DSC Deployments [271]: Telstra Selects Ericsson

Ericsson announced that "Telstra has selected the Ericsson Diameter Signaling Controller to expand its wireless network and meet the rapid growth in mobile broadband usage .. Ericsson Diameter Signaling Controller is implemented on Ericsson Blade System, a scalable, high-capacity platform that is involved in some 40 percent of the world's total voice and data traffic. It can be deployed as a stand-alone node, or co-located with Ericsson products such as IP-Signaling Transfer Point, Session Border Gateway and Service-Aware Policy Controller. Furthermore it is complemented with a selection of Ericsson services delivered by certified consultants who have extensive experience with systems integration".

At the end of June 2013, Telstra had 15.1M mobile subscribers in Australia. Telstra Global, the sister company for international operations, is using Diameter signaling technology from Tekelec (see "Telstra Global Uses Tekelec to Manage LTE Roaming") - here.

David Robertson [pictured], Director Transport and Routing Engineering, Telstra says: "Networks are evolving from narrowband signaling to diameter signaling, and we are leading the adoption of this new signaling architecture. DSC provides a more resilient mobile broadband network. We are deploying this technology to ensure we are ahead of the curve with growth in traffic complexity while delivering superior network performance to our customers".

See "Telstra selects Ericsson Diameter Signaling Controller to meet smartphone growth" - here.

[CORR] Sandvine CEO: "Large system integrators are going to become increasingly important to us"; Explains PCRF Business

Based on feedback from Sandvine, the paragraph on IBM below has been corrected :

Sandvine published its Q3 results (see "Sandvine Reports Q3 2013 Results" - here), showing 25% growth in revenues (Y/Y and Q/Q) to $27.2M and net income of $4.7M.

Dave Caputo [pictured], Sandvine CEO provided some additional information during the company's earning call:

• we won our second customer with IBM. Our joint pipeline is encouraging and we may be able to announce further wins this year. We are also pleased with the progress towards both productization with IBM and expect to complete that process in the coming months .. we won our first customer back with them, back in Q4 2012 and it was in Africa .. they [IBM] are just looking for ways to feed their large data warehouses to help service providers come out with good decisions on how to retain customers and how to generate new services so that they generate new revenue streams with them. So I think it's a bit of the future for Sandvine that large system integrators are going to become increasingly important to us and IBM is a good one to have
   
• EMEA and APAC have been driving our revenue growth

• .. I think the business models for SDN [see "Sandvine Join Juniper's SDN Partnership"- here] and virtualization have still to be written out there and there is some service providers that have focused on CapEx strategy and some of that are focused on OpEx strategies or combination thereof.
   
• ..on the PCRF side [see "Sandvine Will Compete on PCRF Projects" - here], the policy control side of things from the software architectures, there are many-many vendors out there that have sold a PCRF. There might be as many 50, 60, 70 vendors and there [here] is a few that have had more success than others particularly [Tekelec] which became Oracle and couple of others have had a little bit more success there, but what we’re seeing is, there is potentially an upgrade cycle that’s already occurring in that space where people have made those decisions two or three years ago. .. We are seeing potential upgrade cycle that’s been driven by our latest offering .. We certainly don’t want slow those guys down and we think we have an upgrade cycle that we should participate in this coming year we've already seen it

See "Sandvine Corp's CEO Discusses Q3 2013 Earnings Call Results - Earnings Call Transcript", by SeekingAlpha, here.

Oracle: Diameter Signaling Traffic Grows Twice Faster than Mobile Data Traffic

A recent research by Oracle (Tekelec) finds that "Long-term evolution (LTE) Diameter signaling traffic will grow at more than twice the rate of mobile data traffic through 2017, according to the second annual Oracle Communications LTE Diameter Signaling Index. The Index predicts that worldwide LTE Diameter signaling traffic will increase at a 140 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), from 1.2 million messages per second (MPS) in 2012 to nearly 99 million MPS by 2017". 

Tekelec's previous report predicted even higher CAGR - see "Tekelec Diameter Index Shows 252% CAGR Signaling Growth (2011-2016)" - here].

Source: Oracle Communications LTE Diameter Signaling Index: 

Forecast Report and Analysis 2012-2017

".. policy MPS are expected to more than triple in each of 2013 and 2014 compared with the previous year. By 2017, policy will account for 62 percent of signaling volumes .. The Index predicts that North America will be the largest contributor to Diameter signaling traffic each year in the forecast period. In 2017, the region is expected to reach nearly 43 million MPS".

See "LTE Diameter Signaling Traffic to Grow More than Twice as Fast as Mobile Data Traffic" - here.

DSC Deployments [259]: Telenor Global Services Uses Oracle (Tekelec) for Roaming

Oracle announced that "Telenor Global Services intends to make its LTE roaming services available around the world using Oracle’s Tekelec Diameter Signaling Router. The solution will enable national and international roaming and over-the-top (OTT) services, such as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) for partner service providers, helping to increase revenues and provide subscribers with greater LTE network access.

Telenor Global Services will deploy Oracle’s Tekelec Diameter Signaling Router as part of its Global LTE Roaming Signaling and IP packet eXchange (IPX) offerings. The solution will provide Diameter Edge Agent (DEA) functionality, which will enable Telenor to connect securely with third-party partners to share resources – such as when a customer is roaming between networks. The solution will deliver essential interoperability and interworking as the central point in Telenor Global Services’ network to relay Diameter messages across operators’ networks".

Source: Telenor IPX Datasheet

See "Telenor Global Services Selects Oracle’s Tekelec Diameter Signaling Router to Support New International LTE Network Roaming" - here.

Oracle Next Acquisition: DPI? Optimization? SDN?

Ronald Gruia [pictured], Director at Frost & Sullivan, covering emerging telecoms, analyzes in an article to The Street who is next on Oracle's acquisition list, following Acme Packet and Tekelec - "Oracle management hinted at financial services and retail as other verticals the company would delve deeper into via innovation or acquisition. However, I believe that the company will further bolster its telecom stack. Here are a few possibilities:

• DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) - this is an important capability that can enhance the Oracle charging solution set. Players such as Allot Communications  (which maintained a relationship with Tekelec to enhance the latter's PCRF product in accounts such as Orange, Verizon and Vodafone) and Procera Networks (which partnered with Tekelec in some accounts such as Comcast) can be distinct possibilities.  
  
  [Should I remind Sandvine to a Canadian]
  
  
• Video optimization current standalone vendors include Flash Networks and Vantrix
   
• SDN (Software Defined Networking) vendor [one must follow the trend, I guess]"

The DPI market is at least 5 times bigger that the video optimization market, that seems to be declining (see "Is the Optimization Market Declining?" - here). It is also big enough (over $500M, with expected growth of 20-30%) to generate interest by large vendors such as Oracle.

Shira Levin of Infonetics Research bets on DPI. 

Great piece from @rgruia on #Oracle's next steps. For the record, my bet is an acquisition of a #DPI vendor. thestreet.com/story/11941664…
— Shira Levine (@shiralevine) June 5, 2013

See "Oracle Not Done with Its Telecom Foray" - here.

[TechNavio]: DSC Market - 51% CAGR for 2012-16

A recent report by TechNavio forecasts ".. the Global Diameter Signaling Controller market to grow at a CAGR of 50.73 percent over the period 2012-2016. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the increasing deployment of LTE networks"

Other recent reports stated:

• Arc Chart: 90% CAGR, 2012-2017 [here, Feb 2013]
• Infonetics: 900% in 2012 over 2011 [here, Jan 2013]
• Exact Ventures: Diameter Signaling Controller (DSC) cumulative product revenues between 2011 and 2016 are forecasted to approach $1 billion [here, June 2012]

"Key vendors dominating this space include Acme Packet Inc.,F5 Networks Inc., and Tekelec Inc". [the first and last acquired by Oracle, and it seems that Oracle will focus on the Tekelec product - see "Oracle - All the Diameter s/w One may Need, Now with Tekelec" - here]. 

"Other vendors mentioned in the report are Allot Communications Inc., Bridgewater Systems Corp. [Amdocs], Procera Networks Inc., and Sandvine Corp.". 

See "Global Diameter Signaling Controller Market 2012-2016" - here.

PCC Deployments [252]: Telefonica [UK] Selected Tekelec for LTE

Tekelec announced that its Policy Server has been "..selected by Telefónica UK to provide the Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) in the 3G and LTE core networks. The Policy Server will combine with Tekelec’s Subscriber Profile Repository to enable Telefónica UK to offer advanced digital lifestyle services for smartphones, tablets and other mobile data devices, while lowering network operating costs.

The Policy Server will help create new mobile data services and tariff plans using a variety of criteria, including volume of data, speed, time and applications. In addition, the operator could offer personalized loyalty programs, mobile advertising and time-based plans"

Telefónica UK has more than 22 million mobile customers, with 47 percent smartphone penetration as of March 2013. In the first quarter of 2013, 93 percent of new contract customers chose a smartphone.

Source: Telefonica 2013-Q1 Report 

See "Tekelec’s Market-Leading Policy Server Selected by Telefónica UK Limited for 3G and LTE Networks" - here.

[Infonetics]: SDM Market Looks for Strong Analytics; to Reach $1.8B by 2017;

   

Shira Levine (pictured), directing analyst for service enablement and subscriber intelligence, Infonetics Research, updated its Subscriber Data Management Software and Services market size and forecast report concluding that "the global subscriber data management market, including software and services for mobile and fixed-line networks, grew 45% in 2012 to $792 million .. will reach $1.8B in 2017 .. Oracle’s acquisition of Tekelec strengthens its position in the SDM space by providing database and analytics technology as well as network and IT data sources .. As analytics become a key part of operators’ SDM strategies, those SDM suppliers with strong analytics capabilities will assume a leadership role".

Previous forecast by Infonetics: $1.86B / 2016 [May '12, here] and $1.5B / 2016 [Nov '12, here]. Signals and Systems Telecom forecasted $2B for 2016 in August 2012 [here]

“As the ‘big data’ trend continues to influence the telecom sector, operators are becoming more aggressive with their subscriber data management strategies, including expanding beyond the network to incorporate data sources such as OSS, billing, and customer care, This is driving demand for solutions that enable better consolidation of subscriber data and spurring interest in the tight integration between SDM and policy, allowing operators to close the loop and make more focused and targeted policy decisions”.

See "Big data fueling subscriber data management spending spree" - here.

Tekelec Enhances PCRF with VoLTE, Wi-Fi and more

Tekelec launched a new version of its PCRF product. Among the new features: "Create and quickly introduce flexible offers using dynamic quotas .. Introduce and scale Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services .. Enhance support for Wi-Fi services .. Improve customer service with unprecedented analytics and Prioritize communications for first responders during emergencies".

See "Tekelec Policy Server Accelerates New Service Creation and Expands Voice over LTE and Wi-Fi Support" - here. 

Tekelec Expands DSR with Virtualization, Emergency VoLTE Calls

Tekelec launched the ".. latest version of Tekelec’sDiameter Signaling Router (DSR), available this quarter. The newest release introduces virtualization and adds new emergency Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services, scalability and routing functions that reduce signaling network complexity".

"Tekelec has more than 25 DSR customers, including T-Mobile [here],Telstra Global [here], Syniverse [new disclosure!], and multiple Tier 1 operators in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia".

See "Tekelec Virtualizes the Diameter Signaling Router for Elastic Scalability, Adds New Voice over LTE Services" - here.

Who Led the Policy Management Market in 2012 - Take II

Well, we have a new (3rd) research and a new leader for the policy management software market in 2012.

Amdocs announced that leading analyst firm Stratecast | Frost & Sullivan has named it as the "top global policy rules vendor in 2012. According to their recently published "Global CSP Policy Management Strategy Definition and Solution Supplier Market Analysis," Stratecast awarded Amdocs a 15 percent revenue-based market share of the 2012 policy rules market, which Stratecast estimates will grow from $1.6 billion in 2013 to $2.4 billion by 2017 .. Stratecast estimates that the policy management market, which comprises policy rules/PCRF and policy enforcement technologies, will reach $3.9 billion by 2017".

Other reports named Openet (Infonetics, here) and Tekelec (Exact Ventures, here) as the leader for 2012.

See "Amdocs Leads in Global Policy Market Share, Analyst Firm Reports" - here.

Tekelec Adds Mobile Policy Gateway: Customer Loyalty/Revenue Generation Use Cases

Tekelec ".. extends rules from the core network to mobile devices, tablets and machines with its Mobile Policy Gateway (MPG). .. the first eight use cases Tekelec has developed go well beyond basic signaling scenarios to enrich subscribers’ interactions with their devices and enable operators to more intelligently manage network resources, applications and devices: Network Congestion Management, Application Firewalling, Application Traffic Scheduling and Management, Service Continuity, Battery Life Preservation, Chargeable Services and Mobile Payments, Targeted Mobile Advertising. and Subscriber Self-Care".

See "Tekelec Unveils Eight Use Cases Taking ‘Policy Everywhere’" - here.

Who led the Policy Management Market in 2012?

   

A press release by Tekelec (recently acquired by Oracle) states that it has been ".. elevated to the top independent policy vendor in 2012, according to market research company Exact Ventures. The analyst firm’s data estimated that Tekelec grew its PCRF business by more than 50% in 2012 and showed that Tekelec was the only independent firm to gain market share from 2011 to 2012. Exact Ventures estimates that the PCRF market grew nearly 40 percent from 2011 to 2012, and will grow an additional 40 percent in 2013".

A recent research by Infonetics Research said that Openet led the market in 2012, followed by Tekelec, The policy management market grew, according to Infonetics by 32% (here). According to Tekelec PR, the "Exact Ventures report counts product revenue. Infonetics, where Openet leads, counts product + some product-related services". 

See "Tekelec Vaults to #1 Leading Independent Policy Vendor for Full Year 2012" - here.

[Infonetics]: Policy Management Market 2012 Growth - 32%; Openet Leads

According to the recent update to the Infonetics Research Policy Management Software  report, Shira Levine (pictured), directing analyst for service enablement and subscriber intelligence, concludes that the "The global policy management software market grew 32% in 2012, to $774 million" [$589M in 2011] and forecasts the "global policy management market to grow to almost $2.4 billion in 2017 .. Openet is the reigning policy management software revenue market share leader for the 3rd year in a row, followed closely by recently-acquired Tekelec".

A year ago Infonetics predicted (here) a market size of $1.9B for 2016, and positioned Huawei at the 2nd largest vendor (now switched places with Tekelec). My market size summary table (here) is updated accordingly.

"Oracle’s recent acquisition of Tekelec [see "Oracle - All the Diameter s/w One may Need, Now with Tekelec" - here] ups the ante in the already hot policy management market, where we’re seeing the smaller players being edged out of deals by larger vendors .. “As operators increasingly look for ‘productized’ solutions that support the easy implementation of use cases [Openet], and the ability to define and create their own policy rules, many are replacing their first-generation policy management solutions or adding additional policy functionality to augment what’s already in place, and we believe this is going to shrink the opportunity for many of the niche players with point solutions”.

See "Policy management M&A activity heats up, market approaching $2.4 billion by 2017" - here.

[Infonetics]: PCRF Vendors Ranking Survey

 
Openet announced that it is the ".. top policy management vendor in the world according to Infonetics Research’s Policy Management Deployment Strategies and Vendor Leadership global service provider survey. Survey respondents also ranked Openet the industry leader in technology innovation and in product roadmap advancements". 

The vendor also published some highlights from the Infonetics report (which I covered here) itself, including the survey results for industry leader: "Respondents were asked in an open-ended question who they consider to be the top three policy management suppliers, a measure called unaided awareness. Openet topped the list with 56% of respondents naming it a top supplier, followed closely by Tekelec with 48% of respondents and Huawei with 40%. Amdocs scored surprisingly low, with just 24% of respondents naming it as a top supplier, suggesting that the vendor may need to continue working on boosting its visibility now that the acquisition of Bridgewater Systems has been completed".

 See "Operators name Openet the Leading Policy Management Vendor in Infonetics Research Survey" - here. 

[ABI] DPI, Policy and Optimization - $20B/5 Years; Leader are ...

Joe Hoffman (pictured), principal analyst, ABI Research, finds that "Next Generation Optimization, DPI, and Policy are essential for operators to maximize the profitability of their 4G investments and represent a $20B market opportunity for vendors in the next 5 years. The overall leaders considering both Innovation and Implementation are Bytemobile [Citrix] (Web and Video Optimization), Sandvine (DPI), and Broadhop/Cisco (Policy)" 

Note that by 2012 revenues, Allot Communications was the market leader in DPI (here), and most analyst reports list Openet, Huawaei, Tekelec and Amdocs as the leaders of the Policy management market (see - Infonetics, Exact Ventures) 

More from ABI:

• Bytemobile Unison and T3100 platforms provide the right granularity of processing power to distribute web and video optimization into the 4G network, can scale with operators from less than 1M to over 100M subscribers, and pack extra functions, such as DPI, into the package
   
• Sandvine Policy Traffic Switch provides the high performance needed for inline DPI, scales to operator needs with different models, and supports a hierarchical and distributed PCRF PCEF/DPI
   
• Broadhop/Cisco Quantum Suite wins by a nose in the fiercely competitive Policy (PCRF) market with many advanced features for operators to differentiate and monetize their 4G brands 

See "Bytemobile, Sandvine, Broadhop Come Out On Top in the $20B Web and Video Optimization, DPI, and Policy Market Competitive Assessment" - here.

News [Part-1]: Qwilt, Procera, Tilera, ipoque, BroadForward, Acme Packet, Tekelec, Roke, Smith Micro, Greenpacket

   

It seems that many consider the first day of MWC to be the best day for press releases. I am not sure about that. With the load of press releases in one day, the attention for each is naturally lower.

Here is the first part:

• Qwilt announced that its "QB-Series Universal Video Delivery appliance supports the new Internet Protocol, IPv6. Qwilt's QB-Series is the industry's first fully integrated, purpose-built carrier-grade transparent caching platform that identifies, monitors, stores and delivers over-the-top (OTT) streaming video in fixed and mobile networks. With this feature update, the QB-Series enables carriers to transparently cache and deliver all types of video content traversing over both IPv4 and the emerging IPv6 protocols in their networks".
  
  See "Qwilt Unveils IPv6 Support For Its Transparent Caching And Video Delivery Solution" - here.


• Procera Networks and Tilera announced they have "..achieved 200Gbps of Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) performance deploying the Procera Network Application Visibility Library (NAVL) on TILExtreme-Gx™ Duo platform, utilizing approximately 70 percent of the TILE-Gx cores .. the solution can be deployed in a variety of networking scenarios including Network Security (IDS/IPS, DPI, DLP), Cyber Security, Network Monitoring, Data Forensics, Analytics and Big Data" processing.
  
  See "Procera Networks and Tilera Unleash 200Gbps Deep Packet Inspection Solution" - here.
     
• ipoque announced [with BroadForward]  the ".. availability of advanced interfacing capabilities for its PRX Internet Traffic Management solution .. Gaining network visibility, intelligence and management has traditionally been a complex integration issue and long-term project within network operators. Multi-vendor environments and often proprietary protocols create challenging conditions which prohibit fast time to market, require additional resources and drive up cost. This new DPI advancement addresses these issues faced by network operators. Now, a traffic management solution and elements such as an online policy and charging function can be integrated reliably in a matter of days rather than weeks or months".
  
  See "ipoque & BroadForward partner to deliver advanced DPI interworking" - here.
   
• Tekelec is expanding its "Policy Everywhere” partner ecosystem to help mobile operators deliver a superior subscriber experience. Tekelec is testing interoperability between its Mobile Policy Gateway (MPG) and solutions from Roke Manor Research Ltd. (SmartSwitch™), Greenpacket (Intouch Mobile Data Offload platform) and Smith Micro (NetWise Director™). This testing includes standards-compliant Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) capabilities, as well as advanced use cases that extend the reach of policy directly to mobile devices.
  
  See "Tekelec takes ‘policy everywhere’ with new partners" - here
   
• Acme Packet announced the "..release of Palladion 3.0 .. a non-intrusive monitoring solution, consists of three new management options: Communications Operations Monitor to track network signaling and media in real-time and enable detailed troubleshooting capabilities; Fraud Detection and Prevention to discover and prevent voice fraud; and Control Plane Monitor to track and troubleshoot Diameter signaling traffic in IMS and LTE networks". 
  
  See "Acme Packet Announces Real-Time Monitoring Solution for Next-Generation Service Provider Networks" - here.

[ABI] Major RAN/EPC Vendors After DSC Market; $500M/2016

   

A recent report (content) by Joe Hoffman (pictured), principal analyst, ABI Research finds that the Diameter Signaling Router market will reach $500M by 2016.

   

According to Joe, “A network outage at a top tier operator could put $300M of revenue at risks .. most of the problems to date are growing pains of 4G, and Diameter Routing mitigates a lot of risk”

"Leading independent vendors  [my list] have captured initial market share, as Diameter Signaling has been under the radar of the major RAN/EPC vendors. As operators step up efforts to monetize 4G investments, Diameter usage spreads to policy and charging. Diameter Signaling is recognized as a critical control point, and the big iron vendors are now heating up the race".

See "3G/4G Diameter Routing to Reach $500M by 2016, First Movers Threatened by Infrastructure Vendors" - here. The report covers Acme Packet, Alcatel-Lucent, Amdocs, Diametriq, Ericsson, F5 Traffix, Tekelec and Ulticom.

[Signals Research] Users are Willing to Pay for Personalization

A study of 3,500 mobile broadband consumers from Brazil, India, South Korea, UK and US by Signals Research Group (sponsored by Tekelec) finds that "Customers want more choices in how they can mix and match services, and they are willing to pay for a greater degree of personalization across services, such as: Email, Web Browsing, Social Networking, Multi-User Gaming, Sports/News/Video, Voice over IP, TV and Movies, Cloud, Remote Lock/Remote Wipe"

Source: Mobile Broadband Pricing and Bundling - the Voice of the Consumer, Tekelec 

".. In addition, customers ranked pricing concepts based on Usage and Specific Applications higher than those based on Bandwidth/Performance, Family Sharing/Bundling of Devices, Casual Usage, or Free Access with Advertising. Service providers have an opportunity to generate incremental revenues if they sell tailored services to customers whose devices are capable, but not yet part of a mobile data plan"

See "Mobile subscribers willing to pay for service bundles ‘their way’" - here.

Allot-Tekelec and Procera-Comptel Interoperability

MWC announcements start on the lighter issues - today it is about interoperability. My PCRF-DPI table (here) already shows the two announced today - but it seems the relations have been upgraded/expanded:

• Allot Communications and Tekelec have "completed Interoperability Testing (IOT) for the 3GPP Sd interface (see "Resource: 3GPP Traffic Detection Function (TDF)/Service Awareness Overview" - here) that offers service providers more powerful application policy control and enforcement with a more efficient network architecture.
  
  The IOT was performed to support a global Tier-1 mobile operator that plans to implement application-specific policies .. the companies are the first to announce IOT over the new Sd Diameter Interface, which communicates between the Tekelec Policy Server (PCRF) and Allot's Service Gateway Sigma E Traffic Detection Function (TDF) in order to enable detection and enforcement control over applications"
  
  See "Allot and Tekelec Complete Interoperability Testing to Expand Policy Control to Over-The-Top Applications" - here.
   
• Comptel announced that it has "completed interoperability testing with Procera Networks .. The companies' joint, real-time policy control and charging solution, which consists of Comptel Policy Control and Procera's PacketLogic Subscriber Manager and PacketLogic Real-Time Enforcement (PRE), enables communications service providers (CSP) to offer, manage and monetise advanced data services, while optimising network usage, improving the overall customer experience .. The interoperability test demonstrated how policy and charging rules managed by Comptel Policy Control could be enforced in Procera's PRE product based on the real-time inspection of network traffic".
  
  
  See "Comptel and Procera Collaborate on Real-Time Policy Control and Charging to Optimise the Customer Experience" - here.

Source: Comptel