Spirent says operators in the U.S. and Mexico are accelerating network automation
Spirent Communications says it is supporting an accelerated expansion of network automation by multiple, unnamed “top North American mobile operators” in the U.S. and Mexico.
Spirent said that the expansion comes on top of successful initial rollouts of its Spirent VisionWorks offering for service assurance, and that the operators are “significantly expanding the deployments to automate more than 50 different operational, engineering and customer care functions.” That includes service assurance for mobile emergency, voice over LTE, data and messenging services, the company said, with a move toward software-based “virtual test agents” instead of physical probes to monitor services. Spirent also said it is enabling automation of functions that include service activation, service-level agreement performance monitoring, multi-tiered customer care issue resolution and call handling.
“Over the past year, mobile network operators have accelerated their automation plans to get ahead of the competitive threats they face,” said Dave Stehlin, general manager of Lifecycle Service Assurance for Spirent, in a statement. Stehlin added that the company’s VisionWorks solution “helps operators address the need for automation in today’s physical and early-stage virtual networks with support for a wide range of use cases that deliver immediate value. This is laying a foundation for next-generation cloud-native networks that will realize the full potential of automation.”
The shift toward automation means seven-times faster service activation, cost savings in the millions and market offerings that are higher-quality and differentiated, according to Spirent.
In other news from Spirent this week, the company was approved as an authorized test lab for CTIA’s new internet of things cyber security certification. The certification program, which was announced by CTIA last month, is based on recommendations from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Spirent’s SecurityLabs service will begin offering the certification testing once the program officially starts in October.
