Infonetics Believes in an "integrated policy/charging solution"

 
Infonetics updated its Policy Management report. I already posted one prediction (see "Policy Management Market to Reach $624M in 2011" - here) and now we get additional details from the new research.

Shira Levine, directing analyst for next gen OSS and policy at Infonetics Research, believes that the recent acquisition of Bridgewater by Amdocs ".. marks a shift in the policy management market by creating an integrated policy/charging solution backed by a large, well-established vendor with a strong sales force. Going forward, solutions that integrate policy management with charging and some degree of subscriber awareness will become table stakes, as operators move beyond basic bandwidth management into value-added services and innovative pricing models. Suppliers without that capability will be at a significant disadvantage".

A Heavy Reading survey, commissioned by Amdocs, surprisingly reaches the same conclusion (!) - see "Survey: "86% of providers plan to launch tiered pricing plans", but will Need New PCC" - here.

While many PCC solutions originated by vendors focusing on either QoS policy management (e.g. Camiant), subscriber management (e.g. Bridgewater) or charging solutions (e.g. Openet), the need for integrated systems, as well as availability of solutions are not new - see for example the Openet S.O.S initiative made a year ago - "S.O.S Call from Openet" - here.

Infonetics maintains its prediction for a $1.6B market size by 2015, and says that "Global revenue from policy management software deployed in mobile networks is forecast by Infonetics to nearly triple in the 5 years from 2011 to 2015, driven by operators seeking to:

• Manage bandwidth usage during peak hours to alleviate strain on shared RAN resources caused by 3G and PC-based data services
• Offload traffic onto WiFi networks
• Enable advanced subscriber controls and variable charging based on time of day or subscriber profile
• Create specialized service packages around specific applications or services, such as social networking or high definition video
• Control rating and charging for mobile broadband roaming and day passes
• Deliver over-the-air provisioning of modems/CPE and support QoS requirements associated with delivering voice services over WiMAX and LTE networks
• Support convergent services that span fixed and mobile networks

See "Amdocs acquisition of Bridgewater changes policy management game; $1.6B market by 2015" - here.