Lightreading is reporting today that a new research note from Avian Securities speculates that Cisco is looking at Bridgewater Systems and Openet to fill this gap.
"Industry contacts indicate that Cisco is looking at Bridgewater Systems and OPENET as possible acquisitions to round out its mobile internet portfolio," writes Catharine Trebnick, a senior research analyst at Avian. "We believe Cisco is looking at these assets to enhance their offering for 3G and 4G networks and this is in-line [with] the company's mobile video strategy."
See "Rumor: Cisco Hunts for LTE Policy Control Smarts" - here.
Nevertheless, Cisco has additional policy-server vendor partners, and I would not rule-out the [smaller] Broadhop, with which Cisco also partners, mainly in Asia.
And there are more ... - see the list here.
The price? See analysis of Camiant acquisition price ($130M) Vs. Bridgewater - "Camiant Information Exposed (and Compared to Bridgewater)" - here.
Historically, Cisco had relations with other policy-server vendors:
- Back in 1998 Cisco acquired Class Data Systems - "software solutions enable policy-based quality of service in Internet Protocol (IP) networks" - here
- Later Cisco worked closely with Tazz Networks. After the Tazz' dream to be acquired by Cisco had expired, Tazz disappeared. IN 2005, Tazz was #7 in Lightreading Top10 private companies (here).
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Azi, Your blog is very informative. The policy space is certainly dynamic, and we’ll plan to contribute to the conversation on your blog on a more ongoing basis.
ReplyDeleteI’d like to provide a clarification to a previous entry made in your blog and provide an update on BroadHop’s latest activities. We’d appreciate it if you were to update the BroadHop PCRF-DPI Compatibility Matrix to show BroadHop as compatible (and deployed) with multiple Cisco DPI models and with Arbor as well. In addition, we have an extensive IOT activity underway for the Quantum Policy Server (with DPIs, GGSNs, etc) and plan to be compatible in the near-term with others on your list as well.
As far as an update on BroadHop’s latest activities, we launched our Quantum Network Suite in February http://broadhop.com/pr/pr_2010-2-1.html , and the market response has been very positive. The Quantum Platform meets all current PCRF use cases typically deployed for 3G, LTE and broadband (Fair Use, Bill Shock, Congestion Management, WiFi Offload, Pre/Post paid Tiering and Personalization). In addition, with the industry’s only virtualized PCRF operating system and native support of developer frameworks and tools such as OSGi and Eclipse http://broadhop.com/pr/pr_2010-5-18.html , the Quantum Platform enables a broad set of new, policy-based, value added services and applications. Best, Dan Geiger, BroadHop Prod Mktg.
Thanks, Dan.
ReplyDeleteI will be delighted to see further contribution to the discussion (and invite other relevant vendors in our hot Broadband Traffic Management space to join the party as well).
I will port soon an update to the compatibility matrix.
Azi
Hi. Please let me ask something that I am confused about.
ReplyDeleteIs SPR an essential part for PCRF? Is it already installed in PCRF by default for all vendors?
I have an idea about what it does but not sure about how it is implemented.
happy new year, Azi!!
SPR, the “Subscriber profile Repository”, is a logical entity of the 3GPP PCC standard. As the name indicates it holds information on the subscribers’ profiles (service plan).
ReplyDeletePCRF, also an entity in 3GPP PCC, may use this information (in addition to information coming from other sources) to make subscriber based policy and charging decisions. If needed, these decisions are sent to PCEFs (Policy enforcement elements – such as DPI devices or GGSNs) for enforcement. PCRF and SPR use the Sp interface for the above process.
SPR is usually a separate s/w product that is usually installed as a standalone element, whether or not the operator also deploys PCRF. Not all PCRF vendors offer SPR.
Thank you for the response.
ReplyDeletePlease also clarify this: Without SPR does PCRF still do its job, meaning that it is possible for PCRF to work without SPR?
I dont think so as the SPR is the database that the PCRF queries to get the subscriber information and send the policy to the PCEF. So, no SPR, means no subscriber information to enforce.
ReplyDelete