Better policy trumps more spending
junio 30, 2010 - Openet
Openet’s new solution prioritizes access to data services on a more subscriber-aware basis, balancing the needs of valued customers with the availability of network resources
With heavy data usage becoming mobile operators’ biggest problem, the unsustainable practice of building out networks to meet consumer demands will have to give way to throttling the IP core with smarter, more proactive solutions that mitigate the need to continuously invest in cell sites, radio network controllers and fiber-based Ethernet backhaul.
Delivering that type of network intelligence is the goal of a new radio access network (RAN) congestion solution from Openet, designed to enable network congestion “forecasting,” to help operators make real-time traffic management decisions before subscriber experience is impacted.
The key idea behind the Openet solution is that in order to resolve network congestion, operators must move toward subscriber-aware solutions that not only recognize real-time subscriber behaviors and activities but that also enforce policies that allow them to prioritize customers during busy- or peak-hour times of usage.
Rather than arbitrarily block or cap certain users’ usage, operators should be able to distinguish premium customers from others and allow revenue-generating activity to continue even if busy-time levels have been exceeded.
To enable that, Openet’s RAN Congestion Solution has been designed to work within the IP core to enable traffic management rules to be deployed at the network edge. In theory, this could help operators manage data transmission bottlenecks from the radio network to the IP network by resolving managing data plane bottlenecks through dynamic recognition of user traffic profiles and usage patterns, which continuously change.
The ability to recognize those changes in the Openet Solution grew out of Openet’s FusionWorks Policy Manager, which is combined with the network forecasting capabilities in the RAN Congestion Solution. That combination allows operators to determine whether resources are allocated appropriately to subscribers, including the deployment of policy controls such as monthly fair usage, busy-hour fair usage and throttling of services, among others.
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