Author: Robin Kent

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

If you were to talk to your average mobile phone user, 4G LTE access and Over-The-Top (OTT) applications would be at the top of their list in terms of what they demand from their network operator and handset. We’ve heard for many years now that SMS is in terminal decline, voice calls are dying a slow death and that an all-IP network has taken over and will continue to dominate. But is this really the case?

Continue reading Traditional signaling service takes the connected world back to the future

The need to be connected to the ‘smarter world’ is ever increasing with the rise in the number of mobile devices. LTE is now a global reality for millions of subscribers and the age of the Internet of Things (IoT) is well and truly upon us. While this opens up a variety of opportunities for network operators, it also comes with a warning. With the vast increase in the number of connected devices; effective policy and traffic management capabilities have become key demands for carriers and, as such, network intelligence is more important than ever.

Continue reading Creating a smarter network infrastructure for the connected world

The number of devices globally with access to 4G/LTE is constantly rising. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept that is front of mind among tech aficionados and the demand from end users to be connected to the ‘smarter world’ is ever increasing. But there are consequences that this surge in traffic and the huge number of devices and subscribers accessing the network have for operators.
Network operators that are unprepared will be faced with a potentially severe ‘bottleneck’ in their network. There are basic issues with Diameter signaling that threaten to cause mass disruption to the network, which could lead to a diminished Quality of Experience (QoE) for network subscribers and also a potential loss in revenue for the operator.

Continue reading The Internet of Things presents new signaling concerns for mobile operators, as the number of devices and subscribers needing to join the network escalate

As LTE is deployed worldwide, seamless communications amongst all forms of devices and access methods to the All-IP LTE core are advancing daily. There are now more new services, at higher speeds, and with greater reliability than ever before. These advances bring new revenue opportunities but also new and advanced security threats. Historically, carrier-grade telecom networks have had an excellent record for user and network security, however, today’s communications infrastructure is more vulnerable than its predecessors. The internet is becoming an integral part of all communications. With corporate network security breaches everywhere affecting millions of users, networks must address security at all levels.

Continue reading Security threats in LTE: Devices, access, core elements and services