Verizon Uses Cisco to Offer SDN-Based, Application-Aware, Network Services

Verizon unveiled its "new software-defined WAN service using Cisco's Intelligent WAN (IWAN) technology that harnesses the power of the Internet with the performance and reliability of a private IP network, to help enterprises keep up with the continued growth of network traffic.

Through Cisco's software-defined WAN solution, Verizon is enabling a:

• Better User Experience: Integrated application optimization for improved and faster application performance
   
• Highly Secure Infrastructure and Applications: Robust, highly secure and certified routing platforms (ISRs and ASRs)
   
• Low Operational Cost: Intelligent Path Control to fully utilize both MPLS and the Internet
   
• IT Agility: Provision new sites and services faster with a hybrid WAN to support key business initiatives

Verizon and Cisco will both market and sell the managed solution to their respective enterprise customer bases in the U.S. beginning in September. The companies plan to roll out the solution in EMEA by the end of the year. The new solution will be supported by Verizon's IT consulting group which help enterprises manage their transition to SD-based networking". 

See "Verizon Becomes First Service Provider to Offer New Cisco Software-Defined Networking Technology" - here.

[IHS]: Global Carrier SDN Market to Reach $5.7B in 2019

     

A new report by Michael Howard [pictured], senior research director for carrier networks, IHS concludes that "As service providers seek service agility and operational efficiency in their networks to stay competitive, the global market for carrier software-defined networking (SDN) software, hardware and services is expected to grow from $103 million in 2014 to $5.7 billion in 2019 .. We’re still early in the long-term, 10- to 15-year transformation of service provider networks to SDN. 

Momentum is strong, but we won’t see widespread commercial deployments where bigger parts of — let alone whole — networks are controlled by SDN until 2016 through 2020".  

"SDN software — including network apps, such as traffic analytics, and orchestration and controller software — is the critical piece that will convert a network into a software-defined network .. service providers around the world will increase their spending on SDN software by 15 times from 2015 to 2019.

Due to the newness of SDN technology and the fundamental changes it brings to networks, there is an incredible demand for expertise to design, deploy and operate SDN-based services, and carriers are looking to vendors for this expertise".
 See "Carriers on Track to Spend $5.7B on SDN Hardware, Software and Services by 2019" - here.

Corsa Adds QoS and Metering to its SDN Solution

Corsa Technology announced ".. new SDN metering and QoS (Quality of Service) capability for its line of performance SDN hardware. Corsa’s SDN implementation of this classic traffic engineering function allows network architects to better manage bandwidth across their network with dynamic, policy-aware metering and QoS. Framed around OpenFlow 1.3 QoS, Corsa performance SDN hardware lets network orchestration dynamically use meters and multiple classes of service to deliver SDN QoS which adjusts and adapts allocation of bandwidth at ultra-granular flow-level.

.. Policy-aware provisioning can be dynamically pushed down to the flexible Corsa SDN hardware to make on-going adjustments to meters and queue assignments. The network can then make immediate, informed queuing and discard decisions under congestion. Real-time performance monitoring automatically returns meter statistics and is checked against policy such as SLAs. For network operators including service providers and ISPs, SDN metering and queuing allows new self-serve features to be offered such as “bandwidth reservation” where users can dynamically schedule and reserve bandwidth via separate class of service and meters. 

Corsa  DP6400

From inception, Corsa has been working on dramatically improving the SDN network architecture by delivering SDN hardware that can easily and quickly scale for very large network applications. Performant and flexible, the DP6400™ product line can be configured to take on any networking function, ranging from Layer 2/3 switching and routing at massive scale, to complex Layer4- 7 aware network elements that allow network orchestration to dynamically adjust data forwarding"
  
See "Corsa Technology Announces SDN Metering and QoS" - here.

AT&T CEO: It is Hard to Explain the SDN Concept; 10X Traffic Growth to 2020

Earlier this month I covered the intention of AT&T to use SDN ("AT&T Will Manage Data Demand w/Software-centric Approach" - here) - and it turns out it is the "most exciting thing happening now" for AT&T's CEO,  Randall Stephenson [pictured].

And it is all about Streaming Video, And Apple, And Netflix.

In an interview by Jonathan Vanian, to Fortune, Mr. Randel says:

• "You’re going to find this horribly boring, but it’s this concept called software-defined networking. You’re managing a massive global network the way you’d manage a cloud-based data center. It’s a little geekish, and only the white-socks guys and knuckle-draggers in the industry appreciate it, but it’s actually going to change how businesses operate. It’s hard to help the general businessman understand this concept.
   
• I’ll give you an example. This year’s Masters Golf Tournament came at an interesting moment in time. Over that weekend Apple released an iOS update to all of its users, the Masters was streaming over the Internet, and there was the debut of Game of Thrones. All of this was coming across the same peering point [where Internet networks connect] in our various networks, and the end customer had a miserable experience. In a software-defined network, we could have redistributed and managed that capacity in real time
   
• If you look at our core network, since 2007 the volume that we’re hauling by virtue of smartphones and video is up 100,000%. And we’re looking out to 2020, and engineering and designing to accommodate another 10X growth in volume across the network. You’re seeing this kind of mismatch playing out that has tormented us. Capacity and performance are scaling according to Moore’s law, but networks around the globe are not
   
• Without software-defined networking I don’t think the industry keeps up with these kinds of volumes. Without software-defined networking Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is going to continue to scream about how slow peering points are. You have to have this technology to accommodate video traversing these kinds of networks"

See "AT&T CEO: 'Half of our mobile network traffic is video'"- here.

Singtel Uses Viptela for SD-WAN Services

Singtel announced a "..partnership with Viptela Inc. to launch SingTel ConnectPlus Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) service. This cloud-based solution helps enterprises in Asia Pacific, Australia, Europe and the US simplify the management of their networks. .. 

The Singtel ConnectPlus SD-WAN solution enables enterprises to simplify and centralise their network provisioning and policy management, and configure network requirements in real time". 

Mr Lee Han Kheng, VP Global Products, Singtel Group Enterprise said: “Singtel is empowering enterprises with the capability to adapt and programme their network operations based on their needs. Using a self-service portal, they can exercise dynamic control over network issues such as performance, bandwidth utilisation and security.” 

Viptela Solution 

See "Singtel launches software-defined service to simplify enterprise network management" - here.

AT&T Will Manage Data Demand w/Software-centric Approach

Sean Buckley reports to FierceTelecom on Andre Fuetsch [pictured], senior VP of architecture and design for AT&T presentation at the TIA 2015 Network of the Future event, about how the carrier deals with the demand for data, and growth of video streaming traffic:

• When we were predominantly a voice service provider, the capacity engineer only worried about one day out of the year, which was Mother's Day ,, it was pretty predictable ..now, traffic capacity planning for AT&T and other large telcos is all about planning for the unexpected traffic bursts caused by users viewing the latest celebrity videos online
   
• The traffic capacity engineer has to worry about the latest Kardashian streaming video, who has been watching House of Cards [see "Procera: Netflix' House of Cards Stats; Need 27GB to See it All" - here].. the biggest event we worry about is when Apple releases their next big iOS upgrade [see "Apple IOS8 Update - DDoS Attack? Can Cache Help?" - here]
   
• To stay on pace with these unpredictable demands, the current hardware-based network approach won't suffice. A software-centric approach will help AT&T deal with these network spikes
   
• Unlike the telcos, web-based companies did not have the money or time to build a bottom-up network architecture. AT&T wants to adopt a similar strategy where it will build a network, applications and services in a software-centric approach
   
• One of the first implementations that will be using this AT&T integrated cloud is our Network on Demand function, ,.. This is basically the first SDN-based service that we now recently opened up in more than 100 U.S. cities that gives enterprise customers the ability to dynamically control the bandwidth they need between their sites ..  AT&T has set possibly the most ambitious software-centric goals for its network: virtualize software control to 75 percent of network by the year 2020.

See "AT&T's Fuetsch: Apple's iOS software updates 'biggest event we worry about' on network" - here.

HP Acquires ConteXtream for [Estimated] Tens of Millions $

A post by Saar Gillai [pictured], SVP and General Manager, Communications Solutions Business, HP announces that "HP has signed a definitive agreement to acquire ConteXtream, a provider of OpenDaylight-based, carrier-grade SDN fabrics for NFV, and a current HP OpenNFV partner.

Headquartered in Mountain View, CA, ConteXtream offers solutions that allow service providers to create a more flexible and programmable network through an SDN/NFV model. ConteXtream’s open SDN controller platform complements HP’s NFV expertise and telecommunications and IT experience.

After the transaction closes, ConteXtream will become part of HP’s Communications Solutions Business. ConteXtream’s current CEO, Chairman, and co-founder Nachman Shelef will continue to lead the ConteXtream business within HP and will report to me".
  
ConteXtream was founded and is based in Israel. The local press estimates the acquisition price in the Tens of Millions of USD. Comcast and Verizon are among the investors, along a number of VCs. 

Related posts:

• Orange Teams w/ConteXtream to Introduce NFV-Based Subscriber-Aware Services - here
• ConteXtream Adds OpenDaylight-based, Carrier-Grade SDN Fabric for NFV - here 
• Largest SDN Network Deployed by US Tier1 MNO w/ConteXtream (T-Mobile?) - here
• Telenor Manages OTT Video Traffic With: ALU, Opera/SkyFire, ConteXtream and Velocix  - here
• ConteXtream Secured $14M - Investors Include Comcast and Verizon - here

See "HP to acquire ConteXtream to accelerate NFV adoption" - here.

ZTE Demonstrated SDN Based OAM

ZTE announced that it has "successfully demonstrated a new OAM (operations, administration and management) solution based on SDN architecture today at the Broadband & TV Connect Asia conference in Singapore, showcasing industry-leading capabilities to help operators manage their mission-critical networks.

The new Elastic SDN IPRAN OAM solution, powered by ZTE’s Elastic SDN technology, enables operator to perform 90% of routine network OAM functions with one-touch control on mobile devices, generating at least 30% labor cost savings.

ZTE’s Elastic SDN technology can effectively help operators overcome these challenges. By integrating SDN network architecture and adopting virtualization technology, ZTE’s new OAM solution performs unified management on access layer and aggregation layer equipment using SDN controller. The new solution also supports plug-and-play and one-touch service deployment, reducing OAM workload for engineers and increasing their productivity". 

Unfortunately, I cant find the product at ZTE's site.

See "ZTE’s New SDN-based OAM Solution to Deliver Substantial Cost Savings to Operators" - here.

Verizon: Should a "Standard SDN" be Also Open?

A recent article by Carol Wilson, Editor-at-Large, Light Reading, quotes Chris Emmons [pictured]. Director, Network Planning, Corporate Network & Technology, Verizon from a presentation made at Light Reading Carrier SDN Networks - about "Having a standard version of SDN is "a prerequisite" to deployment because Verizon needs to be sure that whatever it deploys can interoperate not only with other pieces of its network but also future networks".

Verizon, with "its key technology partners" - Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Juniper Networks and Nokia Networks" announced recently its plan to transform its netwrok to SDN control (here).

Mr. Emmons agreed with Heavy Reading's analyst Sterling Perrin [pictured] that "there are almost too many different deployment options and evolving standards today for Carrier SDN. So while Verizon wants to move forward as quickly as possible with the strategy announced in April, there are still key issues to resolve .. Even if we can't get to commodity hardware, however, standards are important for interoperability and so we can present APIs so the network can be programmable". 

Indeed, Verizon announcement mentioned that "to enable its network vision, Verizon and its technology vendors have co-authored a comprehensive SDN network architecture document". However, the document is nowhere to be found on Verizon's site. When I contacted Verizon's media relations, The answer I got was "At this time the SDN network architecture document is not available to the public. It’s only available to those technology vendors we are working with on SDN".

    

See "Verizon: Telecom Needs to Solve SDN Problem" -here.

Verizon Transfers its Network to SDN Control

While we saw mixed feelings on SDN so far (see "[LightReading]: SDN/NFV Still Doesn’t Show Capex Savings for US MNOs" - here and ["Strategy Analytics]: "Operators are beginning to see the huge potential for SDN""- here), Verizon made a very strong statement with its "key technology partners" - Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Juniper Networks and Nokia Networks.

Verizon announced it is "transforming its network by implementing a software defined network architecture, laying the groundwork for new innovative services and applications. This SDN-based architecture is designed to introduce new operational efficiencies and allow for the enablement of rapid and flexible service delivery to Verizon’s customers.

.. To enable its network vision, Verizon and its technology vendors have co-authored a comprehensive SDN network architecture document, which includes all interface specifications and reference architectures plus requirements for both the control layer and forwarding box functions. This network architecture document will enable Verizon’s key technology partners to develop solutions to achieve the business and technical benefits of an SDN-enabled network.

Much of the foundational work required to deliver on Verizon’s next-generation network has been underway for several years. Verizon has created live lab environments in San Jose, California; Tampa, Florida; and Waltham, Massachusetts, and has commercial data center environments on both the East and West Coasts".

See "Verizon Announces Software Defined Networking Strategy" - here.

Radisys Introduces Service-Aware Load Balancer

Radisys Corporation introduced its "FlowEngine TDE-1000 Intelligent Load Balancer, the first member in a family of traffic distribution platforms targeted squarely at enabling scalable software defined networks (SDN). 

The FlowEngine TDE-1000 is designed to accelerate new service introduction in a scalable SDN-enabled network, while significantly reducing network complexity and required investment. Targeted specifically for communications and content providers that want more control and flexibility in their network, the TDE-1000 is interoperable with SDN controllers, and provides unmatched flexibility, control and maximum efficiency".

[Related post - "Radisys Introduces New COTS-based Platform with NFV-based Flow Classification" - here]

"..The service-aware TDE-1000 intelligently distributes data flows to only the Virtualized Network Function (VNF) resources applicable to each session’s processing requirements, such as video optimization, encryption or policy enforcement and does so at line-rate speeds". 

See "Radisys Solves Virtualized Network Scalability Challenges with Intelligent Data Plane Load Balancer" - here.

ConteXtream Adds OpenDaylight-based, Carrier-Grade SDN Fabric for NFV

ConteXtream announced the launch of "ContexNet 4.0, the first commercially-available OpenDaylight-based, carrier-grade software-defined networking (SDN) fabric for network functions virtualization (NFV).

Taking advantage of OpenDaylight, OpenStack, OpenFlow and other industry standards, ContexNet 4.0 provides unsurpassed scale, supporting millions of subscribers with customized service profiles, as well as the resiliency, high-availability and extendibility requirements for carriers’ unique network needs. This complies with the Internet Engineering Tasks Force (IETF) horizontal standard interfaces for network virtualization allowing operators to create programmable networks that are not only flexible and self-healing, but also have a high degree of consistency. The solution also allows for geographically dispersed sites to be unified and operate as a single network". 

ConteXtream ContexNet

Nachman Shelef [pictured], CEO, ConteXtream said: “Today’s wireless carriers are facing a tipping point. They need to innovate beyond their traditional service model or become the latest commodity industry .. The cost of increased traffic without corresponding growth in ARPU has tightened profit margins for carriers, making it harder to continue building up the network to meet future needs and investing in R&D to identify and launch new services. ContexNet 4.0 allows service providers to optimize their network to meet traffic demands, control costs and introduce new services so they can open up new revenue streams”.

See "ConteXtream Announces First Commercially-Available OpenDaylight-based, Carrier-Grade SDN Fabric for NFV" - here.

[Ovum]: CSPs CapEx for 2014: $364B; Flat in 2015

A new report by Matt Walker [pictured], Principal Analyst, Ovum, finds that "Revenue growth rates for communications service providers (CSPs) remain modest, but CSPs will continue to invest heavily in their networks .. With global CSP capital expenditures (capex) forecasted to total more than US$2tn from 2014–19, the global analyst firm warns CSPs must continue to do less with more, leveraging new technologies, network designs, vendors, and operating models.

In a new report, Ovum reveals 2014 capex will likely be US$346bn, with fixed CSPs accounting for 41% of the total and mobile the remainder. Ovum expects:

• flat capex in 2015 due to mobile growing roughly the same amount as fixed capex declines. 
• The years 2016 and 2017 are likely to be weak capex-wise, for both the fixed and mobile segments. 
• We expect a modest recovery in 2018–19 as a new wave of fixed broadband, fixed cloud/data center, and mobile broadband upgrades start rolling out in a number of large markets".

See also "[Dell’Oro Group]: Why will Telecom Carrier Capex Decline in 2015?" - here. 

"..CSPs are also adding software intelligence into their networks, in many ways. Mobile operators have been deploying software-defined radios for many years, which may lower the initial capex requirements of radio upgrades. Software-enabled features also appear in most other parts of the network, even in optical transmission and fixed broadband equipment. Vendors typically spend 50–70% or more of product R&D on software, in fact, revealing its importance to future network operations. And then there are software-defined networks (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV). While not necessarily offering immediate capex savings, one clear aim of CSP proponents of SDN/NFV is to lower both operations and capital costs, along with new service/feature deployment.

See "Ovum forecasts CSP capex over 2014–19 period will surpass US$2tn" - here.

Allot & MRV Partner to Offer Orange NFV/SDN Application-Aware Traffic Management CPE

More NFV news, this time with the twin brother, SDN. Allot Communications and MRV Communications announced  ".. collaboration to demonstrate an SDN-enabled virtual Customer Premises Equipment (vCPE) solution for bringing application awareness to service providers access networks. Initiated and validated in Orange Labs.

..Allot and MRV have partnered to respond to Orange needs by introducing an innovative solution for delivering application awareness at the access network that combines a centralized traffic detection function (TDF - see also "Allot and Procera Push NFV-based DPI" - here), programmable business customer premises equipment (CPE) and an OpenDayLight SDN controller to enable stringent SLAs by setting per-application priority and dedicated bandwidth, and enforcing them starting at the customer premises and throughout the network"

Allot network functions virtualization is compliant with the ETSI blueprint

See "Orange, Allot and MRV to Demonstrate SDN-enabled Application Aware Virtual CPE @ SDN & OpenFlow World Congress" - here.

Radisys Introduces New COTS-based Platform with NFV-based Flow Classification

Radisys introduced an ".. innovative family of T-100 Series (T-100) Platforms with new FlowEngine™ data plane software technology. The T-100 Platforms, based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) silicon technology, are designed and optimized to support high performance Software Defined Networking (SDN) and data plane Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) processing requirements. Integrated with Radisys’ FlowEngine technology, the T-100 delivers capabilities that accelerate SDN and data plane NFV application development, improves platform efficiencies with increased density, and lowers CapEx and ongoing OpEx for mobile operators.

• Radisys’ FlowEngine™ Technology
  
  Radisys developed FlowEngine to deliver a pragmatic and differentiated approach to deploying an NFV architecture. FlowEngine delivers many capabilities for SDN and NFV architectures, including:
   
• Delivering wirespeed flow classification within the platform switch mechanics to rapidly identify traffic, reducing DPI loads on CPU blades and increasing overall chassis capacity and performance
   
• Integrated load balancing to intelligently share loads across VNFs

• Radisys’ T-100 Series Product Portfolio
  
  Radisys’ T-100 Platform family consists of the T-100 Ultra, a 14 slot chassis that delivers 2+ Tbps aggregate throughput, and the T-100 Pro, a 6 slot chassis that delivers 640 Gbps aggregate throughput. The ATCA standards-based products leverage COTS silicon technology engineered for telecom reliability and performance, so customers can leverage a broad range of virtualization and development tools available for Intel® x86 processors.
  
  A Radisys T-100 Platform with A2470 switches, populated with A4700 resource blades running Intel® Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK), is an ideal NFV data plane processing platform for Layer 5-7 DPI applications, Policy Control Enforcement Functions (PCRF), or Gi-LAN application processing requirements"

See "Radisys Launches T-100 Series Portfolio with FlowEngine Technology to Accelerate Mobile Operators’ SDN and NFV Deployments for the Data Plane" - here.

Active Broadband Launches SDN/NFV Gateway

   

Active Broadband Networks announced the ".. industry's first Software-Defined Broadband Network Gateway (SD-BNG), a platform that implements software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) technologies to dramatically reduce the cost and complexity of broadband service delivery. 

The SD-BNG unlocks the benefits of SDN and NFV for service providers to streamline orchestration, proactively manage Quality-of-Experience (QoE) and develop new services and applications -- allowing them to significantly increase operational efficiencies, slash capital outlays, and rapidly create, deploy and modify personalized services that increase market penetration and improve customer satisfaction.

The SD-BNG platform consists of :

• APG/80 Active Programmable Gateway, a pure software switch for high-performance packet processing that is fully programmable via OpenFlow control, and the Active Resource Controller (ARC), an SDN controller optimized for broadband service orchestration and delivery with real-time, dynamic QoE management.
  
  
• The Active Resource Controller (ARC) is an intelligent broadband edge service controller that enables service orchestration using simplified web services programmability. Controlling the APG/80 with OpenFlow, the ARC facilitates autonomous, simplified, traffic-driven service activation. The ARC gains its intelligence by collecting, mediating and further processing real-time IP flow information provided by the APG/80 .. Based on Big Data technology, the ARC computes and displays experience metrics that provide both operators and their customers with visibility into service utilization and network conditions, as well as application usage. The ARC's Big Data technology provides a platform for data scientists to either directly analyze broadband service information or to integrate broadband service information into a larger analysis platform. The ARC leverages technology developed for legacy OSS-based service management, and is a proven, robust platform that can be deployed as a virtual appliance or as software components on operator-managed physical or virtual platforms".  

See "Active Broadband Announces Availability of Industry's First Software-Defined Broadband Network Gateway" - here.

Dali Wireless Unveils High Capacity RF Router

Dali Wireless unveiled ".. High Density System (HDS™) ..  HDS is the only solution on the market that can allocate coverage and capacity dynamically and simultaneously ..  based on the RF Router technology, HDS delivers the high capacity of a macro-cell, the flexible coverage of DAS with the tiny footprint of a pico-cell without traditional interference challenges .. It is technology-, vendor-, and band-agnostic .. HDS can dynamically pool capacity together, and route it to where and when capacity is needed. 

..HDS supports up to 10Gbps / 300MHz over a single fiber .. With Dali’s patented dynamic capacity allocation and digital RF Router technology, it has an optical link budget sufficient for operators to deploy over a long range, as high as 40km, without signal degradation. This results in less noise interference and less equipment required.

.. HDS transforms any radio frequency signals from base stations into IP, CPRI, or IP/CPRI-like packets to allow “any-to-any RF routing” within a software-defined virtualized radio distribution network". 

See "Dali Wireless Unveils HDS™ (High Density System) for Intelligent Wireless Coverage and Dynamic Capacity Allocation" - here.

NetCracker Launches SDN/NFV Based Service Orchestrator

NetCracker Technology "..introduced its new Service and Network Orchestrator solution for SDN/NFV, an integrated part of its market-leading NetCracker 9 suite. This new solution enables communications service providers (CSPs) to address the complexities associated with managing and monetizing multi-vendor virtualized as well as hybrid networks and services.

NetCracker’s new Service and Network Orchestrator for SDN/NFV provides: A centralized orchestration catalog .. Real-time configuration management .. Service lifecycle management and real-time policy and analytics capabilities. 

See "NetCracker Introduces Service and Network Orchestrator for SDN/NFV at TM Forum Live! 2014" - here.

Active Broadband Launches a Subscriber / Application-aware SDN Controller

Active Broadband Networks announced the "..availability of the Active Resource Controller (ARC), a subscriber, service and application aware, telemetry-driven SDN controller for the broadband service edge. . ARC incorporates SDN protocols for dynamic control of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) infrastructure, IP flow telemetry data for visibility into network, service, subscriber and application usage, and Big Data technology for managing the vast amounts of data required for service personalization".

See "Active Broadband Networks Introduces First SDN Controller for Real-Time, Telemetry-Driven Service Intelligence at the Broadband Edge" - here.

[Heavy Reading]: The Market for DPI and Policy Control is Saturated; Yet to Double by 2018

A new report on DPI and Policy Control by Graham Finnie [pictured], Chief Analyst, Heavy Reading, finds "a significant slowdown in growth, from a whopping 30 percent in 2012 to around 17 percent in 2013. A key factor: The initial market for policy servers and deep packet inspection (DPI) gear is pretty much saturated, at least in the wireless sector .. our forecast predicts. We expect the market to nearly double from $1.45 billion in 2013 to $2.8 billion in 2018, a CAGR of 13 percent -- still pretty respectable by the standard of the overall telecom market"
 

Opportunities:
  

".. there are many new use cases driving a second or third round of spending by telcos ... enable telcos to offer a wider range of service packages and options, such as packages built around specific applications, shared usage plans, temporary passes, and so on. Support for VoLTE, telco WiFi, end-user security, prioritization under congestion, M2M, and sponsored data are also emerging on wish lists .. The good news is we've clearly moved on from theory to practical implementation with some of these ideas, with both vendors and operators reporting a wider range of new packages actually being deployed, especially in emerging economies. Here, it's not unusual to see 20 or more plans, with Facebook-only, Google Zero, and daily data passes among the options"

Challenges:

The not-so-good news is that these plans require a different kind of business justification, based on new revenues rather than lower costs -- which is often harder to justify .. Vendors report long lead and deployment times, slowing revenue recognition .. In the longer term, meanwhile, the risks are primarily associated with the transition to virtualized networks, including networks based on SDN"

See "Policy Revenues Climbing, but Hazards Loom" - here.