The rapid proliferation of smartphones and the growing popularity of advanced mobile applications is well documented and often discussed and debated. Central to this is how mobile service providers are responding to this change in service types and addressing the rising expectations of mobile users.
Our daily interaction with the internet and its ability to inform and entertain has colored our expectations. Now as we “go mobile” with the internet, we bring along our fixed line expectations. We expect high throughput, high reliability, and high quality, no matter the application, no matter the access, no matter the location. Considering we’re now talking about high-bandwidth applications like music streaming, video, and web conferencing, as opposed to voice calls and text messaging, this is no small challenge for a mobile operator.
In order to provide these types of services quickly and reliably across a widely dispersed geography, operators like Telenor Norway are evolving their networks to 4G IP infrastructures. Cisco, as the recognized leader in IP, provides a comprehensive IP next-generation mobile network architecture that enables operators to build a high performance, highly intelligent 4G network with end-to-end security, reliability and tremendous flexibility.
Such a network enables today’s smartphones and advanced applications and allows operators to personalize the customer experience, deliver high-quality multimedia applications, explore new business models and develop innovative new mobile services.
At the heart of this network is the Cisco ASR 5000 mobile multimedia core. The ASR 5000 is a purpose-built platform featuring a distributed architecture, high-performance, high capacity, and high availability, combined with subscriber and network intelligence. Read More »
Tags: ASR 5000, EPC, IP NGN, LTE, mobile applications, mobile internet, mobile packet core, Service Provider
I am excited that Cisco has announced its intent to acquire Starent Networks! This important addition, occurring at a time when mobile internet is undergoing massive transformation, would help enable Cisco to better meet the unprecedented needs of our mobile operator and service provider customers as they deliver the next wave of multimedia applications and data services.
To our mobile operators and service providers, this intended acquisition is very much in line with our “4G=IP” vision we’ve stated in the past would, if completed, extend Cisco’s world-class offerings in three key areas.
- Scaling mobile operator networks towards 4G LTE solutions, while protecting investment in 3G technologies, to meet the exponential growth in data services
- Offering personalized applications to deliver integrated user experiences, create differentiation, and increase ARPU.
- Developing innovative business models that deliver incremental revenue streams to address the shrinking voice revenues.
For more details on this announcement, our formal corporate forward looking statement disclaimer, and more insight on the trends causing the need the 4G mobile internet, please see the post by Simon Aspinall, another of our regular SP360 contributors, that is highlighted on our corporate sister blog, The Platform: Cisco to Aquire Mobile Internet Leader Starent Networks
Read More »
Tags: 4g=ip, LTE, mobile internet, Service Provider, starent
Are you ready for the next bandwidth crunch? All of a sudden, the low-profile topic of mobile service provider backhaul network infrastructure has quickly moved to the forefront of telecom industry dialogue. Why all the fuss? Two words -- data explosion.Pent-up demand for data services has created a sense of urgency. While 3G radio technologies such as HSPA have already driven enormous data growth, 4G technologies LTE and WiMAX will exacerbate the problems. Therefore, to help U.S. wireless carriers stay ahead of the growing demand for high-bandwidth wireless services, Verizon has begun offering its advanced fiber-optic network to provide backhaul links between cell towers and mobile switching offices. Read More »
Tags: 4G, LTE, mobile backhaul, network infrastructure, RAN, Service Provider, wimax
