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As telecom operators look to transition their revenue mix from a voice to a value-added services play, Juniper is optimistic about its portfolio of solutions that will enable service providers to use a policy driven approach to provide on-the-fly customizable services
By Srikanth RP, NC, August 13, 2009, 1100 hrs
While mobile growth rates are among the highest in India, the average revenue per user is coming down at a fast pace—leaving operators to focus extensively on value-added services. Juniper is eyeing its place in the sun in this new era, with a portfolio of services that allow service providers to provide flexible and customized services.
In an IP network, it is challenging for telecom service providers to provide such a level of flexibility since the network has to be intelligent enough to understand what subscribers are entitled to, and allocate the necessary bandwidth for efficient application delivery. Juniper believes that it has an answer to the telecom service providers’ woes through its Session and Resource Control (SRC) modules.
The portfolio includes a policy engine which monitors and allocates network resources, a diameter gateway that enables end-to-end control of applications over the network, and a SOAP gateway that ensures integration with a variety of third-party developed applications.
The SRC portfolio gathers intelligence from multiple sources which include the network, subscribers, and applications. It then uses this intelligence to manage and control network resources. For example, a video streaming application will require dedicated bandwidth. In such cases, the SRC will first check if adequate network resources are available, and then allocate the bandwidth required to run a service or an application.
“Using this solution, the telecom service provider can allow subscribers to use a self-service portal that allows them to increase the broadband speed to say, 5 Mbps, for just two hours. Similarly, as a policy, the telecom service provider could automatically boost the speed for high-bandwidth, revenue-generating applications. It could even set a policy that automatically increases the download speed at night,” explains Brendan Leitch, Director, Service Provider Marketing, Asia Pacific, Juniper Networks. This gives telecom operators the flexibility to deliver or launch new customized services which can be changed on-the-fly.
Leitch says that as the telecom subscriber growth slows down, operators will be forced to look at using the same IP network to provide value-added services. In this new world of data intensive applications, the quality of service delivery is critical as it will determine the price that people or organizations are willing to pay for a particular service. This is the market that Juniper is betting on, with its portfolio of SRC modules.
Using this solution, telecom operators can leverage on their unique advantages—from the ability to have an end-to-end control over the network—to understanding customer identity, service usage and having knowledge of the location of a customer. By using the SRC modules, telecom operators can use a policy-driven framework that gives them the flexibility to push premium services based on specific user demographics and preferences.
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