Mobile operators can become digital lifestyle providers by extending the reach of policy management “everywhere.”
Uploading photos to Facebook, tweeting, downloading YouTube videos, browsing the Web, using applications on your smart phone – they all mean something to a mobile operator’s bottom line. In all that we do, and in every activity we pursue, we open up opportunities for mobile operators and their partners (content providers, mobile advertisers, over-the-top players) to learn more about us: what engages us; what disenchants us; what we desire.
Capitalizing on those opportunities would transform operators into digital-lifestyle providers capable of converting static, one-dimensional data into something visceral, emotional and profitable.
With all the talk of “big data” and of “self quantifiers” increasingly gathered via smart devices in a machine-to-machine (M2M) model of connectivity, there is no doubt that policy management will play a bigger role than ever before not only for governance, but also for marketing and matching people and services in a lifestyle-specific way.
In fact, we at Tekelec believe the concept of “Policy Everywhere” will evolve at a pace proportionate to that of “Data Everywhere,” where policy will be the innovation engine behind intelligent “ThinkingNetworks™” that recognize people and adapt to their ever-changing likes, dislikes and preferences.
If networks “think” as a human mind does, processing new information with what they already know, it’s possible to gain more intelligence as time, events and content are added. Then, operators can dynamically offer services and content that anticipate subscribers’ preferences and behaviors.
In the evolution to ThinkingNetworks, operators have to centralize intelligence the way the human body does. Policy becomes the “brain” of the network, working in tandem with subscriber databases that represent the network’s “memory.” And signaling controllers like the Diameter Signaling Router work as the central nervous system, orchestrating conversations among all critical elements of service delivery, using Diameter as the common “language.”
This all comes together to help networks self-organize and self-determine responses to unprecedented and unpredictable events, which in turn enables operators to fully participate in over-the-top (OTT) application-driven business models.
Policy Everywhere: Extending Intelligence To Devices, Applications and Beyond
Operators need to push policy management from the network core, allowing them to consolidate intelligence in the Policy Server while extending policy “everywhere.” This means use cases around policy will change so that smart devices can become policy enforcement points in their own right.
To make that happen, a Mobile Policy Gateway (MPG) combines a standards-compliant access network discovery and selection function (ANDSF) with dynamic network- and subscriber-aware policy management. The result is policy control extended beyond a core network to mobile devices to enable Wi-Fi offload and onload, improved device security, management of chatty applications, and subscriber controls.
By leveraging policy’s ability to intelligently control network access and application utilization, operators can implement creative solutions to manage network congestion, even down to radio signaling.
In addition, operators can deploy advanced Wi-Fi offload use cases based on preferential network access, subscriber tier or type, device, application, quota, or network conditions. These policies can relieve congestion on licensed spectrum and improve subscribers’ data experience. For example, a device can be moved to the best available network to ensure that the subscriber application usage receives the best available QoS based on current network conditions. Further, the impact of high-bandwidth applications can be minimized by offering subscribers incentives to shift their usage to a different time of day or less congested location.
With advanced policy tools, operators can reduce the effect of the excessive signaling generated by “chatty” apps that constantly query the network for status updates or small data deliveries. Radio access network (RAN) congestion can be mitigated by prioritizing individual packet flows based on subscriber profiles, near real-time and historical analytics. Moreover, by enforcing policy on the mobile device, operators can react quickly to application issues that may impact network performance by blocking “misbehaving” applications at the device – before they affect the core signaling network.
Additionally, policy enforcement will augment security use cases, as operators can do more to define and assert rules about procedures if devices are stolen or if behaviors change because of viruses or malware. Not only will policy be valuable to monitoring and addressing security issues around devices, but also around subscribers as well, as a consistent policy-based view of subscriber behavior across all services will help to identify new exploits – whether mobile viruses, denial of service attacks, spam or fraudulent phishing attacks.
In summary, policy augmented with the MPG orchestrates the subscriber experience so that operators can personalize each subscriber’s experience. It also helps operators quickly respond to protect network assets, subscriber privacy and subscriber credit.
The evolution toward ThinkingNetworks with innovative policy use cases will help operators continue to extend their value and evolve toward a role as digital lifestyle providers. As operators evolve, Policy will be a fundamental requirement for them to build new business models and revenue streams, and to manage the subscriber experience down to the device itself.
