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Openet Acquisition of Forkstream Seamless Access and Carrier Wifi Management, New Frontier for Policy Control
Original published @ www.policychargingcontrol.com
Openets recent acquisition of Forkstream, an access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) provider, pushes the boundaries of Policy and Charging Control segment to enable seamless integration between mobile data networks and the WiFi and Wimax connections of the fixed network via the use of end-user smart clients. The evolution of these smart clients from static connection manager function to current capability to intelligently and dynamically switch from one connection to another through its ability to define policies for routing mobile data streams within and between different access networks will provide both seamless and secured connection for customers.
We are seeing a lot of sales activity and solution requests in relation to managed carrier wifi and offload from mature LTE operators in North America and Asia. Over the coming 12 -18 months we see this trend accelerating across other regions in line with LTE deployments globally as wifi becomes an important part of the network evolution strategy" says Oisin OConnor, Director of Product Marketing, Openet
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1. Leverage on their existing infrastructure mobile networks, WiFi and fixed networks for better traffic management, especially in alleviating network congestions during peak hours. 2. Provide end-customers options and flexibility in choosing best fitting connections ensuring highest quality experience at all times. 3. Enable MNOs to partner, implement and manage inter-network arrangements among themselves and with WiFi / WiMAX providers. 4. Provide more competitive bundling for mobile data and WiFi service packages via WiFi bolt-on, incorporated into single billing with attractive rates on the latter; and 5. Devise better revenue sharing models between providers of Mobile Data and WiFi/WiMAX with the support of technology enabled insights and analytics.
The MNOs have also started the ball rolling by developing use cases relating to seamless user experience and providing customers with enhanced quality of experience (QoE). The standardization and maturity of Radio Access Network (RAN) offload architecture further accelerates the development in this area, without which, the idea of seamless access would have remained as a technology strategy for future implementation. The Long Term Evolution (LTE), which comes with higher bandwidth, is another push factor for higher QoE use cases. With this, the MNOs would be
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able to invent new products that can offer service guaranty to customers with pre-specified minimum quality of service.
"We are seeing a lot of sales activity and solution requests in relation to managed carrier WiFi and offload from mature LTE operators in North America and Asia. Over the coming 12 -18 months we see this trend accelerating across other regions in line with LTE deployments globally as WiFi becomes an important part of the network evolution strategy" says Oisin O'Connor, Openet's Director of Product Marketing, Openets move to integrate the seamless access component into its current PCC architecture signifies increasing emphasis in the market on the quality of data networks for both mobile and WiFi. Acquisition of Forkstream not only creates a ready platform to enhance service quality and drive revenues in the mid and long term, it also spurs more such outfits to develop complementary technologies that enable vendors and MNOs to achieve better user experience and service quality targets across their existing networks.
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