software development and production.

STANDARDIZATION
As telecom services are reaching a global scale, issues of standardization and of maintaining interoperability between systems and equipment are emerging. Incorporating and implementing standardizations are difficult to achieve for several reasons. First, the pace of innovation in telecommunication technology is very fast. Standards that were set early may jeopardize future innovation. Second, because of networking, telecom companies are required to have extensive standardization in software and hardware. A large amount of software at each switching center is needed to be standardized for attaining economies of scale and ease of maintenance.

RELIABILITY AND SECURITY
Telecommunication systems are often subjected to a variety of external and internal disturbances. These disturbances include electrical noise, power line failure, and natural disasters as well as human factors, such as operators’ mistakes, vandalism, and unauthorized access by outsiders. Even though different techniques have been developed to avoid these disturbances, security and unauthorized access still remains one of the major hindrances in the telecom industry.