Author: Robin Kent

Service providers are struggling to provide a highly reliable transport mechanism across all network types that maintains the Five 9s reliability that telecom networks demand.

There is renewed urgency to address signaling-based threats to wireless communications networks and service providers are struggling to protect their networks. As the number of LTE subscribers grows so does the number of connected devices and as the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to snowball vast numbers of devices need to connect to the core network. The underlying transmission protocols, such as SCTP, need to be able to support the huge number of simultaneous connections trying to access the network simultaneously and security in the network is more important today than ever before. Today’s interconnected networks are vulnerable to hijacking via insecure links or rogue network nodes. Application vendors are worried that they can unknowingly allow the network to be compromised when presumably ‘secure VPNs’ invisibly transport threats within packets.

Continue reading SCTP: A Standard But They Are Not All The Same

We all know that the Internet of Things (IoT) is the hot topic in the tech world today. From smart homes and connected cars, to intelligent systems in the healthcare and retail sectors, IoT promises to deliver a great deal to both consumers and businesses alike. However, for the phenomenon to become a success, the pioneers leading the development of the concept must ensure they have all the tools and knowledge they need for it to truly take-off. It’s not as easy as simply adopting IoT technology, working with device manufacturers and offering a brand new package to end users. With the thousands of dedicated IoT networks being deployed, operators need to address the inevitable security and capacity issues in connecting them to the core network. Standardisation and deployment costs should also be considered, and one such technology network operators are looking to adopt is Narrow Band (NB-IoT).

Continue reading Why Narrow Band IoT can help the ever growing concept truly take-off

The speed at which the telecoms industry is needing to keep up with rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) is quite alarming. Network operators are frantically trying to make sure everything is in place to satisfy the inevitable end user demands and expectations. We’ve heard about the benefits IoT can bring for not just consumers looking to build their connected homes and drive connect cars, but a range of different industries including healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation and warehousing, and retail.

Continue reading The importance of network security in the age of the Internet of Things

Network operators are constantly looking to introduce new services and design networks in different ways to improve performance and lower costs. The industry currently appears curious over Virtual Evolved Packet Core (vEPC) but this could be the innovative service that they have been looking for. Now is definitely the time for operators to press ahead and start deploying vEPC in large scale LTE networks. However, they need to know how to best utilise the solution, which we also refer to as the network in the cloud, and in what way to implement it in order to provide the highest Quality of Experience (Q of E) possible to the end user, who in today’s world demands 4G connectivity.

Continue reading How network operators can benefit from the ‘network in the cloud’

The Internet of Things (IoT) has continued to snowball over the past couple of years, and it’s the buzzword that continues to dominate the tech world. It was alarming just how big a focus it was at Mobile World Congress this year. With connected cars, kitchens and even cows being showcased for the world to see, one very important question begs to be answered – just how are network operators going to be able to cope with the overwhelming demand to be connected today? According to an industry report, a massive 86 per cent of operators admit they are not ready for IoT [1] so with many industry experts expecting mobile to be the key to making the concept a success, just how can the industry ensure end users will be satisfied?

Continue reading How can mobile operators cope with the overwhelming demand to connect everything?

Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) has continued to grow and prove popular across many industries in today’s connected world. Telecommunications is one such industry that is reaping the benefits it offers. According to a whitepaper from Linux Foundation, the main goal of NFV is to increase service agility while enabling better asset utilization’[i]. However, this goal often gets lost in the search for a ‘software only’, NFV/SDN solution without really understanding the needs of individual networks and applications.

Continue reading Virtualisation is only the first step for a successful NFV network