Telcordia GRs and Standards -
Common and Distinguishing Attributes
Common Attributes:
- Open to all
- Used voluntarily
- Due process
- Promotes innovation
- Stimulates competition
- Facilitates trade
Distinguishing Attributes:
| Standards | Telcordia GRs |
| Members contribute resources and proposed content/solutions | Telcordia provides leadership, editorial, and technical resources |
| Members set target objectives for outputs | Telcordia contracts with participating customers to satisfy deliverable deadlines |
| Final content depends on consensus agreement on technical contributions submitted; may lack sufficient detail to provide needed product direction or service interoperability | Telcordia provides timely, high-quality solutions for participating-customer comment/agreement |
| — | Telcordia GRs have, at times, been developed before standards (e.g., SONET, AIN) where participating customer needs are dictated |
| — | Some GRs address topics not addressed by standards, e.g., NEBS™, some SONET |
| Stable text available: 24 months, on average (if not on fast-track) | Completed GR draft available to customers in 3 - 12 months* |
| Published 6 - 9 months, on average, after stable text is approved (if not on fast-track) | Published within 3 - 4 months of GR completion* (* GRs are generally available for new-technology deployment long before the technologies are matures enough to become an industry standard.) |
| Some are accredited; some non-accredited | Non-accredited |
| Not fully implementable as developed | Fully implementable as developed. GRs fill in a technical breadth and depth gap in many standards, are generally more complete, with no need for additional development work to help ensure interoperability |
| More general in scope because competitors are likely involved in standards development projects | Vendor-specific specifications can be included |
| Costs are borne by the standards organization's members; engineering is provided by participants through contributions and related discussions | GR funders bear costs of GR development; engineering is provided by Telcordia |
| Annual membership dues ($5K - 140K); T&L expenses (for each meeting attended); time away from the office; time in office devoted to preparation, review, and testing of contributions, as well as responses to competitors' contributions, must be factored into the cost of a standards development project and any resulting documents | Participation fee for each GR (or GR bundle) is established upfront; Telcordia performs management and document-development tasks; participants' time away from office is minimal; an Enterprise License for both the participating company and their wholly owned subsidiaries is included in a every GR participation fee |
Any general questions, suggestions, or comments about the Telcordia GR process may be addressed to:
Patricia A. Fay, GR Process Manager
+ 1.732.699.8304
pfay@telcordia.com