IHS: VoLTE Starts to Pick Up; Huawei Leads the SP VoIP and IMS Market

A new report by Diane Myers [pictured], research director for VoIP, UC and IMS, IHS finds that ".. global service provider VoIP (voice over IP) and IMS (IP multimedia subsystem) revenue was up 46 percent year-over-year in 2Q15, to $1.3 billion .. Spending related to voice over LTE (VoLTE) deployments is starting to pick up, especially in Europe and India, fueling continued strong growth in the service provider VoIP and IMS market ..As well, operators with commercial VoLTE networks in North America and Asia Pacific are purchasing additional capacity as subscriber numbers grow in those regions". 

"Huawei took the lead in overall service provider VoIP and IMS revenue market share in 2Q15 ..  Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, GENBAND and Mavenir (a division of Mitel) also had standout growth from a year ago". 

See "Service Provider VoIP and IMS Market Soars 46 Percent YoY in 2nd Quarter" - here.

DSC Deployments [300]: BT Selected GENBAND

GENBAND announced that BT has "selected the GENBAND QUANTiX™ Diameter Signaling Controller (DSC) to expand its existing Global IP Exchange (GIPX) solution with LTE signaling and data roaming exchange capabilities for its mobile network operator (MNO) customers. The GENBAND QUANTiX DSC enables rich interworking between LTE networks to ensure that roaming subscribers can easily connect when on the road with service transparency and resiliency.

The software, delivered on a common hardware platform, provides context-aware intelligent routing, scalable handling of SIP and Diameter traffic, and secure, seamless connectivity to any IMS/LTE network resulting in a simple, cost-effective deployment of rich LTE voice and data services".

My Diameter Router product list was updated with the GENBAND product.

See "BT Selects GENBAND Diameter Signaling Solution to Enable Cost-Effective Roaming Across Global Network of Mobile Operators" - here.

Bouygues Telecom Deploys GENBAND's fring OTT Service

GENBAND, that acquired recently the VoIP service fring (estimated price is $40-50M) announced that "French operator Bouygues Telecom has selected the fring Over the Top (OTT) service to provide Bouygues customers with free phone calls and SMS on Wi-Fi while abroad"

Benoît Torloting [pictured], Head of digital & B&YOU at Bouygues Telecom said: “Leveraging the fring OTT solution, we eliminate cellular network roaming charges and deliver our commitment to quality-cost competitive advantage even when our customers are travelling worldwide.”

See "fring Eliminates Roaming Costs for French Mobile Users" - here.

GENBAND Expands its Signaling Solution with F5's DSC

  

Last month GENBAND ditched its OEM relations with Procera Networks (here) - and now it announces a new OEM agreement with F5 Networks, a Procera's competitor in the DPI space, for F5's diameter signaling solutions.

GENBAND explains that the need (see below) for the technology derived by  "Subscriber demand for bandwidth-hungry apps is placing strains on mobile networks" a good explanation for the use of DPI-based traffic management solution as well. However, it seems that focusing on the signaling plane, with SIP SBC and Diameter creates a unique offering, while managing traffic is a very competitive space, with huge TEMs and pure players.

The partnership with F5 made "..to deliver integrated SIP and Diameter signaling solutions. In line with the F5 partnership, GENBAND is introducing its QUANTiX DSC (Diameter Signaling Controller), which integrates Diameter functionality with its market-leading QUANTiX Session Border Controller to uniquely provide advanced, secure and scalable voice and data roaming capabilities for IMS and LTE network operators .. The integrated SMART EDGE solution from GENBAND delivers a Diameter Routing Agent (DRA), a Diameter Edge Agent (DEA), a Diameter gateway interworking function (IWF), a Diameter load balancer, and a SIP Session Border Controller – all on a common platform with centralized management. These enhanced capabilities offer secure, seamless connectivity within and between IMS and LTE networks to enable simple, scalable, and cost-effective deployment of rich LTE voice and data services".

B.G. Kumar, President of GENBAND’s Multimedia Business Unit said: “Subscriber demand for bandwidth-hungry apps is placing strains on mobile networks and creating new complexities at the network edge for handling surging signaling traffic growth .. Mobile operators around the globe are adopting LTE at a significant rate. F5’s Diameter leadership and innovation make it an ideal partner for GENBAND to provide the best integrated solution for the network edge to its customers”

See "GENBAND Partners with F5 Networks to Bring to Market Integrated SIP and Diameter Signaling Solutions" - here.

Procera and Genband Terminate OEM Agreement

An SEC filling by Procera Networks (here) states that the OEM agreement it had with GENBAND (see "DPI Market: GENBAND OEMs Procera" - here and "Procera - Genband OEM Agreement" - here) has been terminated. At the quarters following the agreement Procera mentioned GENBAD is its earning calls (Q4-2010, Q1-2011, Q2-2011), but not in recent quarters.

Nevertheless, the two agreed to promptly enter into a reseller arrangement.

"Effective April 15, 2013, (i) Procera Networks, Inc. (“Procera”) and GENBAND US LLC and GENBAND Ireland Ltd. (collectively “GENBAND”) terminated their Master OEM Purchase and Sales Agreement, dated July 19, 2012 (“OEM Agreement”) .. The transition agreement permits GENBAND to continue to perform its functions for existing customers, as provided under the OEM Agreement, for the remainder of the current service term, and further provides that Procera will continue to provide support or maintenance to GENBAND’s existing customers under or in connection with the OEM Agreement and for which GENBAND previously submitted a purchase order. Under the transition agreement, Procera and GENBAND also agreed to promptly enter into a reseller arrangement"

IPI: "the odds for an F5 takeout of Procera have certainly increased"

 

Inflection Point Investing published a very positive review on Procera Networks - ".. it should be noted that during the years of the Great Recession, network-technology company, Procera Networks Inc. was able to increase its revenue from $1.91M in 2006 up to $20.12M in 2009. Though sales subsequently flattened in 2010, with the rise of smartphone use and consumers’ insatiable demand for robust mobile networks, 2011 is now shaping up to be another record year for the company".

"After issuing a steady stream of news releases over the past two months [here], it is clear Procera has secured at least $15M in orders in Q3, almost 60% above the bookings of the first two quarters combined .. Over the next two years, Procera will be able to bite into a market that is poised to double from $518M to $1.14B .. "

"F5 was previously rumored to be considering Allot Communications [here and here], but after forming a partnership with Procera earlier this year [here], we think the odds for an F5 takeout of Procera have certainly increased. After all, wouldn’t it make sense for F5 to take a “look under the hood” before any takeover would occur? We think so"

Note that Procera has a more meaningful OEM agreement with Genband (here), although with modest revenues so far (here).

See "Procera Networks Inc. Is Riding The Smartphone Revolution" - here. Note the author's discloser statement at the bottom.

See also:

• Public DPI Vendors (ALLT, PKT, SVC) - Q2 2011 Results Comparison - here
• Infonetics Sees Strong DPI Market (though US hesitates); Sandvine Leads - here

Procera Q2 Highlights - Competition, F5, Genband, Hiring Plans

  
Some highlights from Procera's quarterly call Q&A session, following the release of Q2 results (revenues and booking of $9.7M - see "Procera Networks Announces Second Quarter 2011 Results" - here):

• Procera is going to hire 16 people during H2 - 5 in R&D, 11 in sales and marketing
   
• The sales cycle shrinks - typically now 9-12 months. Some larger deals took 18 months to close
   
• Of the 20 new service provider wins, 30% were displacement of competitors
• Main traction is in the mobile market, main competition comes from Sandvine and Allot
• Procera had 3 10% customers in Q2, with total contribution of 40% to revenues 
• Management is positive about the F5 relationship (see "[Calcalist] Rumors - F5 to Buy Allot for $450-500M" - here)
   
• Genband generated $165K during Q2; some of the 15 tier1trials are done by Genband. Management is hoping for a better H2.

DPI Deployments (71): Hondutel (Honduras) Selected GENBAND's P[rocera] Series

  

GENBAND announced that ".. through a unique contract alliance approved by the Honduran Congress [part of a $50M, 10 years project - see "Laticom inks deal with Hondutel" - here], Laticom will deploy and oversee Hondutel’s nationwide expansion  of IP-based multimedia broadband services .. Utilizing the GENBAND GENiUS™ platform, Hondutel will deliver advanced telephony, data, IP and integrated multimedia services to its customers .. Within the Hondutel network, Laticom is deploying GENBAND GENiUS as the common platform for the majority of GENBAND products, which include GENBAND’s C20 Converged Softswitch for comprehensive call control; the A2 Converged Application Server for full featured telephony and multimedia applications; the S3 Session Border Controller with extensive security, policy enforcement and session management capabilities; and the P Series portfolio of Traffic and Policy Management solutions".

See "GENBAND GENiUS Platform to Enable Transformation of Nationwide Honduras Communications Network" - here.

GENBAND P Series are ATCA solutions OEMed from Procera (here).

Procera Q1 Results - 2 New 10% Customers Generated 50% of Revenues

        

Procera published Q1 results, showing growth of 110% from Q1 2010 (see "Procera Networks Announces First Quarter 2011 Results" - here).

According to Procera's report filled with the SEC (here), ".. revenue from two customers represented 28% and 22% of net revenue, respectively, with no other single customer representing more than 10% of net revenue".

The press release mentions that "Sales to two Tier-1 service provider customers were greater than 10% of revenue, a first for these customers", from which we can understand that Cox Communications, a 10% customer in Q2 of 2010 (here), is not one of the two 10% customers for Q1 2011.

Q1 showed a customer concentration phenomena for the other public DPI vendors as well (see - Allot, Sandvine).

During Q1 conference call (here), management said that GENBAND generated $385K for Procera during the quarter. The company added 10 new employees during the quarter and has now 14 sales people, planning to add more during the year "based on the opportunities"

Heavy Reading: "DPI will be widely distributed in LTE; NEPs will buy the technology"

 

Graham Finnie,  Chief Analyst, Heavy Reading, analyses why DPI is going to be an important technology in LTE networks (for reason we heard many times), and provides some new thoughts on how it is going to be implemented:

1. DPI will be everywhere, moving from dedicated devices we see today to other network elements, down to the base stations.
    
2. Graham believes that although DPI is strategically important, TEMs will prefer to buy the technology, rather than develop it in house, due to the complexity and the need to keep-up with traffic and application changes. The use of standard hardware (ATCA) helps making this a simpler process

An example for the above may be seen in the Procera - GENBAD OEM deal, which states that "Procera’s DPI technology, integrated with GENBAND’s data products on the ATCA-based GENBAND GENiUS™ platform" (more - here).

DPI Vendors focus on OEMing are Qosmos (here) and Ipoque (here).

See an interview by Georgina Burnett to Light Reading TV - "DPI & Network Intelligence in the LTE Era" - here, and below.

GENBAND Explains the New "Mobile Edge Optimization Suite"

  

In my post on Genband's recent announcement ("What's GENBAND "Mobile Edge Optimization Suite"?" - here) I was wondering about the functionality of the s/w, due to the lack of information in the release and in Genband's site.

Niloufar Tayebi (picture), Product Marketing Manager for GENBAND, was ready to answer my questions and provided some information that may help us understand better:

[Q]: How does the Mobile Edge Optimization Suite relief Smartphone Signaling Overload?

[A]: what we refer as Mobile Edge Optimization Suite is a set of solutions developed for managing traffic from smartphones and data-centric mobile devices. Mobile Broadband is showing stellar growth; while this is great news for the mobile communications industry it also places stringent requirements on mobile networks to handle this growth. GENBAND has been actively looking into leveraging its TPM solution by taking its TPM solution into higher levels of functionalities in order to help mobile operators deal with the growth of mobile broadband services. Mobile Edge Optimization Suite consists of following solution sets:

• Signaling overload relief; this solution detects, reports and manages the signaling congestion caused by smartphones and data devices.

• Selective RAN congestion management; this solution is able to monitor traffic across the network, pin-pointing the specific ‘hot’ zones in access or congested RANs. While traffic is growing in all segments of the network, RAN is the highest cost segment due to scarcity of spectrum and cell site deployment costs. Hence, relieving RAN congestion has high economic drivers for mobile operators.

[Q]: is it a new s/w?

[A]: yes, it is building on top of TPM firmware with additional features and functionalities

[Q]: is it part of Procera s/w?

[A]: no, it is GENBAND developed and supplied by GENBAND directly. In terms of exclusivity of the offer, it is early stages in the go-to-market strategy, the reseller and partner agreements are under consideration.

What's GENBAND "Mobile Edge Optimization Suite"?

 

Last week Genband announced the ".. GENBAND Mobile Edge Optimization Suite as an enhancement to the P Series of Traffic and Policy Management (TPM) Solutions .. to more intelligently manage network traffic by relieving signaling overload caused by smart devices and mobile data congestion in the Radio Access Network (RAN)".  P Series are Genband DPI products OEMed from Procera.

See "GENBAND Introduces Mobile Edge Optimization Suite for Relieving Smartphone Signaling Overload, RAN Congestion" - here.

How does it do it? The release does not provide much information other than the quote by Natasha Tamaskar (picture), VP of Product Marketing: "Our Mobile Edge Optimization Suite enables service providers to accurately identify and characterize mobile devices with potential signaling overload behavior,” said, GENBAND".

So - how does the P Series relief the signaling overhead? A question was sent to Genband PR contact but hasn’t been responded.

Related posts:

• T-Mobile Netherlands Reduces Data Signaling by 30% with NSN Cell_PCH - here
• NSN: New iPhone OS Saves Network Resources - here
• NSN and Qualcomm Show 50% More Efficient Signaling - here

Procera: 2 New Tier1 Customers; $1M Orders from Genband

  
Procera issued a press release with preliminary results for Q4, 2010 - "Based on preliminary financial results, the Company anticipates fourth quarter revenue to be in the range of $7.3 million to $7.6 million".

This brings 2010 revenues to a range of $20.1M to $20.4M (vs. guidance of $28M provided by the CEO during Q1 results call, May '10 - here).

See "Procera Networks Announces Preliminary Fourth Quarter 2010 Revenue Results" - here.

The company also states that:

• Fourth quarter bookings of approximately $9 million
• Signed and received initial orders from two new Tier-1 service providers that include a major European telephone company serving 100 million customers and an Asian service provider serving more than 10 million subscribers
• Received $1 million follow-on order from an existing Tier-1 customer
• Generated over $1 million in initial orders through our OEM partner [Genband]
• Continued strong momentum in higher education with over 40 new customer wins reflecting further global expansion

Procera - Genband OEM Agreement

     

The Procera - Genband OEM agreement (see "DPI Market: GENBAND OEMs Procera" - here) is now disclosed, as an exhibit to Procera's Q3 filling with the SEC made yesterday.

While the good stuff is marked as "confidential information contained in this document, marked by brackets, has been omitted and filed separately with the Securities and Exchange Commission" the overall framework maybe interesting to other vendors in this space.

See "Master OEM Purchase and Sales Agreement" - here. Note the table in exhibit A. A "Strategic Alliance Letter Agreement" (here) was also attached.

ATIS: "Policy Management is emerging as a key enabler to enhance the network with functionalities like DPI and QoS"

 
The Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) announced it has completed a study of the issues associated with the industry’s fragmented approach towards Policy Management.

See "ATIS Releases Policy Management Assessment and Recommendations" - here.

The Policy Management Focus Group was chaired by GENBAND’s CTO, Fred Kemmerer, and was comprised of the following companies: Alcatel Lucent, AT&T, Cisco, GENBAND, HP, Huawei, Juniper, Nokia Siemens Networks, Nortel, Qwest and Verizon.

“Policy Management is emerging as a key enabler to enhance the network with functionalities like DPI and QoS” said Fred Kemmerer. “Going forward, GENBAND believes that Policy Management functions will act as a key differentiator, and play an important role in the industry’s competitive environment.”

A webinar, “Policy Management - Toward a Common Architecture Framework”  (here) is scheduled for September 30th - featuring  panelists: Naseem Khan, Principal Member of the Technical Staff, Verizon, and Fred Kemmerer.

Related posts:

• "Infonetics: "Only 2 Categories Posted Growth in 2009: IPTV/video and Next-Gen OSS/Policy" - here
   
• "Analysys Mason Forecasts: "Overall policy management market will grow from $876M in 2008 to $2.62B in 2013" - here

Intriguing [DPI] Triangle - Tekelec, Genband, Procera

  

A small detail in Procera's reporting to the SEC (here) in connection with the appointment of Genband's President and CEO, Charles D. Vogt to its board of directors caught my attention this morning. The address for Mr. Vogt shows as Tekelec's address in Calabasas, CA. This probably has historical roots - since his days in public Tekelec (up to 2004) - after which he left to privately held Genband.

However, this made me thinking about the recent M&A activities in the Traffic management space- DPI and policy management, associated with these 3 companies:

• Vogt was President and CEO of Taqua, which was acquired by Tekelec in March 2004.  Before joining Taqua, Vogt held executive leadership positions at Santera Systems which was acquired by Tekelec in 2005
   
• 3 years ago, Genband acquired from Tekelec both companies (Santera Systems and Taqua - see "Tekelec and GENBAND Sign Agreement for Sale of Tekelec's Switching Solutions Group" - here).
  
  "Charles D. Vogt, President and CEO of GENBAND said “The combination of the two companies creates an enviable gateway and applications product portfolio and enables GENBAND to strengthen our relationship with our existing customers and business partners.”
   
• Earlier this year, Tekelec acquired Camiant, a leading Policy Management vendor, commonly deployed with DPI devices (see "Tekelec CTO on DPI Plans" - here)
   
• Last week, Genband signed an OEM agreement with Procera (see "DPI Market: GENBAND OEMs Procera" - here)

So - is all this part of a grand plan from Genband to build with ultimate IP gateway possibly with some involvement of Tekelec?

DPI Market: GENBAND OEMs Procera

     

Genband announced today that it signed with Procera "an OEM agreement under which GENBAND will incorporate Procera’s PacketLogic™ DPI technology into GENBAND’s industry-leading portfolio and enable further innovation with GENBAND’s current and future products."

See a press release "GENBAND Bolsters Industry-Leading Portfolio with Deep Packet Inspection Technology from Procera Networks" - here.

In addition, Charles D. Vogt, President and CEO of GENBAND, joined Procera board of directors (here).

"GENBAND also today unveiled the P Series™ product family, which leverages Procera’s PacketLogic advanced DPI technology .. Based on Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA), Procera’s DPI technology, integrated with GENBAND’s data products on the ATCA-based GENBAND GENiUS™ platform, will deliver new broadband data solutions for enhanced business intelligence, traffic management and security protection, as well as enable new applications and business models. Procera’s market-leading technology, coupled with GENBAND’s evolving IP portfolio and innovative design, will empower operators to quickly deliver new, revenue-generating services such as time-based video streaming, more efficient mobile roaming and personalized data service plans."