March 2010

As Communication Service Providers (CSPs) increasingly begin to engage their long planned next generation strategy they all have one aspect in common. They are faced with the mounting need to manage the convergence of their network layer in parallel with their services layer as it continues to grow. Historically, CSPs have been forced to replicate services across multiple network domains in order to ensure that all applications are available to all subscribers regardless of which network they are on. Next-gen application delivery needs the flexibility to interwork with yesterday’s, today’s and tomorrow’s networks and services. Over the past few years, multiple telecom infrastructure vendors have introduced unique disparate solutions to help bridge the converging network. However, this has resulted in a market approach which is very fragmented in regard to how these issues are being addressed and answers are being sought for the questions that inevitably come up as networks and applications converge: 

1. What is the best way for a Service Provider to optimize multiple service platforms across converging networks to manage CAPEX and OPEX costs?

2. What is the best way to maximize multiple application resources across service platforms to create new service offerings and to maximize ARPU?

3. What is the best method to break the traditional silo service deployment model and move away from proprietary vendor lock-in?

September 2009

Service Provider Scenario

A major tier 1 Service Provider with over 8 million subscribers was growing at a fast pace and faced with a decision regarding how best to deliver applications to its NGN.The options included purchasing new applications and cutting over existing subscribers to IMS, run new and old applications in parallel or possibly extend the current applications with a plan to migrate and decommission them over the long term.

Three applications were considered:

• A pre-paid service which had been up and running for 5 years
• Freephone which had been fully capitalize
• Ring back tone which was recently deployed and not fully capitalized

In all, the current investment in these established, stable, revenue generating applications was $12M US. The main objective for the Service Provider was to reduce their operating costs structure and maximize their existing investment for the current applications.