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SFR to launch contactless payment card

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All new SIMs to be NFC compatible in 2013

SFR is launching a prepaid contactless payments card in France, in partnership with Mastercard.

The service is being positioned by SFR as a first step on the road to full mobile contactless payments.

A statement from the company said: "Mastercard and SFR signed a partnership agreement  in July 2012 to develop contactless mobile payments and NFC. SFR Paycard is the first brick in SFR's mobile payments services"

SFR said that from January 2013, all new customers will be equipped with NFC compatible SIMs.

Full release from SFR.

SFR to launch LTE and DC-HSPA, plus shared data plans

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SFR to launch LTE and DC-HSPA, plus shared data plans

Starts on road to shared data plan with multi-SIM offer

SFR has announced that it will launch commerical LTE services in Lyon on November 28. There will be a "range of devices" available with rates based on new Dual Carrier HSPA tariffs announced today (see below).

HSPA
As well as the LTE launch in Lyon, by the end of the year SFR also wants to have 60% of the population coverage with Dual Carrier (DC) HSPA – the version of HSPA that offers a theoretical maximum of 42Mbps.

DC-HSPA rollout began in late 2011. Up until 21 September, the iPad has been the only DC-HSPA compatible device, although the iPhone 5 (launched on 21 September) is also DC-HSPA compatible, as are the HTC One XL and the new Motorola Razr HD, available on SFR from 25 September.

SFR says it currently has 88% of the population covered with 21Mbps HSPA.

Broadband Tariffs
SFR today announced 6 new tariff packages for users of its DC-HSPA network. The packages offer 2Gb, 4Gb and 6Gb of monthly inclusive usage, in addition to free WiFi.

Prices start at € 49.99 / month (with dvice), from 2GB of data, using a Dual Carrier compatible device.

  • IPhone 5 * from € 139.90 (€ 339.90 less € 200 cashback) with Formula 6GB Square;
  • The Motorola Razr HD * from € 1 (€ 199.90 to € 198.90 less rebate offer) with Formula 6GB Square;
  • HTC One XL * from € 99.90 (€ 299.90 less € 200 cashback) with Formula 6GB Square.

Shared data
The operator is also offering a "MultiSurf" package, with two SIMs under the same data package, to share a data allowance between a phone and tablet, say.

Finally, the operator has introduced a new Gold, Silver, Bronze customer support strategy, with the level of service for each user included in their package.

Our weekly gallery of misery

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If you think the debate about how operators can avoid becoming “dumb pipes” is some sort of academic exercise, then this week would have put paid to that. The ability of operators to actually apply QoS-based “service enablers” as part of a monetisation strategy is now paramount.

If you think that net neutrality would only concern people in hipster trousers with large Torrent addictions, this week showed that the application of net neutrality regulation has the potential to stymie European operator’s best laid plans for revenue protection and generation.

Exhibit A: French regulator ARCEP says mobile operators in the country have to stop blocking or limiting usage of OTT apps and services. One snippet here: in France there is one operator who, on five of the seven internet packages it sells, is still either blocking or limiting “OTT” IP services such as VoIP. This has not pleased the regulator, who has advised that operators be told to stop such goings on, or face the consequences. (Governmental intervention) Whether the government will intervene is, of course, a moot point. One of the paybacks for “tolerating” the fourth entrant Free Mobile, has been a more forgiving approach on net neutrality and the floating of items such as the “Google Tax” than in The Netherlands, say. Even so, ARCEP’s report is now before parliament and government, and its recommendations are clear.

Exhibit B: Analysys Mason’s Rupert Wood, a man who, two years ago, was correctly pooh-poohing the more aggressive data usage forecasts, returned to his theme to warn that there really seems to be little way out for mobile operators other than accepting their role as low margin, low investment companies, managing decline to its inevitable, consolidated, end.

The issue for Wood is not of reams of OTT data clogging networks and remaining stubbornly “unmonetisable”. It is that there is not enough data flowing over cellular (as opposed to WiFi) networks.

Wood’s thinking is that the price per bit delivery is coming down so low, and competition is so intense, that there’s not much operators can do but manage margins. That leads to a lack of investment in new networks and services. His headline grabbing sentence (and this is in an analyst note titled “Crisis ahead”) was, “it's not getting dangerously expensive to cater for demand; it is getting worryingly cheap to transport what little demand there is.”

How can that be, then? After all, if it’s very cheap to transport traffic, then margins must improve as a result. Here’s his reply.

“What I'm arguing is that mobile networks will be suffering because they will have too little traffic. At our projected traffic levels the total cost of transport will fall (unit costs erode faster than traffic grows). Wi-Fi is the largest factor influencing this low level of growth. You are right that the response from operators will be to reduce costs, but if they all do this, the revenue derived will be reduced too (only a cartel or monopoly would stop this happening). The result is an industry that keeps some margin, but which shrinks at the top line, and ultimately shrinks in terms of investment (a bit like fixed has done).”

So what are the possible responses? Wood said:

“MNOs should attempt to drive all sorts of mobile traffic harder (which drives down rev/GB), [or] MNOs should attempt to increase the proportion of traffic that carries a premium (basically handset traffic) – the danger with this is that they will probably have to invest in margin elsewhere to pay for this, basically the distribution part of the business."

“The truth is that mobile operators in developed economies are going to have to get used to being the victims, not the perpetrators, of disruptive substitution… Whatever happens, we believe that mobile operators will have to re-adjust to higher-than-expected unit prices and lower-than-expected volumes. At worst, they will have to think about managed decline.”

Exhibit C: In the M2M value chain, a key strategic area for many mobile operators looking for new revenue lines, the biggest value opportunity lies in "service enablement", according to one key analyst. Revenue growth from connectivity and provisioning is limited, and will be flat. Only one major European telco is even "theoretically" lined up to move into the "service enablement" area. Telefonica is trying but isn't there yet. And only two M2M vertical sectors are ready for "breakthrough" from the trial and error phase.

Exhibit D: A bad week for Håkan Dahlström and Julio Linares, shown the exit door at Telia Sonera and Telefonica, respectively. In a tough week for an operator fighting off corruption charges, and seemingly considering some sort of exit from a market in which it is driving high growth in, Telia Sonera still found time to axe Dahlström, the head of its mobility services unit. Happens all the time? Well, the issues we outline above contributed to his demise, as his division is charged with not delivering the sort of performance shareholders and boards require.  When the Telia Sonera CEO talks of “increasing challenges”, these are exactly he sorts of things we are talking about.  Telefonica, with its specific Spanish macro-economic difficulties is a slightly different case, but companies don’t change COOs with 40 years in the business lightly.

Meanwhile, from the opposite corner comes a blog post from Compuware’s Richard Stone. Stone offers some sort of path towards the QoS-based future, where operators offer value back to content providers and application developers, for mutual benefit.

Yet as the debate rages about iOS and Apple’s new location and mapping app, there is a voice that is conspicuously silent: that of the operators, who are now viewed as utterly irrelevant in the great mobile service debates of our time.

Some are taking action to change that, of course. But it’s telling that in a week when we have seen one of the great OTT lunch-eaters fail, there can be no response from the operators to “add value” for consumers. The option is to move to another hungry OTT app or provider.

Keith Dyer

Editor

Mobile Europe

mimoOn Test Suite Shortens LTE Small-Cell Product Time-to-Market

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Verification Tools Support Small Cell Product Developers

mimoOn, has announced the release of a test suite for the verification of 4G-LTE small cell PHY (physical layer) functionality during the product development process.

The suite enables product developers to re-validate the lower software layers after modifications to the hardware platform and in the upper protocol stack to ensure a robust, high-performing end product.

It also removes the need for product engineers to create such validation tools on the fly, significantly saving product development time. mi!SmallCellVeriPHY addresses this testing need in a cost effective manner.

The test suite complements mimoOn’s small cell mi!SmallCellPHY LTE PHY protocol stack and advanced scheduling software solutions. Central to the package is a MAC emulator, which provides the necessary functionality to translate and inject test vector data into the PHY layer. The MAC emulator can be adapted to interface with any Small Cell Forum compliant MAC-PHY interface.

Customers may create their own test vectors or license packages offered by mimoOn:

  • Uplink and downlink functional testing

  • Uplink and downlink RF conformance testing

  • PHY layer conformance tests

“Much of the end product quality depends on the low level functionality in the PHY and DSP. PHY level testing is extremely challenging; we have invested in this test suite so product developers can minimize the time and effort put into verifying the low level functionality and spend more time developing differentiating features,” says Jan Westmeijer, mimoOn VP of Product Development.

Analyst house, Infonetics Research predicts small cell deployment will increase to 12 percent in 2012 from 6 percent in 2011, reaching a total value of 2.1 billion USD by 2016; LTE small cells will become the dominant deployed small cell technology by 2015.

mi!SmallCellVeriPHY is now available for delivery to small cell product developers.

French regulator to tell mobile operators to stop blocking IP services

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French regulator to tell mobile operators to stop blocking IP services

Submits net neutrality report to Parliament

French regulator ARCEP has called for mobile operators in the country to cease any blocking of "OTT" and IP services, including VoIP and P2P, on mobile networks.

It says such practices are contrary to the framework it set out in 2010 to sustain a neutral and high-quality equilibrium for the functioning of the Internet.

The recommendation came as the regulator submitted its report on Net neutrality to Parliament and the Government.

Although ARCEP noted that the use of such traffic management tools is decreasing, especially on mobile networks, it still wants to see an end to them. A graph (see above, click for bigger) showed that one operator "Operator A" still has service restrictions or blocks on IP services in five out of seven internet access packages. ARCEP's report said:

"Certain practices are nevertheless contrary to the framework set in 2010 which consists of five assessment criteria. ARCEP is therefore calling, among others, for the steady elimination of service blocking (VoIP, P2P) on mobile networks. If the market fails to make sufficient progress on its own, the current legislation gives the Authority the powers needed to intervene."

The regulator also announced it would track the quality of Internet access services, adopting a decision before the end of this year that specifies quality of service indicators for fixed networks, which will be measured and made public, as already happens for mobile networks.

In parallel, ARCEP said that it is paying attention to the specific role of content and application providers and device manufacturers in the preservation of the neutrality principle. As these questions often exceed its remits, the Authority merely formulates recommendations.

ARCEP said its approach is based first on immediate, preventive actions aimed at promoting competition and transparency, and the disclosure of ARCEP's analysis of issues; second, on the ability for Internet companies, operators or content and application providers to appeal to ARCEP to settle a dispute, particularly in relation to traffic management and interconnection; and finally on ARCEP's ability to take prescriptive decisions in the case a general or discriminatory degradation of quality of service should be observed.

It is now for Parliament and the Government to determine the follow-up to be given to the report, which was produced following numerous hearings and a public consultation held in May and June 2012.

Telia Sonera cuts Mobility Services head to deal with “increasing challenges”

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Telia Sonera cuts Mobility Services head to deal with “increasing challenges”

Dahlström carries can for "sluggish" Mobility Services performance

Telia Sonera has dispensed with the services of its head of mobility services, Håkan Dahlström, with the minimum of fuss. His replacement is Tero Kivisaari, who will add the role to his current position as President of Business area Eurasia.

A curt press release from the operator carried the following quote form CEO Lars Nyberg.

“Håkan Dahlström has contributed to the successful development of TeliaSonera’s business in the Nordic and Baltic region for many years. In order to develop our mobile business further and deal with the increasing challenges that this industry is facing, we need to change the leadership. Therefore Håkan Dahlström leaves his position.”

Dahlström has been at the operator since 1998 and has served as head of Mobility Services since February 2010. For two years before that he was head of Broadband Services and he has also acted as President of Mobility Services Sweden and Head of Corporate Networks & Technology.

A clue as to the trajectory of Dahlström and Kivisaari may be contained in Telia Sonera's 2012 first half results announcement, where Mobility Services was singled out as sluggish, and Eurasia as doing well.

"While trends within Broadband Services and Eurasia have been broadly stable, Mobility Services experienced a slower growth in service revenues and equipment sales. Mobility Sweden delivered growth for the 22nd consecutive quarter albeit at a lower rate, while growth in Yoigo in Spain slowed down despite further market share gains."

"It is satisfying to see that our growth engine Eurasia continues to deliver double-digit growth and that all countries are contributing."

The Eurasia business area comprises mobile operations in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia, Moldova and Nepal and also TeliaSonera’s shareholding in MegaFon (Russia) and Turkcell.

Just this week Swedish TV programme Uppdrag Granskning broadcast allegations of bribery by the operator in Uzbekistan. The allegation is that a payment of $350 million in cash and shares to Gibraltar based company Takilant was a bribe and faciliated money laundering. Telia Sonera said it paid the money in good faith to acquire a 3G license, frequencies and number series for use by its Uzebkistan acquisition Ucell.

"We have not bribed anyone and nor have we contributed to money laundering," Nyberg told reporters at a press conference on 20 September. "This 2.3 billion crowns was an investment, not a bribe."

Telia Sonera has initiated an external enquiry into the allegations.

 

The mobile data storm: Learning to swim with the OTTs

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The mobile data storm: Learning to swim with the OTTs

Operators are often told that the "intelligent" pipe concept gives them the best chance of adding value to the OTT players' services and applications. In this guest post, Richard Stone, Senior Solutions Manager of Cloud Computing and Mobile, Compuware, says that operators can take steps to reduce "wasted" data, producing more efficient networks, a better customer experience, and happier content providers. By doing so, they have a chance to be more than just toll roads for other people's data, he says.

Consumer demand for content is now higher than ever before. While this is great news for content providers, it is the mobile operators that are often in the firing line when it comes to poorly performing apps.

From the operators’ perspective, the networks that they have spent millions of pounds building have been reduced to a free highway for content providers to engage with and attract more users – without any responsibility for how that service is delivered. Whilst content providers are sitting back and counting the cash, all operators are getting in return are call centres jammed with angry customers complaining about slow running applications. This is because the automatic assumption is that, irrespective of who’s actually at fault, it is the operators who are the weak link in the chain.

Simply creating a toll road for content providers isn’t necessarily the answer to the problem. If operators can generate insight into why and how applications are impacting the performance of their network, then they can seize the opportunity to change the nature of the conversation with content providers and improve the experience they deliver to consumers, while forcing them to use bandwidth more economically.

Performance woes
How applications are coded, or detailed device issues, can make a big difference both to the user experience and the impact they have on the network. For example, working in conjunction with one client we recently discovered that a recent change that Facebook made when customers were updating their account, caused the application to send 18kB of additional ‘waste’ data. If you times that by millions of customers, you soon have significant wasted network bandwidth on your hands. Different applications also behave in unique ways across different devices and networks. For example, if you are downloading a picture on an iPhone via Facebook, it requires eight times more data to do so than if you were using an Android device downloading exactly the same picture.

As it stands, most operators and content providers are in the dark about these anomalies. So when an operator phones up a content provider to say that they’re sending too much data over the network, they’re often lacking the context as to why that is an issue. From the content providers’ point of view, more data means more people using the service, so what’s not to like about that? They don’t know that they are sending wasted data and that the user experience is being reduced as a direct result. As such, conversations tend to be generic and non-specific, meaning that very little gets done about the issue.

Without the ability to pinpoint the where or why a problem has occurred, operators are left floundering and apologising to customers unable to offer any reasons. All they can say is that there isn’t a problem with the network, but from the consumer’s point of view they clearly believe there is because their application isn’t working. This is frustrating for both parties, but for mobile companies the worry is that the consumer will perceive their inability to diagnose a problem as incompetence and after persistent problems take their business elsewhere.

Gaining insight into wasted data
The issue is that right now, operators only have part of the picture about what is happening in their network. They know that data is having a detrimental impact on performance and they suspect that bandwidth is being wasted, but they don’t have the tools or processes to know where, why and who. If they can gain the insight required to identify badly behaved applications and isolate the reason behind why the application isn’t performing, operators will then be able to have a very different conversation with content providers. Rather than simply venting their frustration, they will be able to communicate the bigger picture, the reasons behind the problem and its implications. For example, when it is taking users one minute to download a photo rather than 10 seconds.

Armed with this information, content providers can take decisive action to remedy the issue at hand – wasted bandwidth. After all their business is built on consistent performance and consumers today don’t care about which device or where they are accessing the service from. They expect it to be responsive, not be left waiting. Working together with content providers by giving them the information they need to resolve issues will help them manage their brand, but at the same time reduce the burden being placed on the carrier’s network.

Coordinate tests for app performance
Since the operators are the only common factor – and the ones having to bear the biggest financial burden – they have to lead an industry-wide initiative to raise the awareness of the issue with the OTTs and their own device OEMs.

Second, they have to coordinate the testing of devices and applications – they have to set out a series of end user experience tests which the OEMs and OTTs must run. Since it’s in everyone’s interest to reduce or eliminate wasted data, most OEMs and OTTs should embrace such an initiative, rather than seeing it as a return to the old days of protecting access to a walled garden.

Fortunately, with the right tools, there is a pragmatic approach that can give actionable and significant results in days. The key to the problem is picking the right combination of use case which gives the best return for the smallest amount of test effort. In other words:

•    Firstly, what are the top 3 or 4 most used devices on a particular network?

•    Secondly, what are the ‘Top 3’ applications which generate the most network data? (Almost without exception, the answer is already there: Facebook, YouTube and Google).

•    Finally, what is the most common use case with each of those applications? On Facebook for instance, one of the most common use cases is logging in, viewing a newsfeed, viewing a friend’s wall, and then viewing a picture.

These three steps will create a matrix of twelve test which can help operators to measure and understand the actual end-user experience, as well as identifying where issue are occurring. Armed with this information problems can be resolved faster with end-users being better informed when problems do occur.

Moving forward, it is the operators who realise that they can’t live just in their network and need to monitor more broadly that will prosper. By taking a more holistic and collaborative approach to managing the mobile data challenge and sharing information with each other, as well as with content providers, carriers can seize the opportunity to once again place themselves at the centre of the mobile ecosystem.

About Richard Stone
Richard Stone is Senior Solution Marketing Manager at Compuware, responsible for Mobile and Cloud-based Application Performance Management solutions.

Only two M2M sectors ready for breakthrough

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Only two M2M sectors ready for breakthrough

Only two M2M ecosystems are on the verge of a market "breakthrough", according to Arthur D Little Associate Director Ansgar Schlautmann.

All the rest are still in a "trial and error" stage, due to combination of underdeveloped ecosystems,  a lack of tangible user benefits, and there being no dominating players.

Speaking at a seminar held by European Communucations, titled "Beyond Connectivity", Schlautmann said that the Fleet and Freight Management and Security and Surveillance sectors are the only two sectors achieving market "breakthrough".

In both these sectors, there exists the required blend of regulatory and governmental pressure, market demand, technical feasibility and significant players who are able to consolidate an ecosystem.

Other sectors offer thinner rewards, however. Automotive is a "difficult" sector for telcos to access because of scepticism in that sector about telcos' ability to deliver added value. Schlautmann said he didn't agree with that portrayal of telcos, but said it still made it difficult to access the sector.

Schlautmann added that he "can't see" payments, vending and NFC becoming "mass market" in Europe, and added that metering and monitoring, often touted as a key vertical, offers little beyond basic connectivity revenues. Schlautmann  also pointed out that "no other market" is so dependent on regulatory and legislative drivers – referencing eCall and smart metering as example. "If smart metering was not regulated then there would be no market at all," he said.

But it was for the e- and m-health market that he expressed his strongest reservations.

"Health is certainly not a revenue driver for the Internet of Things space in Europe." he said. "That's definitely different in MENA, but for Europe I think the telco providers have probably saddled the wrong horse," he said.

Why? Well, Schlautmann said that the key to IoT market success lies in how value is distributed along a very long chain. Although connectivity would account for 15-20% of value, service enablement would account for a 30-40% share on its own.

In other words, the key revenue driver within the IoT market will not come from connectivity and numbers of connections (SIMs and network access) but from "service enablement" – the ability to offer QoS, enhanced applications, to actually manage and monitor services. Therefore, markets that would most benefit from service enablement capabilities would offer the highest revenues.

"It's not about the number of devices." he said, "it's about revenue." To build revenues, telcos will need to develop ecosystems that let them orchestrate and develop services, so that they can benefit from the created value. At the moment, most markets exhibit far too many players, operating in too small spheres of influence. Telcos, by partnering, co-operating and forming alliances with partners throught the value chaing, could drive the sort of ecosystem consolidation that is required, he said, to drive "breakthrough" revenues.

DT is the furthest down this line, he said, "at least theoretically". Orange is the next closest, with Vodafone and Telefonica both wanting to move up the value chain, but not having done so yet.  

James Monighan, Director of Strategy for Telefonica UK's M2M division, said that the operator was co-operating to develop vertically-based services that are based on a global capability provided through its partnership with M2M platform provider Jasper Wireless. He gave as examples partnerships with addFleet, ChargeMaster and Masternaut – all examples where the mobile operator has worked together with other partners to "make this a credible opportunity".

"What is our strategy? To go beyond connectivity. It comes back to the services you can run over the devices, and we can only do that by building an ecosystem," he said.
 

SK Telecom, Ericsson and Altair develop LTE TD-FDD handover

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SK Telecom has announced that it has developed technology to allow handover between TD and FDD LTE duplexes within a single device — leading the way to dual-mode LTE devices based on a single modem chipset.

It says that in partnership with Ericsson and Altair Semiconductor it has developed a two-way handover technology that supports both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) LTE and Time Division Duplex (TDD) LTE – two different modes of the LTE technology standard – in one device, and successfully demonstrated the technology in a moving vehicle.

SKT introduced the technology to the NGMN operating committee meeting held in Turin over the past two days, and wants to offer the technology commercially to international markets.

The ability to handover between FDD LTE and TDD LTE could enable the use of dual-mode devices that support both duplex modes with a single modem chipset. That would mean that operators who operate in both LTE modes could offer users devices that work in both modes, allowing them more coverage or capacity. It could also offer the opportunity to roam internationally to a country where LTE is deployed in a different mode to a user's "home" operator.

SKT said that a growing number of operators are using both FDD LTE and TD-LTE.
 
Martin Wiktorin, President of Ericsson-LG said, “Ericsson is dedicated to ensuring the success of seamless data communications on converged LTE FDD/TDD for operators, so that they can make the most of their spectrum investments and provide the best quality service for their customers. Ericsson-LG keeps collaborating with SK Telecom to drive seamless handover and a well-functioning LTE ecosystem.”

Eran Eshed, Co-founder and VP of Marketing of Altair Semiconductor said, “We are pleased to partner with SK Telecom and Ericsson on this project and look forward to the public launch of the bi-directional handover feature in the very near future.”
 
Kang Jong-Ryeol, Head of Network Technology R&D Center of SK Telecom said, “The bidirectional LTE FDD/TDD handover technology will allow users to experience seamless LTE service even while on international roaming. Building on our strong competitiveness in LTE FDD technologies, SK Telecom will focus on developing LTE TDD technologies and actively seek export opportunities for its dual-mode (LTE FDD/TDD) technologies.

Tekelec launches three new mobile policy management products

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Tekelec says it takes "Policy Everywhere" with three new products

Tekelec today announced a trio of products that extend the reach of policy management to devices, over-the-top (OTT) applications, and business intelligence: Tekelec’s Mobile Policy Gateway, Application Manager, and Policy Analytics Platform.

The products integrate with Tekelec’s market-leading Policy Server to create a “policy everywhere” framework that evolves policy well beyond fair usage and tiered services. The new offerings enable service providers to introduce innovative services like subsidized or “toll-free” data, opt-in mobile advertising, customer loyalty/rewards programs, and application-based plans with partner ecosystems. They also extend the reach of policy to the smart device to provide intelligent Wi-Fi offload, manage chatty applications, improve device security, and give subscribers greater control over their applications.

“Service providers are broadening their service portfolios and packages, business models, partnerships and device types,” said Graham Finnie, chief analyst at Heavy Reading. “Behind the scenes, this means they will require new advanced policy capabilities, including actionable real-time analysis, policy enforcement wherever it is needed, and the provision of policy as a service to over-the-top application providers.”

Mobile Policy Gateway
Tekelec’s Mobile Policy Gateway (MPG) extends policy directly to the device. The MPG combines a standards-compliant Access Network Discovery and Selection Function (ANDSF) with dynamic network and subscriber aware policy management. It turns smart devices into policy enforcement points, reducing the need for costly deep packet inspection (DPI) and policy enforcement (PCEF) functions in the network core. Example use cases include:

  • Managing network congestion with intelligent Wi-Fi offload based on preferential network access, subscriber tier or type, device type, application usage, quota, or network conditions.
  • Improving quality of service (QoS) and extending device battery life by managing signaling traffic from chatty applications frequently attempting to communicate with the network.
  • Securing devices and personal information by blocking malware and fraudulent activity.
  • Identifying upsell opportunities based on services in use, network conditions and subscriber preferences – and conveniently offering them in the application the subscriber is using.

Application Manager
Tekelec’s Application Manager allows service providers to securely expose network APIs, policies and subscriber data to OTT, on-deck, and service delivery platforms (SDPs). By converting web-based protocols (LDAP, SOAP, XML, HTTP, etc.) to Diameter, it creates a single point of control for two-sided business models with application providers.
Tekelec’s Application Manager gives service providers the ability to:

  • Provide application- and subscriber-specific policy and charging treatment, such as guaranteed QoS, service-level agreement (SLA) compliance, quota and session management, and rating.
  • Insert targeted advertisements with native or third-party applications.
  • Securely expose network application programming interfaces (APIs), protecting network and subscriber data.

Policy Analytics Platform
Tekelec’s Policy Analytics platform unlocks network intelligence buried in millions of policy event records. The data give network operations, IT and marketing departments granular business and network insight about how subscribers use and access services and applications.
The intelligence allows service providers to see how policies impact subscribers’ behavior and network resource allocation so they can create targeted tariff plans based on subscribers’ usage, pricing and quality of service preferences. Policy Analytics can reveal, for example, that:

  • A new handset model generates a 40 percent increase in data traffic through the Facebook application.
  • Video traffic doubles for subscribers who migrate from 3G to LTE handsets.
  • Subscribers who exceed data quotas for three consecutive months have a 75 percent acceptance rate when the device offers them a promotional rate to move to the next highest service tier.
  • Bandwidth speeds decreased by 25 percent in congested areas for certain subscribers or handset types improves the entire cell area quality of service by 40 percent.

In addition, the platform’s policy-simulation tools give the service provider new abilities to test and evaluate the impact of new policies before implementing them in the network. This type of network “safety net” reduces time to market of new services by improving rule creation and letting multiple departments assess the effects of new policy rules.

“Policy is the ‘everywhere’ technology that will transform service provider business models,” said Houck Reed, vice president of product management and marketing at Tekelec. “As billions of smart devices become policy enforcement points and new features extend policy and analytics to over-the-top applications and mobile advertisers, new business models will emerge that match subscribers to the relevant, timely content they want.”

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