Nokia Siemens Networks aims to compete on intelligence

Mobile operators are now beginning to see a 'torrent' of mobile data across their networks, but still face the challenge of how to commercialise that data flow, according to Petri Poyhonen, Head of Nokia's Mobile Internet Connection business line.
 
Poyhonen, whose business line includes sales of software and services around the connection between the mobile network and IP networks and the internet, said that by adding service awareness and control on top of the basic GGSN element, operators have the opportunity to add value for their users, at a mass market level, and increase revenues and profitability for themselves.
 
"The trigger has been that users now have the bandwidth they need, with HSPA bandwidth is no longer different form DSL, and the handheld devices and data cards they need. In the last 12 months HSPA and and tarrif strategies have led to a 30 fold increase in traffic form the internet itself onto mobile networks, and operaqtors need to increase their share of that wallet," Poyhonen said.
 
Poyhonen said that the way to increase that share is to add value by understanding what traffic is going across the network, using packet inspection, protocol detection and bandwidth management, and who is generating that traffic, so that operators have the flexibility to segment their users.
 
An example Poyhonen gave is being able to see when P2P usage is getting to such a level that it is threatening service levels to other users. The Nokia Siemens man argued that such hidden services could be used to provide the impression of better network coverage, which is something that he thinks operators can still compete on.
 
Poyhonen also argued that operators would be able to use the information they have about users, their profile, location to provide an intelligent and convenient user experience for the user, and to help internet providers and content partners, who normally know nothing about heir users without engaging them in a registration process, provide a better experience.
 
A better service awareness between the two domains will also help those operators seeking to roll out converged fixed/ mobile services, he added.
 
Nokia hopes to differentiate itself in the market by the innovation it can bring to these areas, Poyhonen said. In the medium to longer term, the topology of the IP core is set to change, as the industry standardises around SAE (Service Architecture Evolution), tunneling between a combined BTS and RNC and the GGSN, effectively bypassing the SGSN. Nokia's strategy could also be seen as focusing intelligence at the network element, that GGSN, that will need to scale or change least in such a flattened network.
 
But for now, Poyhonen argued, if operators focus on adding service and protocol awareness to mobile internet traffic and usage, the benefits can be realised for users and operators.