Software migration gaining strength, paying customers; allowed AT&T unlimited data move
AT&T Mobility surprised many earlier this year when it re-entered the “unlimited” mobile data game, launching new rate plans tied to AT&T’s $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV. The telecom giant this week noted the move back into the unlimited mobile data space was partially made possible by ongoing work to eventually control 75% of its network resources using software-defined network, network functions virtualization and cloud technology.
“We recently brought back unlimited data,” explained Andre Fuetsch, SVP of AT&T’s Domain 2.0 Architecture and Design, in a blog post. “One of the reasons we were comfortable doing that is we know this software-centric network can adapt to meet the demand.”
Fuetsch noted the carrier has moved 14 million wireless customers to its virtualized network, with plans to move “millions more” this year.
AT&T in 2011 stopped offering unlimited data services to new customers, a move followed by rival Verizon Wireless. AT&T Mobility late last year followed competitors in raising the price for customers that remained on legacy unlimited data plans, foisting an additional $5 per month charge.
AT&T’s virtualization moves have so far seen the carrier gain control of 5.7% of its network resources using software at the end of 2015, which was ahead of its stated goal of 5%. That move is said to allow the company to remain on top of growing consumer demand for content.
“People really love their music apps, and their gaming apps and, most of all, video,” Fuetsch explained. “If we want to keep up with that demand, we have to be software-centric. We can add capacity and new capabilities faster. We can upgrade our systems automatically rather than sending technicians to install new hardware. We’re seeing real benefits of this move.”
AT&T is also seeing financial benefits of the move, with Fuetsch noting the carrier’s Network on Demand platform, which targets SDN-based services at enterprise customers, has more than 500 “paying” customers. AT&T in late 2014 unveiled its NoD platform, which at the time the company said was the first SDN solution from a telecom operator available in the U.S. The solution built on AT&T’s previous work with its User Defined Network Cloud program that was announced in early 2014, which was itself built on AT&T’s initial Domain initiative.
John Donovan, chief strategy officer at AT&T, last year noted the on-demand service allows for deployment “up to 95% faster than in the ‘business as usual’ model. We’ve reduced our equipment costs, condensed sales processes, simplified ordering and provisioning, and streamlined global customer support while increasing responsiveness. None of this would be possible if we weren’t thinking like a software company.”
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