Infonetics Forecasts $830M for Policy Management Market in 2012

  

Infonetics Research unveiled additional details from its Policy Management research (see previous update "[Infonetics]: "Global policy management market to top $1.9B by 2016" - here).

According to Shira Levine, directing analyst for service enablement and subscriber intelligence (new title!) "Global sales of policy management software for wireless and fixed-line networks grew 41% in 2011 and are forecast by Infonetics to hit similar growth levels in 2012, with strong momentum continuing through at least 2016, when the market will top $1.9 billion".

The policy management software market for 2011 was $589M (here), bringing Infonetics 2012 estimate to ~$830M.

".. Mobile operators in emerging markets such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East are using policy management to combat high subscriber churn rates and increase ARPU through loyalty programs, expanded payment options, and value-added services"

"Shared data plans—where a ‘bucket’ of data is shared among subscribers or devices—are driving operator investment in flexible, real-time policy solutions"

See "Expansion, replacement cycles spark growth in policy management market" - here.

Birdstep Gets Orders in Europe and US

   

Birdstep Technology announced recently two new orders for its EasyConnect,  connection manager application, and EasySmart Wi-Fi offload client:

• ".. a large extension order for EasyConnect`s new generation software from a European Operator. The licenses will provide the users with among other things support for LTE and Windows 8. The estimated value of this deal is 129 k Euro" 

• "a new contract for a large scale deployment of its intelligent data off-load client, EasySmart, with a leading North American Operator. The value of the deal for the first phase of this contract is 150K USD"

Related post - "Optimization Deployments [156]: Sprint Uses Birdstep for On-Device Access Management" - here.

In its Q2 2012 report [here], the company said that "On June  30, 2012 the total amount of  EasyConnect clients, which have been activated in commercial deployments, passed the  eight million. At same time the amount of EasySmart clients activated in commercial deployment passed one million. The rapid increase in EasySmart clients indicates that the new product strategy is right".
   

See "Birdstep Technology receives large EasyConnect extension order from European Operator" - here and "Birdstep Technology signs new EasySmart (WiFi Off-load) contract with a leading North American Operator establishing leading position for intelligent data off-load in North America" - here.

Pan-Arab Carriers' Platform will Challenge OTTs

Matt Smith reports to Reuters that "Middle East telecommunications firms are discussing the idea of creating a pan-Arab online platform that would earn them more revenue from their networks by challenging Facebook and other Internet behemoths of the West .. Behind the proposal is a frustration shared by telecommunications firms globally: as they spend heavily to build networks, data traffic on the networks is increasing rapidly, but the firms essentially only make money from charging for access to their networks - a low-margin business".

Osman Sultan (pictured), CEO of du says: "OTT players...we can't share their gain and they won't share our pain .. Network traffic doubles every eight to nine months, but revenue is heading to a plateau, so we need to claim part of the new revenues alongside OTT players",

".. common language and culture shared by the world's more than 350 million Arabic speakers, plus the webs of affiliated companies which Gulf operators own across the Middle East and North Africa, could make the project viable".

Pedro Oliveira (pictured), partner at global management consultants Oliver Wyman says "In the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait have multiple telecommunications firms providing Internet access, and some of them may be the most vulnerable to becoming "dumb pipes". Such companies might cut access fees to their networks in an effort to win market share .. If one operator takes this approach, then others in the same market may be forced to follow as they lose revenue and market share and struggle to keep on investing in their network .. It's a race to the bottom."

See "Middle East telcos mull alliance in Facebook fight" - here.

New Mobile Usage Tracking App Predicts Future Usage

 
With the disappearing of unlimited data services, mobile subscribers may find the following useful, with its prediction feature.

Princeton EDGE Lab has just released a new iOS application, DataWiz, providing control over wireless data use (cellular and Wi-Fi). See the chart below for the EDGE configuration; The DPI equipment is from Allot Communications.

"The DataWiz data tracker app precisely monitors your mobile device’s usage AND predicts future usage so you can save money on your mobile bill. This innovative technology, developed by the great minds at Princeton University’s EDGE Lab, empowers you to take control of your mobile data plan and keep expenses within your budget. With a cool, user-friendly interface, easy-to-understand graphs, data usage quota caps, and regular alerts, you’ll never go over your mobile data allowance again!"

EDGE Lab logical topology

See "DataWiz - Free Mobile Data Management" - here.

Cisco Partners with PeerApp

Dan Rayburn (pictured) covers recent M&A in the infrastructure space including the recent acquisition of Oversi by Allot Communications (see "Allot Buys Oversi for $16M in Cash; Replaces PeerApp OEM" - here).

As I mentioned in post about the acquisition Allot already has a transparent caching function embedded in its DPI product (MediaSwift), based on its OEM agreement with PeerApp.

While PeerApp may have lost the Allot relations, according to Dan things may not be so bad as "It’s also interesting to note that Cisco was a shareholder in Oversi, yet Cisco didn’t bid on buying the company and recently partnered with transparent caching provider PeerApp instead".

See "Infrastructure News Roundup: 21ViaNet Acquires FastWeb, Akamai Acquires FastSoft, Allot Acquires Oversi Networks" - here.

[Infonetics]: Cloud-Based Security to Grow by 83% by 2016

 
A new report by Jeff Wilson (pictured), principal analyst for security, Infonetics Research, concludes that "Cloud-based security services in particular are gaining momentum, fueled by North America and greenfield opportunities in developing markets in Asia and Latin America". "

"We’re forecasting global revenue from cloud-based security services to grow 83% from 2011 to 2016, an eyebrow-raising figure, especially in the enormous security market".

  

"The volume of network security attacks is up significantly in 2012, with more threats coming—or appearing to come—from trusted sources .. DDoS services like those provided by Prolexic [see "Prolexic Q2 Report: "Shorter, but higher volume DDoS Attacks"" - here] and Verisign are a major and growing segment that Infonetics may break out in its managed security report when more data is available from providers in this space". 

Related posts: 

• "DDoS DNS Attack Disrupted AT&T Data Traffic" - here
• "KDDI [Japan] Uses Arbor for DDoS Prevention" - here
• "Tata Uses Arbor for DDoS Protection" - here. 

See "Cloud-based security services set to surge 83% by 2016" - here.

FCC Chairman: UBB is Useful; Should be Transparent and Fair

   

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski (pictured) spoke recenelty at Vox Media, making a statement on usage based billing.

At the end of 2010 Mr. Genachowski said that "Our work has also demonstrated the importance of business innovation to promote network investment and efficient use of networks, including measures to match price to cost such as usage-based pricing" (see "FCC: Usage-Based Pricing is Important" - here) - this time he was more cautious.

"This explosion of online video and other high-bandwidth applications and services is leading Internet users to consume more and more data every month. To maximize the opportunities of broadband for our conomy, consumers need sufficient monthly broadband capacity to make e-commerce routine and unconstrained".

".. This presents challenges for broadband providers in managing the growing loads on their networks while earning returns to drive capital investment in network upgrades and expansion. One tool we’ve seen is usage-based pricing, often implemented with monthly data limits.I’ve said since 2010 that, in a competitive market, usage-based pricing can be a useful tool, consistent with the goals of driving efficiency, investment, and faster and more robust network infrastructure. In general, experimentation in business models in competitive markets is something to be encouraged, and has historically benefited consumers".

 
"At the same time, I’ve been clear that I’m concerned about practices that harm competition, including from over-the-top providers; unnecessarily depress broadband usage; or reduce incentives to increase broadband speeds and capacity. As I said earlier this year, as consumer usage grows and technology improvements enable providers to deliver more bits at lower cost, we should expect that any monthly usage limits will increase and that consumer cost-per-bit will decrease".

" .. And certainly, any usage-based pricing practices should be implemented in a transparent and easy-to-understand manner – so consumers are treated fairly and have the tools they need to make the right decisions based on their needs".

See "Chairman Genachowski Remarks on Broadband at Vox Media" - here.

Telstra CTO: "We do not currently implement traffic management"

Hugh S Bradlow (pictured), Telstra's CTO, was interviewed to the Broadband World Forum and provided some insights into the carrier's challenges and actions.

Some quotes:

• Bandwidth Caps - "Usage caps have been part of the Australian internet scene since the beginning .. access to the internet in the early days was constrained by the cost of the overseas links, hence the introduction of usage caps. When users exceed their usage cap on fixed broadband, we may throttle their lines down to dial up speeds. This helps to avoid bill shock and is good usage management practice. We do not currently implement traffic management".
  
  [See "What Happened when TelstraClear Removed Data Caps?" - here] 

• OTT - Threat? - "We see OTT services as part of a suite of functionality that delivers value to our customers. As such, we try and ensure that our customers can get access to the services that they desire and require and facilitate this where possible".
  
  [see "Telstra Deploys PCC and DPI to Monetize OTT" - here]  

• Net Neutrality - "My stance is that rigid rules dictating how technically complex systems such as networks, particularly mobile ones, operate would stifle innovation and reduce competition. As long as ISPs are clear and transparent about the way their networks operate, consumers should be allowed to choose the service that best suits their individual needs".
    

See "Telstra CTO: “The biggest challenge is supporting the massive growth in data cost effectively”" - here.

Verizon CFO: "we have a lot of people coming off unlimited to go to shared"

Verizon's EVP and CFO, Fran Shammo (pictured), participated in Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference. Among other things he discussed Shared Data [here] (Vs.) the phased-out unlimited data plans [here]:

"we are surprised on shared from many different aspects.. What I will tell you is obviously when you launch a price plan like this, the first people to go to that price plan are the people that believe that they can optimize their price plan and save a little money. So when you initially launch, you always know that you're going to have some dilution up front.

The good news here is though is the dilution is not as much as we expected. The other good news is we have more people going to shared than we actually anticipated. And the thing that really surprised us is we have a lot of people coming off unlimited to go to shared.

So what customers are understanding and through our good sales routine is once you explain to a customer their usage on a monthly basis, unlimited is just a word, it doesn't really mean anything and that people don't really -- I think a lot of consumers think they consume a lot more data than they really do. So that whole unlimited thing I think is going by the wayside and they see the benefit of going to the shared"

See also "Verizon: Why Shared Data Plans are Good for Our Business" - here.

See "EDITED TRANSCRIPT" - here.

ALU and Arbor Establish CSP DDoS Mitigation Test Lab

   

Following their previously announced OEM relations (see "ALU Integrated Arbor's DDoS Mitigation into its Routers" - here), Arbor Networks and Alcatel-Lucent announced "..the establishment of a new Proof of Concept (POC) Laboratory in Singapore for communications service providers to conduct testing of technologies to mitigate distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.. The POC Laboratory gives customers the ability to see live demonstrations of this integrated technology, as well as to test various DDoS attacks and techniques, allowing customers to conduct POC trials to better understand the technologies and best practices for DDoS mitigation".

See "Alcatel-Lucent and Arbor Networks Open Test Lab to Help Communications Service Providers Mitigate Cyber Attacks" - here.

Procera Adds A Tier1 APAC MNO; Multi-Million $ Initial Order

  

Procera Networks announced another [see other recent orders - here, here, here and here] ".. multi-million dollar initial order from a Tier 1 mobile operator in the Asia Pacific region. This order is the first placed for a multi-year project to provide Procera's leading edge Intelligent Policy Enforcement (IPE) solutions for network-wide deployment. The operator is experiencing rapid growth on its network, and will leverage Procera's fine-grained analytics and advanced policy creation capabilities to drive new services for its mobile subscribers. Procera expects to recognize a portion of revenue related to this order in the third quarter of 2012, and that portion will represent greater than 10% of the company's revenue in the quarter. This order brings Procera's total number of mobile operator customers to more than 30".

See "Procera Receives Multi-Million Dollar Initial Order From Tier 1 APAC Mobile Operator" - here.

TeliaSonera won't Surcharge VoIP

Sven Grundberg reports to MarketWatch that "TeliaSonera AB said Monday it had decided not to implement a plan to start charging all of its subscribers additional fees for mobile Internet calls [see "TeliaSonera to Charge OTT VoIP Usage" - here]  ..  Instead, the Swedish company said it will increase data fees across the board to "meet customers' growing demand for data communications"".

See also "TeliaSonera Likes OTT. However, …" - here.  TeliaSonera had implemented VoIP charging in its Spanish subsidiary, Yoigo - see "Procera's DPI Enables Yoigo VoIP's Monetization" - here.

See "TeliaSonera backs off plan to charge for VoIP" - here.

ITU: "individual Internet use continues to lag behind"

The Broadband Commission for Digital Development (ITU) has released its "..first-ever country-by-country snapshot of the state of broadband deployment worldwide .. The State of Broadband 2012: Achieving Digital Inclusion for All report evaluates the roll-out of broadband around the world and tracks progress towards achieving the four advocacy targets set by the Commission in 2011 for boosting broadband affordability and uptake. It provides country rankings across up to 177 economies on economic impact, penetration, national broadband policy, and connecting people and dwellings'".

"..The report reveals that while household Internet access has seen strong growth over the past year and is on track to achieve the Commission’s target for Connecting Homes to Broadband, individual Internet use continues to lag behind. ITU analysts believe that mobile broadband could prove the platform for achieving the boost needed to get progress back on track – at end 2011, there were already almost twice as many mobile broadband subscriptions as fixed broadband connections"

See "UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development releases first global broadband report" - here.

CEM Deployments[182]: Telefonica to Use HP in the Americas and Europe

HP announced that ".. Telefónica is using HP Customer Experience Assurance (CEA)—a comprehensive network-analysis and customer-experience monitoring solution developed by HP and specialized software developer Zhilabs [here] —to improve the total customer experience, thereby increasing loyalty, reducing “churn” (customer defection) and lowering the costs associated with customer care". 

 

"Telefónica will deploy HP CEA progressively in all its properties across the Americas and Europe".

Related post - "Update: Sandvine/ALU Agreement Signed; $2.5M Orders Received" - here (note the "DPI" connectivity in the chart below).

See "HP Helps Communications Service Provider Telefónica Improve Service for Millions of Mobile Users" - here.

NI Announcements: Huawei uTraffic Locates Traffic Congestion Points

   

Huawei announced the release of "..uTraffic, a network traffic analysis system. Based on Huawei's industry-leading performance management platform, uTraffic enables carriers to analyze network traffic and flow and monitor the quality of network "pipes" .. uTraffic is a network traffic analysis system with a scalable distributed architecture. This system can display overlapping physical topologies, geographic information system (GIS) mapping, and network traffic. It can also locate traffic congestion points".

Unfortunately, I could not find additional information on the product, beyond the press release.

"By collecting and analyzing traffic, uTraffic can predict the traffic and the broadband utilization rate for the next one to three months, and forecast where the bottleneck in the "pipe" is likely to occur. uTraffic also supports network expansion. uTraffic uses the embedded probe technology, which can monitor traffic and "pipe" quality to an accuracy of 10-6, top in the industry. Huawei also leads the industry in achieving point-to-multipoint monitoring by extending the Y.1731 technology".

[Y.1731 specifies mechanisms required to operate and maintain the network and service aspects of ETH layer. It also specifies the Ethernet OAM frame formats and syntax and semantics of OAM frame fields. The OAM mechanisms as described in this Recommendation apply to both point-to-point ETH connections and multipoint ETH connectivity. The OAM mechanisms as described in this Recommendation are applicable to any environment independently of how the ETH layer is managed (e.g., using network management systems and/or operational support systems)].

See "Huawei Releases Industry-leading Network Traffic Analysis System—uTraffic" - here.

ARCEP Sees Decrease in Use of TM in Mobile; Plans to Monitor QoS on Fixed Networks

   

ARCEP, the French regulator, published an update on its work on Net Neutrality for France. Following are several  quotes from its press release on the new report:

"Through the Law of 22 March 2011, Parliament has asked ARCEP to provide an update on the status of net neutrality. ARCEP submitted today its report to Parliament and the Government on this issue.

In September 2010, ARCEP published 10 proposals [here] that aimed at defining a sustainable, neutral and high-quality equilibrium for the functioning of the Internet, combined with tools to ensure this equilibrium is maintained and to guarantee it if needed ..  However, competition and transparency alone are not always enough Therefore ARCEP has engaged further efforts to ensure the ecosystem runs smoothly and stakeholders comply with the principles laid out in 2010.

• .. to track the quality of Internet access services, ARCEP will adopt a decision before the end of this year that specifies the quality of service indicators for fixed networks, which will be measured and made public, in complement of those already measured for mobile networks   

• ..  ARCEP has undertaken an inventory of traffic management practices implemented by operators - e.g. throttling, blocking or priority queues.-. Thanks in particular to competition, ARCEP has noticed a decrease in the use of these practices especially on mobile networks. Certain practices are nevertheless contrary to the framework set in 2010 which consists of five assessment criteria. ARCEP is therefore calling, among others, for the steady elimination of service blocking (VoIP, P2P) on mobile networks. If the market fails to make sufficient progress on its own, the current legislation gives the Authority the powers needed to intervene.

Source: ARCEP Report, September 2012

• .. the interconnection business model, namely the relationships between Internet players, is evolving gradually and can give rise to conflicts: it needs to be better understood. In light of its analysis of the current state of the market, ARCEP considers that there is no need to strengthen the regulatory framework at this stage. The regular collection of information introduced by the Authority's decision of 29 March 2012 has produced its first results this summer 2012 and allows ARCEP to keep track of these trends, to analyse them and take action accordingly.
      [See related news about a recent decision given in the case of Orange-Cogent dispute over their peering agreement - "France Télécom may ask to be remunerated for opening additional capacity but it must clarify the commercial and billing relationship between its Internet access and Internet transit businesses" - here; Similar to the Comcast-Level3 case from two years ago (here). 

 ... It is now for Parliament and the Government to determine the follow-up to be given to this report.

See "Net Neutrality" - here.

NI Deployments [181]: Tunisiana Uses InfoVista to Monitor its 10G Backhaul

   

InfoVista announced that ".. mobile operator Tunisiana has implemented VistaInsight for Networks .. Tunisiana is using InfoVista’s solution to monitor the availability, traffic load and saturation of its newest 10-Gigabit IP backhaul network and ensure the highest quality of new 3G and fixed line services to customers .. From the IP/MPLS core through the IP backhaul and packet microwave access networks, Tunisiana can now guarantee the integrity of its IP infrastructure"

"InfoVista’s vendor-agnostic service-level reporting has enabled Tunisiana to exploit real-time performance data and historical network trends. With this information, Tunisiana is able to set a baseline for network traffic to plan future capacity across the service delivery chain and proactively troubleshoot quality of service (QoS) issues. Network planning has historically been tedious and time consuming, resulting in little insight. VistaInsight for Networks, however, allows Tunisiana to plan for and deliver a high performing network while keeping investments and operating costs under control".

Tunisiana has more than 6M subscribers.

 

See "Tunisiana Implements InfoVista’s Network Performance Management Solution to Ensure Successful IP Backhaul Roll Out" - here.

Paper: The Use of DPI for Behavioral Advertising (Case Study: Nebuad and Phorm)

  

From time to time we see the return of Behavioral Advertising as a business opportunity for ISPs, despite the loud crash of these services few years ago. 

Recently I reported on several deployments - in Nigeria, Turkey, SaskTel, Marriott Hotels, Orange France, Romania and more. Today's deployments are usually based on an opt-in service, a very different model from the "we dont tell you what we do" model that failed the earlier players - Nebuad and Phorm (which is still there - see "Phorm's New Chinese Operation Valued at $155M" - here and behind some of the above deployments). 

A new research by Andreas Kuehn and Milton Mueller (pictured), Syracuse University, School of Information Studies, examines the political issues behind this service.

Abstract: 

 
This paper examines the use of deep packet inspection (DPI) in online advertising, and analyzes the effects public pressure, regulatory actions and judicial and policy-making proceedings had on those deployments. The research is part of a larger project on the effects of DPI on Internet governance which is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation [see "NSF Funds Research on DPI" - here]. DPI, which allows Internet service providers (ISPs) to monitor the content of data packets in real-time, can be considered a disruptive technology because of the way its use conflicts with pre-established principles and norms of Internet governance. 

In this comparative study, we examine the rise and fall of NebuAd in the U.S. and of Phorm in Europe. We also include some less visible companies and spill-overs to Brazil and South Korea. We conduct a comprehensive analysis of these cases – from the early development and secret trials of the technology to the regulatory actions, business failures and litigation in the aftermath. Looking at a timeline of several years that covers the dynamic technical, economic and institutional interactions at play, the framework contrasts distinct actors, actor constellations and modes of interaction across institutional settings to illustrate similar and divergent policy outcomes. This research is based upon comprehensive analysis of political and legal documents and a series of interviews with DPI vendors, Internet advocates, engineers, and advertisers.

The narrative follows four stages that we have found in similar case studies of DPI deployments: 1) unilateral, secret deployment, 2) uncontrolled public disclosure of the deployment, 3) civil activism around net neutrality and privacy norms, 4) political, legal and regulatory proceedings to resolve the conflicts. This framework highlights the interaction of technical, economic and institutional factors that are at work when politically contested technologies with a disruptive potential are deployed on the Internet. In this case, as in many others, the analysis shows how the deployments ran afoul of established principles and expectations and how the “notification” and “consent” practices so crucial to privacy law failed to bridge the gap between the expectations of Internet users and the formal legal definition applied by the courts. We show how this gap led to intense political pressure and market exit of DPI-based advertising platforms in both countries.

See and download from "Profiling the Profilers: Deep Packet Inspection and Behavioral Advertising in Europe and the United States" - here

CEM Survey: Solving Problems is Important, Prioritizing QoS - Less

  

Heavy Reading survey (sponsored by Alcatel-Lucent) finds that "..Communications service providers are committing ever-increasing budgets to improving the customer experience in an effort to distinguish themselves from competitors. As importantly, the survey indicates that service providers are extremely interested in understanding the experiences that their customers have with various products and services, so that any problems can be corrected and customer loyalty can be improved".

".. Customer experience management will be an area of focus and investment for service providers in 2013, with two-thirds of respondents expecting to increase next year’s expenditures in this area .. Service providers view CEM as strategic, with more than three-quarters of respondents indicating that improved CEM provides an opportunity to attract new business, two-thirds agreeing that it could improve their brand image and nearly six-in-ten confident that it will provide competitive differentiation".

".. Respondents agreed on several ‘bread and butter’ activities that impact the customer experience, including nearly nine-in-ten citing the importance of answering customer queries and resolving problems in a timely fashion. Other activities (such as prioritizing network quality of service based on the value of an individual customer) are seen as relatively less important".

See "Two-thirds of service providers plan to increase customer experience management spending in 2013" - here.

Security Deployments [180]: SK Telecom [S. Korea] Selected Arbor to Protect Service

Arbor Networks announced that "SK Telecom .. the largest mobile service provider in Korea, has selected Arbor’s Peakflow SP platform in order to maintain the performance and availability of their mobile network and services ..  Managing the rise in mobile data and signaling traffic due to the ever increasing usage of 3G and 4G devices such as smartphones and tablets and protecting their network from DDoS attacks and mobile application anomalies are just some of the many challenges SK Telecom faces on a daily basis".

See also "SK Telecom [Korea] Selected Fortinet for Security Services" - here.

".. SK Telecom has invested heavily into the access, backhaul and core of their mobile network. By leveraging IP flow data (i.e Netflow, sFlow etc.) embedded in network backbone and peering/transit edge routers, Peakflow SP enables SK Telecom to gain cost effective visibility into where their mobile network traffic is going to and coming from"

SK Telecom has more than 26 million subscribers.

SK Telecom: Subscribers and Market Share, Q2 2012

See "South Korea’s Largest Mobile Operator, SK Telecom,Selects Arbor Networks’ Peakflow® SP Platform for Mobile Infrastructure & Service Protection" - here.

Sandvine: 9X Increase in Apple's Traffic on iOS6 Release Day

    

Have you downloaded the new iOS6 yet? According to Sandvine many people did.
 
Dan Deeth presents in the company's blog "a chart [below] made using data from fixed access networks in the US that shows a comparison of iTunes and Mac App Store traffic from yesterday with that of the average levels of the previous two Wednesdays in September .. See that huge spike at 1:00PM EDT yesterday? That is when iOS 6 was officially released to the public. This massive increase in traffic was then sustained throughout most of the day, and actually escalated as people got home from work in the evening. This resulted in traffic from Apple’s servers yesterday being over 9 times their average traffic levels"

See more - "Traffic Spotlight: iOS6 Launch Day" - here.

PCRF Deployments [179]: Orange [Reunion + 15 African Locations] Implemented Volubill's PCRF

 
Volubill announced that Orange Reunion has ".. implemented Volubill’s solution for pre and post-paid data charging, including policy for new features such as anti-bill shock ..  Orange has implemented Volubill’s Business System (VBS) [here] designed to manage user experience and interactivity with access and data services in real-time"

"The implementation at Orange Reunion is just one of many in which Orange Group have utilized the expertise of Volubill .. policy and charging installations at 15 other locations including, Senegal, Central Africa, Cameroon [here], Tunisia [here], Botswana and the Ivory Coast".

 

Orange Group African Business

See "Orange Reunion Chooses Volubill for Policy and Charging" - here.

NI Deployments [178]: Belgacom [Belgium] Uses ALU's to Manage SLAs

Alcatel-Lucent announced that it ".. is giving Belgacom .. the ability to measure the performance of mobile services offered to business customers, enabling Belgacom to guarantee that service level agreements (SLAs) are being met ..  with Alcatel-Lucent’s Service Quality Manager (SQM) .. Belgacom can accurately report on a range of key performance and quality indicators (such as service availability and reliability) that are important to its corporate clients. In turn, Belgacom can use this information to take actions to improve their clients’ customer experience"

Belgacom also uses ALU's PCRF product (see "Belgacom Uses ALU DSC" - here) and its 7750 service routers (see "Belgacom Uses ALU 7750 to Provide Application Visibly to Enterprises" - here).

"SQM will help Belgacom manage service quality in five core areas: Monitoring .. Informing .. Demonstrating .. Improving and  Committing"

See "Belgacom to offer mobile service quality guarantees thanks to Alcatel-Lucent" - here.

AT&T Facetime Discrimination: Complaint to be Filled with the FCC

 
AT&T plans to block Apple's Facetime over 3G service to certain customers (see "AT&T will Block Facetime/3G to non Shared Data Plan Customers" - here) is probably going for FCC examination. This could be a test case for the ability of DPI and policy Management vendors to sell application-aware monetization solutions to the US market.

  

3 public internest groups - Free Press, Public Knowledge, and the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute announced that they have "..notified AT&T of their intent to file a formal complaint against the company. In the complaint, the three organizations will assert that AT&T is violating Net Neutrality by blocking the popular video-conferencing application FaceTime. The groups will file the complaint with the Federal Communications Commission in the coming weeks".

  

According to the press release "Under the Open Internet rules the FCC passed in 2010, AT&T cannot block apps that compete with the company's traditional voice-calling service.The groups urged the Commission to stop AT&T's actions .. the letter to AT&T is linked here".

See "Public Interest Groups to File Net Neutrality Complaint Against AT&T for Blocking FaceTime on iPhones and iPads" - here.

DSR Deployments [177]: Telstra Global Uses Tekelec to Manage LTE Roaming

Tekelec announced that "Telstra Global is offering LTE roaming services across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region using Tekelec’s Diameter Signaling Router (DSR). Tekelec’s market-leading DSR is providing the diameter signaling hub for Telstra Global’s IPX service announced last month. It enables the secure exchange of authorization, authentication, billing, charging and network policies that use the diameter protocol to maintain subscribers’ LTE services while visiting international markets"

Possibly related post - "Telstra Deploys PCC and DPI to Monetize OTT" - here.

See "Telstra Global taps Tekelec for new LTE services" - here.

Cache Announcements: PeerApp New Devices Boost Performance by 40%; Adds 10GE Interfaces

    

PeerApp introduced the ".. UltraBand 6000, the next generation in its UltraBand multiservice transparent caching product family. UltraBand 6000 sets a new benchmark for caching performance, processing up to 40% more content traffic than the largest systems currently available .. extending from appliance models for small operators and remote sites, to grid configurations with multiple 10 Gbps interfaces designed for tier 1 core network infrastructure".

PeerApp's previous product, UltraBand 5000, had multiple 1GE interfaces; the new product adds support for 10GE interfaces.
"UltraBand 6000 also offers a unique cache policy engine that gives operators precise control over caching resources to tailor output for specific services and subscriber groups".

See "PeerApp Enables Operators to Meet Exploding Video Demand with High-Capacity Caching Platform" - here.

DPI Deployments [176]: Vimpelcom [Russia] Deployed Procera to Manage P2P Traffic

   

While this is a 2011 project, one can still appropriate the willingness of the customer to be quoted by name after implementing a bandwidth management solution, used to "optimize" P2P file sharing traffic.

Procera Networks announced that VimpelCom "..  has deployed Procera’s PacketLogic platforms in nearly 43 cities throughout Russia. Last year, VimpelCom purchased Procera’s Intelligent Policy Enforcement (IPE) solutions to provide network visibility, analytics, optimization and bandwidth management. Most of the corresponding revenue was recognized by Procera last year"

Vimpelcom - Russia

"..[Vimpelcom] implemented a number of Procera’s IPE platforms and PacketLogic Intelligence Center (PIC) solutions including several PL10000 series platforms, PL 8000s, and PICs plus bypass switches for additional network resilience and availability".

"VimpelCom, in conjunction with technology system integrator Jet Infosystems, performed operational and laboratory testing using Procera’s PacketLogic Intelligence Center (PIC) solutions to gain “live” traffic analytics for their extensive network, and found that over 50% of broadband resources were being consumed by peer-to-peer file sharing. The two companies used the results of this research to design a solution that specifically meets VimpelCom’s unique requirements".

   

Related posts - "VimpelCom [Russia] Deployed Symantec's Web Filtering" - here and "Vimpelcom [Russia] Selected Vantrix for Video Services" - here. 

See "Procera Announces the Network-wide Deployment of PacketLogicTM Intelligent Policy Enforcement Solutions by VimpelCom in Russia and CIS Countries" - here.

DPI Announcements: Qosmos and Deep-Secure Fight Application-Level Attacks

Qosmos and Deep-Secure announced a ".. deep traffic analysis and application-level content protection that allows SOC administrators to use complex software monitoring, management and visualisation tools without risking application-level attacks. Network administrators in a Security Operations Centre (SOC) can get a global view of cyber activity by analysing network monitoring information from disparate sources. Information is traditionally collected on a one way flow of data to ensure that no sensitive information from the SOC leaks back into the monitored networks".

"To provide a step-function improvement in security visibility, Qosmos Deep Packet Inspection (DPI)-based technology delivers application-level network intelligence in a NetFlow / Syslog format to the SOC where it is interpreted and displayed by the monitoring and management system [see chart below]" 

See "Qosmos and Deep-Secure Partner to Improve Application-level Cyber Security" - here.

Diametriq Presents: LTE Diameter Traffic Calculator

     

Diametriq announced ".. the first web-based interactive tool that automatically calculates the Diameter signaling load based on a variety of input variables such as the number of LTE devices and how subscribers use them. The Diameter Traffic Calculator(tm) generates reports that include graphical presentations and signaling load by network element" (see also "Tekelec Diameter Index Shows 252% CAGR Signaling Growth (2011-2016)" - here.

" .. The Diameter Traffic Calculator uses eight variables such as the number of LTE devices, and their projected yearly growth, number of simultaneous applications and expected dormancy of applications to estimate the diameter traffic in a specific network. It also factors in the percentage of postpaid subscribers and projected VoLTE users. The results are extrapolated over a 5 years period based on specified growth rates. In addition to reporting total Diameter messages per year, the tool also projects Diameter messages by network element: HSS, PCRF and OCS".

  

The screen shot below shows the calculator's projection, based on the defaults prepared by Diametriq (shown on the left side bar).

See "Diametriq Unveils Interactive LTE Diameter Traffic Calculator" - here and the calculator page - here.

MNOs Study (part 2): Popularity of Network Controls

The new study of 200 MNOs by Telecoms.com Intelligence (sponsored by Openet - here) also provides information on the network controls used by mobile operators.

"Today the network control most in use – by 61.5 per cent of operators – is throttling, where throughput available to customers who have exceeded their usage limit is restricted. Related, and offered by 28 per cent of respondents, is service cessation in response to the same user behaviour. Bill shock monitoring is the next most widespread, offered by 47 per cent of operator respondents, with speed tier by customer segment, network congestion control and service prioritisation for high value customers all moderately popular (see chart below)".

Related to the above, in my BTM 2012 Survey, I asked the blog readers to rate which policy management use-cases are likely to be implemented by MNOs in 2012 (in a range of 0-5, 0 means no implementation in 2012).

The results are shown in the following chart (N=81):

Tekelec Enhances Policy Management with Device Control, OTT APIs and Analytics

Tekelec announced 3 new products - Mobile Policy Gateway, Application Manager, and Policy Analytics Platform, all integrating with its Policy Server ".. to create a “policy everywhere” framework that evolves policy well beyond fair usage and tiered services .. the new offerings enable service providers to introduce innovative services like subsidized or “toll-free” data, opt-in mobile advertising, customer loyalty/rewards programs, and application-based plans with partner ecosystems. They also extend the reach of policy to the smart device to provide intelligent Wi-Fi offload, manage chatty applications, improve device security, and give subscribers greater control over their applications".

• Mobile Policy Gateway extends policy directly to the device. The MPG combines a standards-compliant Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) with dynamic network and subscriber aware policy management. It turns smart devices into policy enforcement points, reducing the need for costly deep packet inspection (DPI) and policy enforcement (PCEF) functions in the network core.
   See also "Ovum: Operators Look for a Device-based Policy Solution for Wi-Fi Offload" - here and "Openet Extends Policy Enforcement to the Device; Reduces Signaling Congestion" - here.

• Application Manager allows service providers to securely expose network APIs, policies and subscriber data to OTT, on-deck, and service delivery platforms (SDPs). By converting web-based protocols (LDAP, SOAP, XML, HTTP, etc.) to Diameter, it creates a single point of control for two-sided business models with application providers.

• Policy Analytics Platform unlocks network intelligence buried in millions of policy event records. The data give network operations, IT and marketing departments granular business and network insight about how subscribers use and access services and applications.

See "Tekelec takes policy "everywhere" with three new products" - here.

MNOs Study (Part 1): 90% Need Real-Time Billing, Only 20% Have it

A new study of 200 MNOs by Telecoms.com Intelligence (sponsored by Openet) finds that "the need for a real-time approach to mobile data billing, expressed by more than 90 percent of respondents. Only 20 percent of operators surveyed currently have the real-time capabilities .. Almost 80 percent of respondents indicated their existing post-paid billing system did not provide real-time data collection and rating capabilities. Nearly 90 percent said these capabilities were important".

See "Openet-Sponsored Study Confirms that as the Industry Moves to LTE, Operators Need a Sophisticated, Real-Time Approach to Mobile Data Billing" - here.