I had numerous discussions about the use of open source software, especially with various network operators, in the telecoms market. The main issue is that most telecom operators feel that there is no serious effort put in place in creating open source software or any software distributed freely. How true is this?
When it comes to the mobile phone platforms such as Google's Android, most operators are quick to accept since it comes from Google (a huge company) but when it comes to network infrastructure, most operators doubt the reliability of open source software. I would assume most in telecoms are too young to remember how open source started long before computers are available in 1911 and in terms of software it started in 1969 when AT&T employees developed UNIX. Open Source software started in Telecoms, it was called open systems then, perhaps a refresher in history is good to have follow this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source to get an idea on history of open source.
There are companies such as AmanziTel that uses open source platform from well respected organizations like the Eclipse foundation (www.eclipse.org) this means that the software components used are truly tested and proven in various industries, they are mature and stable and is supported by some of world's best technology companies (IBM, HP, Google, Intel, Nokia, Ericsson, etc). This also means that the cost of development is a lot less since several software components already exist, why re-invent the wheel when you can invent the next "big thing".
Now on the question of trust, as a telecom operator would you trust a tried and proven platform used in various industries and supported by the world's most innovative companies or would you rather trust an establish company and its teams of internal developers? Trust is of course a personal thing. Most of us trust the people behind the product and not the product itself.
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