VAS Deployments [213]: Pelephone [Israel] Uses Checkpoint's Cloud-based Security

Haim Raviv reports to The Com (here, Hebrew) that Israeli MNO, Pelephone, will be "..the World's first cellular operator to offer Checkpoint's cloud-based security service to its subscribers. Dubbed 'Pelephone Anti-Virus', the service protects against viruses, spyware and Trojans and offered for ~$3.5/Month".

The service (here, Hebrew) is based on "Checkpoint's ThreatCloud, does not require any update to the subscriber's handset and offered to all smart devices and computers with cellular modem, except Blackberry handsets. Obviously the service is not applicable during Wi-Fi connections".

At the end of Q3, 2012 (here) Pelephone had 2.8M mobile subscribers, a 0.1% decease compared to the same quarter last year. ARPU decreased by 11%, from NIS107 to 95 ($25), mainly due to competition from new operators. VAS revenues were 35.1% of total cellular services. Quarterly churn rate was 6.7%. Other technologies deployed by Pelephone - PCRF (here), Caching (here)

According to Checkpoint ThreatCloud (see spec below) " .. is a collaborative network and cloud-driven knowledge base that delivers real-time dynamic security intelligence to security gateways. That intelligence is used to identify emerging outbreaks and threat trends. Since processing is done in the cloud, millions of signatures and malware protection can be scanned in real time".