Optimization Deployments [341]: Telekom Austria/Vip Mobile [Serbia] Selected Flash Networks

Flash Networks announced that the "Serbian operator Vip mobile [See "Telekom Austria Implements Connetem NFV-Based EPC w/Procera's DPI" - here], a member of the Telekom Austria Group, has selected Flash Networks’ Harmony 7.5 to provide their subscribers faster mobile browsing and smoother video viewing. Enabling operators to boost network speeds, Harmony 7.5 includes the ability to self-detect congestion in real-time for all types of traffic, including encrypted traffic, without violating user privacy"

At the end of December 2014 Vip served over 2 million active subscribers, had 22.5% market share (see chart below)  

Source: Telekom Austria 2014 report

See "Vip mobile selects Flash Networks’ harmony™ 7.5 to enhance video viewing and boost browsing speeds" - here.

Kontron Partners with Sandvine

Kontron SYMKLOUD

Kontron announced that it is "collaborating with industry leaders Red Hat and Sandvine to give communication service providers (CSPs) an economically and operationally optimized open solution to deploy cloud business services using Network Function Virtualization (NFV) infrastructure.

The solution combines Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform, Sandvine’s network policy control platform for traffic optimization, analytics and subscriber service creation, and the Kontron SYMKLOUD high-density, modular converged hardware platform for carrier-cloud networks.

Kontron’s SYMKLOUD converged hardware platform is massively scalable and extremely dense, packing up to nine hot-swappable modular servers (each with single or dual independent x86 nodes) and two OpenFlow-ready 10GbE switches – all in a 2U enclosure. This high density and converged infrastructure in a single hardware solution greatly improves the economics of CSP infrastructure.

Don Bowman [pictured], CTO, Sandvine. said “Kontron’s modular, high-density SYMKLOUD hardware gives our mutual CSP customers highly economical physical capacity that they can monetize with our Cloud Services Policy Controller platform .. Combined with Red Hat’s OpenStack virtualization capabilities, the result is an ideal NFV environment for CSPs looking to out-perform the market in terms of cost, capabilities and service levels”.

See "Kontron Collaborates with Red Hat and Sandvine to Offer CSPs Exceptionally Economical, Adaptive and Reliable NFV Reference Solution" - here.

Qosmos: OEM w/Anritsu; Demos Intelligent Service Chaining w/Cavium; Joins WindRiver Ecosystem

Intense activity at Qosmos! The embedded DPI s/w vendor announced following:

• ".. it has joined the Wind River Titanium Cloud ecosystem, a program dedicated to accelerating the deployment of solutions for Network Functions Virtualization (NFV). The Qosmos Classifier [see "Qosmos Launches a Standards-based Service Classifier (2300+ Protocols and Metadata)" - here] has been pre-integrated and validated to fully benefit from the Wind River Titanium Server. This includes a straight alignment between the Intel® poll mode drivers (aka Intel DPDK®) along with the consistent networking (overlays support, etc.) support between the Wind River virtual switch and the Qosmos Classifier".
  
  See "Qosmos Joins Wind River Titanium Cloud Ecosystem to Accelerate Deployment of NFV Solutions" - here.

• "Anritsu has embedded Qosmos ixEngine® into its MasterClaw™ Multidimensional Assurance solution.Qosmos ixEngine provides real-time, detailed visibility of key mobile applications and services for telecom operators using Anritsu MasterClaw. They benefit from 24×7 visibility across their network for all subscribers and get unrivalled service assurance capabilities strengthened by Anritsu’s eoLive real-time experience dashboard and eoSight next generational analytics"
  
  Neil Tomlinson [pictured], COO, Anritsu said: “Thanks to Qosmos ixEngine, we can give our CSP customers a true picture of customer experience, as perceived by a subscriber, and also make a clear link between application usage and network performance”.
  
  See "Anritsu Enhances MasterClaw Service Assurance Solution with Qosmos ixEngine" - here. 

• It is "partnering with Cavium to showcase a demonstration of intelligent service chaining running on Cavium’s LiquidIO adapter. The demo shows a breakthrough combination of intelligence and optimized network processing power:

Qosmos Classifier

• Real-time intelligence is provided by a Qosmos-based service classifier, running on a Cavium LiquidIO adapter
   
• High performance is enabled by the Cavium LiquidIO adapter, which accelerates network throughput by offloading vSwitch processing from the x86 host

This new approach brings significant advantages for datacenter operators interested in dynamic, intelligent service chaining and optimized network infrastructure. They can programmatically create any type of service combination quickly and easily in a modern virtualized environment, while benefiting from extreme network performance.

Key technical features:

• Flow processing directly on the Cavium LiquidIO adapter for Layer 7 classification
• Open interfaces and integration with OpenStack and SDN controllers
• Provisioning of network rules consistent with the deployment of services
• Provisioning using RESTful interface using NETCONF/Yang models

See "Qosmos Showcases Intelligent Service Chaining in a Virtualized Environment Running on Cavium’s LiquidIO® Adapter" - here.

13.7% Growth for the DPI Market in 2014

With the release of Procera Networks' financial results  for Q4, all 3 public DPI companies have published their full year 2014 reports, totaling to $315.9M compared to $277.8M in 2013 (+13.7%), with Sandvine leading the market.

	Allot Communications	Procera Networks	Sandvine  (Nov 30)
Symbol	NASDAQ: ALLT	NASDAQ:PKT	TSX: SVC
2013 Earning press release link	Here	Here	Here
Revenues
2014	$117.2M	$75.4M	$123.4M
2013	$96.5M	$74.7M	$106.5M
Change	+21.4%	+1%	+15.9%
Net Income (GAAP)
2014	-$2.5M	-$24.8M	$22.9M
2013	-$6.5M	-$16.3M	$12.9M
Gross Margin
2014	75%	59%	77%
2014	72%	55%	74%
Market Cap (Feb 26, 2015)	$311.9M	$181.8M	$555.2M
Cash (end of 2014)	$132.5M	$102.5M	$151.1M
Enterprise Value	$179.4M	$79.3M	$403.9M

Opera Enables Zero-Rated App Access; Piloted by Telenor Asia

Opera software announced that "Mobile operators can now offer their subscribers free-of-charge access to selected apps for a set period of time, with sponsored and paid passes to apps coming shortly. This has been made possible by App Pass, an innovative new feature for Opera Max, the mobile data-savings and management app from Opera Software.
 
For operators, App Pass is a way to present offers to users when they open any app on their phones. With two clicks, users can gain free access to the data that app consumes via Opera Max: they can then return to the app knowing that any data consumed while using it will be zero-rated for the duration of the App Pass" 

Related posts - Zero rates services in Colombia, Pakistan and Zambia - vs, "Canada: Operators Directed to Stop Zero-Rate Video" - here.

"Telenor will be the first operator to partner with Opera and launch Opera Max with App Pass, testing it out in some of the company’s Asian markets. In the pilot phase Telenor is testing a number of short-term passes for different apps and offers that help its users gain a first-hand, low-risk understanding of the internet. These users can also see and then manage their own personal internet consumption patterns from within Opera Max"

Rolv-Erik Spilling [pictured], Head of Telenor Digital, said: “We’re eager to see how this service is received in our markets. App Pass is designed to give customers easy control over costs related to data usage. The challenge of so-called “bill shock” is high on our agenda, and these kinds of initiatives from Opera play an important part in addressing the issue”.

See "Consumers in emerging markets gain affordable access to apps" - here.

Ericsson: It's Always Facebook and 4 Other Apps

A new report from Ericsson finds:

• Two-thirds of app data traffic over mobile networks comes from top five apps in each country studied, with video streaming and social networking dominating .. each nation displays its own unique preferences - for example, in December 2014, the US top three included Netflix and YouTube, while South Korea was notable for peer-to-peer TV app AfreecaTV and home-grown search portal NAVER.
  
  Facebook was the number one app in each country studied.

• Total mobile video traffic of next six years will be around 17 times that of last six years
   
• Q4 2014: LTE subscriptions achieved higher net additions, with 110 million, than WCDMA/HSPA for the first time.
    
• FY 2014: 800 million smartphone subscriptions added worldwide taking the total number to 2.7 billion, up 40% from a total of 1.9 billion subscriptions in 2013

See "Mobile data traffic dominated by top five apps: Ericsson Mobility Report" - here.

[MarketsandMarkets] NI Market to Reach $1.8B by 2019

A new report by MarketsandMarkets finds that ".. the network analytics market to grow from $589.6 million in 2014 to $1,842.2 million by 2019, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 25.6%.

North America (NA) is expected to be the largest network analytics market in terms of revenues generated, but Asia-Pacific (APAC) is expected to emerge as a high-growth market."

The previous forecast was "$487.9 million in 2013 to $1672.5 million in 2018" (See "[MarketsandMarkets] Network Analytics Market to Reach $1.7B by 2018" - here)

Vendors covered are Accenture, IBM, Cisco, SAS, Tibco, Tableau Software, Calix, JDS Uniphase, Procera Netwroks and Sandvine.

See "Network Analytics Market by Deployment Types (On Premise, On Demand), by Applications (Mobile, VOIP and Fixed Line, Unified Communications), by End Users (Cloud Service Providers, Telecommunications) - Global Forecast to 2019" - here.

DSC Deployments [340]: Max [Bulgaria] Migrates WiMAX to LTE w/Diametriq

Diametriq announced that "Bulgarian mobile operator Max has selected Diametriq’s Diameter Solution Suite™for deployment in their LTE network .. Max pioneered WiMAX mobile networks in Europe in 2007 and is currently in the process of transitioning to LTE after launching the first commercial 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in Bulgaria in May of 2014. Max has since extended the footprint of its advanced 4G LTE network to cover 50% of the urban population.

Anjan Ghosal [pictured], President and CEO, Diametriq explains: “Migrating to 4G can be problematic for WiMAX operators. Not having the benefit of a legacy 3G network makes a seamless transition challenging when it comes to providing out-of-network coverage. In many cases they have to rely on unique solutions that have not yet been addressed by the wider vendor community”

"Max is tackling a number of these issues. First is the seamless integration of their WiMAX and LTE networks. The second is extending their data coverage to also provide voice services. Finally, they need to extend all of these capabilities outside of their network to outbound roamers as well as to allow visitors to roam onto their network .. Diametriq’s Diameter Interworking System plays a key role. It enables Max to integrate their legacy and 4G systems by enabling Data Interworking (dIWF), Voice Interworking (vIWF) and Charging Interworking (cIWF)".

See "Diametriq Provides Diameter Routing Solutions for Bulgarian Mobile Operator Max" - here.

Telus [Canada] Explains Why UBB will Start on March 30

  

A year after Telus started experimenting usage charges (see "Telus to Start Charging for Usage ("it is fair")"- here) the change becomes a national policy for the Canadian operator's fixed ISP services, on March 30.

The surcharge will be automatic, but notifications to customers getting closer to the limit will start on an undefined date in the future.

Telus' "Usage-Based Internet Charges" (here) explains that "Starting March 30, 2015, fees will be applied to customers who exceed their Internet plan’s monthly data allowance. Most TELUS customers are already on an Internet plan that meets their current needs. Only those that exceed their plan – the heaviest Internet users – will incur an additional charge. If you are one of those customers, you will be notified before being charged.

Why? 

• a small number of customers regularly exceed their monthly data allowance, and while TELUS’ Internet plans have always had thresholds, historical consumer data usage patterns have not required us to apply any fees for those customers who exceed their allowance. 

• ..  the consumption of video over the Internet has dramatically increased. As a result, in the last 16 months alone our customers’ monthly Internet data usage has more than doubled. Further, much of this consumption is being driven by a minority of our customers - in fact, less than 5% of our Internet customers are consuming 25% of the data on our network in any given month. 

How much?

If you exceed your monthly usage allowance, we will automatically provide you with additional data buckets of 50GB as needed. Our charges for additional data are among the lowest in Canada:

• First bucket: $5
• Subsequent buckets: $10
• Monthly maximum: $75

Any unused portion of your last data bucket will expire at the end of your billing cycle. Your data usage will be reset to zero and your regular monthly usage allowance will apply.

You can also subscribe to Unlimited Data Usage for $30/mo – or just $15/mo if you also subscribe to any TELUS TV service.

Bill Shock prevention? 
  
Going forward, we’ll also notify you by email when you have:

• Reached 75% of your data allowance
• Reached 95% of your data allowance, and
• Exceeded your data allowance

Allot Acquires Its Web Security Partner, Optenet

Allot Communications announced that it has "..signed a definitive agreement to acquire the operations of Optenet, a global IT security company providing high-performance Security-as-a-Service (SECaaS) solutions to service providers and large enterprises worldwide .. The acquisition is based on an existing successful partnership that has already resulted in ten service provider customer wins, half of which are large tier-1 mobile operators"  

See "$6M Parental Control Win for Allot in EMEA (with Partner)" - here and "Allot Adds Parental Control and Anti-Malware VAS" - here.

"Under the terms of the agreement:

• Allot will acquire the operations of Optenet for approximately $6.5 million in cash to be paid upon and before closing, plus deferred and contingent purchase price.
   
• The deferred purchase price consists of approximately $5.5 million to be paid over two years following closing.
   
• In addition, there will be a performance-based earn-out over a period of five years. The earn-out is capped at approximately $26 million and is contingent upon reaching approximately $140 million in revenues in total over the following five years. 

The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2015.Allot currently expects the acquisition to contribute a few millions of dollars to revenues and to be marginally accretive on a non-GAAP basis during fiscal year 2015".

See "Allot Communications to Acquire Operations of Optenet, a Leading Security-as-a-Service Solution Provider" - here.

Allot Launches Monetization Through Engagement Solution

Allot Communications announced the ".. launch of Allot SmartEngage, a solution designed to help mobile service providers to enhance and better monetize their engagement with their subscribers. 

The first moment a subscriber gets a new smartphone or tablet up and running and browses the Internet is a critical moment for service providers to offer new services and secure registrations. The ability to engage users and secure service opt-ins during this stage of the user lifecycle can result in a significant revenue opportunity for mobile operators looking to deliver and monetize value-added services such as personal security, music streaming, cloud services, content bundles and others" 

The flow of information between Allot Service Gateway and other elements in your network starts with the provisioning of a new SIM, as follows:

1. New SIM is provisioned by PCRF with Onboarding set to ON in customer service plan
    
2. PCRF updates Allot Service Gateway
    
3. Allot Service Gateway detects first-browse activity and redirects to Welcome Page
     
4. Per user’s response, PCRF updates service plan and notifies Allot Service Gateway that first-engagement is over
     
5. Onboarding is turned OFF.

"Allot SmartEngage elevates customer experience management by using advanced traffic awareness capabilities delivered via the Allot Service Gateway to detect specific browsing activity and present the subscriber with offerings that are relevant to their profile, device model, operating system, and browser. 

The solution conducts granular, accurate, and scalable traffic analysis to identify and redirect only the relevant customer traffic stream, while leaving all other applications uninterrupted. Allot SmartEngage enables operators to leverage online engagement with zero impact to customer experience at any time".

See "Allot Launches SmartEngage Enabling Mobile Operators to Increase Subscriber Service Uptake" - here.

Active Broadband Launches All-Software Forwarding Engine

Active Broadband Networks announced a "new virtual, all-software forwarding engine that moves broadband edge processing functions off edge routers into software, eliminating the need for complex, expensive and inflexible edge routers and enabling broadband operators to directly connect customers to their cloud .. Active Broadband’s APG-VNF expands the flexibility of the SD-BNG, and is available today"

The Active Programmable Gateway (APG) is the all-software forwarding engine element of the Software-Defined Broadband Network Gateway (SD-BNG), a platform that also consists of the Active Resource Controller (ARC), an SDN controller optimized for broadband service delivery with integrated orchestration, activation, analytics, policy and QoE management. 

The new APG-Virtual Network Function (APG-VNF) enables edge admission, forwarding and QoS functionality to be deployed as virtual machines in an operator’s cloud. Using the SD-BNG with the APG-VNF, operators can directly connect customers’ edge connectivity services to network, compute, storage and application services elastically provisioned within their cloud without the cost and complexity of legacy edge routers. The APG-VNF provides physical and logical connectivity integrating Linux virtualization and containers to enable flexible customer and infrastructure capabilities. The APG-VNF supports popular fixed broadband termination and access mechanisms orchestrated and managed by the ARC".

See "Active Broadband Introduces Groundbreaking Virtual Network Function to Virtualize the Broadband Edge" - here.

ipoque Launches an "all-in-one" Traffic & Subscriber Analysis Solution

ipoque ".. introduced Net Reporter Compact (NRC), its first all-in-one traffic and subscriber analysis solution combining a network probe with advanced IP classification and a powerful analysis and storage tool in one integrated package. The combination of probe and IP analytics functionality in one solution makes visibility of traffic on the network more accessible than ever before. This provides small to medium network operators, or large operators who want to analyze a portion of their network, a cost- effective turn-key solution for sophisticated network analytics.

Net Reporter Compact is scalable up to 100 000 subscribers, which makes it the ideal solution for small to medium mobile or fixed operators or for large operators who need to gain insight into specific parts of their network. 

Based on ipoque’s IP application classification software PACE, Net Reporter Compact provides real-time recognition of more than 95% of all protocols and applications, including Peer-to-Peer traffic, VoIP, video streaming and tunnel protocols. Top users can be identified based on geography and protocols utilized along with attributes such as device type and ARPU, allowing for customization of service offers by market segment to match demand for type of service. 

The extracted data can be enriched further by integration with additional Radius Authentication Attributes, CRM or Type Allocation Code (TAC) databases in order to generate anonymized reports enabling visibility of additional revenue generating opportunities and the execution of targeted marketing campaigns".

See "ipoque, a Rohde & Schwarz company, announces an all-in-one IP traffic and subscriber analytics solution allowing operators to customize services offered to their subscribers based on usage attributes" - here.