Service Provider Featured Article

As we head into a new year, the pressure to lower CAPEX and OPEX (News - Alert) remains among to top priorities for services providers, even as they struggle to deploy new next generation services across their at least partially aging infrastructures.

 

It is not unreasonable that providers seek to add switches and other components to their networks in lieu of a complete replacement, due to the cost and service implications of wholesale upgrades. However, while these patchwork solutions may fulfill the need of enabling service delivery with acceptable reliability, their growing complexity makes access to, let alone maintenance and management of subscriber data a virtual nightmare — not to mention they can restrict innovation.

 

Often, new components are added for the sake of deploying an individual new service, creating isolated silos, resulting in data disconnects. As such, not only does subscriber management become increasingly difficult, but because of it, the introduction of even more advanced and customer-centric services also becomes tedious and error-prone.

 

However, with many legacy architectures no longer providing the capacity to keep pace with new services and technologies, or simply reaching the end of their lives, the need to replace systems is one that operators cannot continue to ignore.

 

Looking for that competitive edge as it pushes its next generation network infrastructure, Nokia Siemens (News - Alert) Networks has agreed to pay some €140 million for Apertio, which spent a decade and a half developing an accurate, real-time subscriber data platform for mobile, fixed, and converged networks.

 

With Apertio’s subscriber data platform and Nokia Siemens Networks’ (News - Alert) product portfolio, operators now have added incentive to upgrade their networks to a solution that will not only enhance their service delivery capabilities, but also includes an integrated subscriber data management solution. 

 

“With Internet services, communications services, and entertainment services now converging, operators must simplify their networks and focus on subscriber intelligence to stay competitive,” said Paul Magelli, Apertio CEO.

 

According to Apertio, in fact, more than three-quarters of CSPs suggest consolidation of customer data is critical to their goal of capitalizing on the opportunities of converged communications.

 

“The race is on to deliver seamless and highly targeted services to end users across various access devices and this requires a unified approach to subscriber data” said Jürgen Walter, head of Nokia Siemens Networks’ Converged Core business unit.

 

While the two companies have an ongoing collaborative effort, the acquisition firmly unites the network with the data management system, assuring operators of interoperability and ease of deployment, not to mention cost savings as well.

 

“Enabling access to this information in real-time means you can profile subscribers and deliver new services and advertising appropriately,” added Walter.

 

With the addition of Apertio, Nokia Siemens Networks ensures network operators will have the ability to retain complete control over their subscriber data as they continue to develop and roll out new and innovation products and solutions across their networks.