PCC / DPI Opportunity - RFI by Ethio Telecom

Ethio Telecom issued a "Request for Information (RFI) for the procurement policy and charging control (pcc) and deep packet inspection solution (dpi), RFI No. 3209012. The RFI remains floating from June 5, 2015 up to June 30, 2015".

This is the 2nd time we see a procurement  process for DPI - the first time was 4 years ago (here). In May 2012, it was published that Ethio was using DPI for censorship (here).

See "Invitation to international request for information (RFI) for the procurement of policy and charging control (PCC) and deep packet inspection solution (DPI)" - here.

Elitecore Offers Integrated PCC @ $500K/100K Subscribers

Elitecore Technologies announced ".. Pre-integrated LTE RCM an end to end platform comprising; OCS, PCRF, Convergent Billing, Customer Management, Provisioning, Business Analytics and Selfcare Portals for LTE operators at USD 500K for 100,000 subscribers. 

..The platform comes with Integrated Policy and Charging solution enabling launch of innovative plans & services on day one. A centralized product catalogue with Policy, Billing enables quick designing and readiness for new plans and packages and meet dynamic market changes faster than competition. Inbuilt business analytics provides subscriber insights and usage/ plan trend analysis to launch advanced revenue generating plans.

[Related post - "EliteCore Integrates Charging, Billing, PCRF, DSC, AAA and Mediation" - here]

The platform is available on premise or as cloud and virtualization ready. It can be scaled seamlessly to support 10 Mn subscribers and meet the growing demands for future services like HD Video, VoLTE and facilitate the provisioning & management of large subscriber base at reduced operational cost and resources.

Operators can launch various use cases including Shared wallet/family plans ,Day / Event pass, URL/Application/OTT based charging, revenue sharing, ToD based charging, Bill-shock Prevention, unlimited data, Tiered FUP, Turbo-boost/BoD, Time/Device based plans etc"

See "Elitecore Announces Pre-Integrated LTE Revenue and Customer Management Platform at USD 500K" - here.

PCC Deployments [319]: Vodafone [Australia] to Deploy (Virtualized) Ericsson

Ericsson announced that "Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA) has chosen Ericsson as a sole supplier to replace and upgrade the complete core network for their national network. With the latest core technology, including Ericsson's solutions for Evolved Packet Core and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), policy control and circuit-switched core, VHA will further enhance network robustness, performance and resiliency .. Over the period of the 5 year agreement Ericsson and VHA have committed to fully virtualize their core network". 

Vodafone Hutchison Australia was formed in June 2009 following a merger between Vodafone Australia and Hutchison. VHA provides mobile services to 4.9 million customers in Australia (June 2014). 

See "Vodafone Australia selects Ericsson for network evolution"- here and "Vodafone to build network of the future" - here.

SoftBank Uses Ericsson's Mobility-based Policy to Relief Congestion

Ericsson and SoftBank Mobile announced that they are ".. working together to further improve the user experience in even the most congested network environments with new Mobility-based Policy .. Ericsson's new software feature, the Mobility-based Policy creates a direct connection between Ericsson SGSN-MME and Ericsson Service-Aware Policy Controller. 

This connection enables mobility management information from the SGSN-MME to go directly to the Service-Aware Policy Controller, while selected policy decisions from the Service-Aware Policy Controller can then go directly to the SGSN-MME. By off-loading the gateway, Mobility-based Policy supports an enhanced, location-based mobile user experience while reducing signaling traffic in the network. This is especially important in highly congested user environments such as Tokyo busy-hours".

See "Ericsson and SoftBank demonstrate mobility-based policy to improve performance" - here.

Openet Launches Virtual, Partners Enabled, BSS Infrastructure

Openet announced that it has "..virtualized its real-time charging system. This builds on the existing virtualization of Openet’s policy and mediation systems, its secure API gateway technology and its Fusionworks platform .. By fully virtualizing its BSS infrastructure, Openet will enable mobile operators to more rapidly monetise new capabilities including VoLTE QoS management, shared data plans and sponsored data in a matter of weeks (rather than months or in some cases years with traditional legacy systems). 

By removing the need to create a full hardware-based environment, Openet has simplified the deployment process, enabling operators to focus on creating new revenue streams without having to deal with issues around integration, deployment and infrastructure management".

Related post: "Openet to Use VoltDB In-Memory DB for NFV" - here.

Openet's Virtualized BSS architecture

For several years, service providers have been interested in enabling a multi-sided business model where the operator acts as an enabler between upstream partners (software developers, content providers, OTT, M2M, Healthcare etc.) and downstream consumers and enterprise customers.

Virtualization makes this possible. The ease with which virtualization allows different combinations of BSS components to be deployed in a multi-tenant fashion on a common platform allows an operator to create “tailored” solutions for specific market segments. By exposing this capability to external entities such as MVNO or Enterprise customers, the operator can enable new business models and revenue opportunities

Opening Virtualized BSS to Partners / New Service Enablers

See "Openet virtualizes its entire BSS infrastructure" - here.

PCC Deployments [317]: Blu [Ghana] To Use Alepo for LTE

IT News Africa reports that "Alepo has unveiled that it will provide policy and charging control for a new 4G LTE network at Blu Telecommunications in Ghana. Blu plans to launch LTE services including: data, voice, IPTV and Wi-Fi hotspots for residential and commercial customers. The services are planned to be launched in the second half of 2014.

As part of the network launch, Blu will leverage Alepo’s Service Enabler 9.0 (SE) .. Pre-integration of SE 9.0 with Alepo’s policy and charging control nodes means that BLU will be able to deliver, manage, and monetise LTE services, upon launch and as those services and market demands evolve. 

Initially, BLU will focus its LTE network on the delivery of data, Wi-Fi, content, and IPTV. The company then plans to later extend its offerings to include services such as IMS & VoLTE, assured of its future-proof solution from Alepo .. Alepo is also said to provide infrastructure to support Wi-Fi hotspot services, and will integrate its platform with third-party vendors including Cisco and Huawei"

See "Ghana: Alepo announces major LTE win" - here.

Openet to Use VoltDB In-Memory DB for NFV

Openet announced that it has "..entered into an OEM agreement with VoltDB [see "HP's PCC Uses VoltDB In-memory Database" - here] ..  As the telecom industry evolves to meet the ever-increasing demand for data, operators are increasingly expanding their investment in virtual environments, including within their Network Function Virtualization (NFV) initiatives. VoltDB expands Openet’s deployment options within such environments".

  

See "Openet Selects VoltDB to Expand Deployment Options within Virtual Environments" - here.

PCC Deployments [288]: Orange [Slovakia] Deploys Openet for Segmented Data Offers

Openet announced that ".. Orange Slovakia deployed Openet’s Policy and Charging Control (PCC) infrastructure to enable a major rollout of advanced shared data bundles. The deployment makes it possible for Orange Slovakia to quickly define segmented data offers, with associated balances, notifications and policy rules.

The Openet solution supports Orange Slovakia’s innovative new data plans offered to its 2.8 million subscribers".

See "Orange Slovakia Launches Shared Data Plans Based on an Integrated Openet Policy and Charging Solution" - here.

Tango Extends Cloud-based PCC to the Middle East

Tango Telecom extends the availability of its Policy in the Cloud (see "Tango Telecom Offers Cloud-based Policy Management" - here) to the Middle east (see "Interop Technologies to Offer Tango Telecom's Cloud-based PCC in US" - here). 

The vendor announced ".. the availability of its Policy in the Cloud solution for the Middle Eastern market. The solution offers mobile operators in the region all the benefits of Tango Telecom’s best of breed Policy Control Solution to monetise the growth in mobile data traffic combined with the reduced CAPEX and OPEX and the improved service velocity of a cloud deployment and virtualised model.

See "Tango Telecom brings Cloud-based Policy to Middle East" - here.

Amdocs Wants to Bring Together PCC, DPI, Optimization and Analytics Vendors

Amdocs announced "Amdocs PCC Ecosystem partner program - This expansion of Amdocs' Enreach partner program will address service providers' lack of integration in the network control domain by bringing together policy, charging, inline monetization, deep packet inspection (DPI), optimization and analytics vendor specialists. The program's goal is to create the industry's broadest ecosystem of partners working together to develop new offerings and service provider use cases. 

Amdocs PCC Ecosystem will be part of the Amdocs Experience Center, which will create real-life demonstrations of the new solutions so service providers can see firsthand the value of PCC integration. The facility will give service providers a logical starting point for innovating and incubating new ideas".

Sample PCC Ecosystem Use Cases (see "Amdocs Policy and Charging Control Ecosystem and Data

Monetization Lab" - here):

• Multiple application quotas: Offer flexible service tiers with application-based usage quotas
    
• OTT video optimization: Offer optimized video service as a premium add-on to data plans – optimized for device and subscriber
   
• Promotional vouchers: Offer one-time temporary services – Facebook for an hour, happy hour, quality of service boost
   
• Shared data plan for SMB: Offer tailored data plans with a common data pool, and personalized entitlements
   
• Home zone (location-based awareness): Offer free or discounted mobile data services in customer, home or other specific locations
   
• 1-800 or toll-free data: Enter into revenue sharing partnerships with OTT vendors; share the cost of data delivery

See "Amdocs Announces New Network-Based Solutions and Partner Program" - here

C Spire Selects Sandvine's Integrated DPI and PCRF Solution

Two weeks ago Sandvine announced its 3GPP complaint PCRF product (here), and now it announces a combined PCRF/PCEF deployment - "..selected by C Spire Wireless, one of the top 10 wireless operators in the U.S., to provide its unified policy control platform. C Spire was one of the 11 new customers that Sandvine won during its second quarter of 2013 .. Typical service plan development and implementation is structured in a rudimentary system where services are defined separately and then stitched together. Sandvine’s open and collaborative approach allows popular use cases like bill shock prevention to be defined and implemented in minutes. Integrating the PCRF and PCEF functions, Sandvine’s unified approach to network policy control extends the reach of service definition and implementation".

As I’ve seen other vendors claiming for PCC deployments by C Spire (See "Who is Using ALU's PCRF?" - here and "C Spire Wireless [US] Deploys Shared Data Plans and BoD with Openwave Mobility" - here) I asked Sandvine what products were actually deployed. 

Sandvine spokesperson confirmed to me that "Sandvine was selected by C Spire to provide them with a unified policy control platform. As part of this deal they have purchased both our Policy Traffic Switch (PTS) and our Service Delivery Engine (SDE)."

C Spire - " the nation's largest privately held wireless communications company, is the only U.S. wireless communications provider that offers customers a personalized wireless experience through apps and content that fit who they are, services that anticipate their needs and rewards that they receive just for using their phone in new ways. The company has nearly 1 million subscribers"

See "Sandvine’s Unified Policy Control Platform Selected By C Spire Wireless" - here.