Changing the Mobility Market with Policy

The market for mobile devices is growing, and with it, the opportunities for new business services in existing and new markets. According to Cisco Visual Networking Index, by 2019, there will be 11.5 billion mobile-ready devices and connections, more than 4 billion more than there were in 2014. These devices will include traditional mobile phones and tablets, but will also grow to increasingly include machine-to-machine devices, including GPS systems in cars, asset tracking systems in manufacturing sectors, or medical applications making patient and health status more readily available.

With this changing mobile landscape, Service Providers are also learning to expand their offerings with both additional services to existing subscribers and new ways to create business models and enter new vertical markets. For both traditional subscriber value-add services, such as sponsored data, and new verticals, like connected cars and MVNOs, the policy enforcement on the network is needed. Policy extends beyond standard policy and control rules function (PCRF) to include interfaces to 3^rd party applications, charging systems, and even tight integrations with the packet core.

Cisco has been partnering with our service provider customers to identify these new and emerging business models and our customers have adopted Cisco Policy Suite to address these new services and markets. Recent analyst reports show that these customer deployments have led to Cisco’s emerging leadership in the Policy market. The recent Infonetics report from March 19, 2015, “Policy Management Software Analysis” shows that Cisco has grown in market share to #3 in the Policy industry. That’s up from #4 in 2014 and #7 in 2013. In addition, Current Analysis’ Product Assessment of Cisco Policy Suite also rated Cisco as “Very Strong”, showing that Cisco’s offerings for customers are compelling.

One area where our customers have focused on is using Cisco Policy Suite to quickly adopt Voice over Wi-Fi and Voice over LTE to enable a strong customer experience for all users. VoLTE has been an area of steady adoption by Service Providers worldwide. A Heavy Reading survey indicates that two-thirds of the operators surveyed thought that VoLTE would require an upgrade to or replacement for their policy platforms. Handling VoLTE not only means scaling up to handle many more sessions and transactions, but also having the capability to handle specific requirements such as support of emergency services, voice-specific charging, or QoS guarantees.

By implementing Cisco Policy Suite to address VoLTE demands, operators can also serve the community with improved services. One of the capabilities is the ability to send network provided location information over VoLTE for emergency purposes.  For example, if a subscriber got in trouble and had to call 911, Cisco Policy would be able to provide the location information of the subscriber with emergency call routing for rescue personnel like firefighters, police and others.

Examples like VoLTE are helping Service Providers grow their market in ways they were not anticipating even a few years ago. Operators are embracing the wave of new devices and new technologies, and with each new business service, policy plays a key role in making the operators successful. We embrace our partnerships with our customers around the world, and look forward to building new business models for them to better serve their subscribers.

Learn more about Cisco Policy Suite:

• Find out more Heavy Reading’s survey findings and how Cisco Policy Suite will work for VoLTE.
• For more information about Cisco Policy Suite, please visit our webpage.

Have questions or comments? Tweet us @CiscoSPMobility!

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