There has been more news lately about some high-profile botnets, and the latest was one of the largest ever seen in Internet history, causing Internet slowdowns to hundreds of millions of users. The scale was orders of magnitude larger than anything seen before, affecting the very core Internet routers that make the Internet function. As mobile networks evolve to all-IP networks, these are the very security concerns operators should be focused on.

In this latest episode, attackers first targeted Spamhaus, and then the security company hired to break the attack, CloudFlare. A domino-effect ensued for any and all companies and groups associated with either Spamhaus or CloudFlare, peaking with a stream of data as big as 300 billion bits per second, which compromised sites – slowing them down or making them unavailable – for as many as nine days.

At the core of the assault was a powerful botnet — a network of thousands of remotely controlled, infected computers that caused a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. That attack is expected to be re-launched in upcoming days, according to Internet chatter, and it is causing security experts like Kaspersky Labs to note that DDOS-type activity is increasing rapidly, and far more malicious than fraudulent service and network security breaches of the past.

How Can DSRs and Policy Servers Help Mobile Operators?

For mobile operators, the rise in malicious attacks highlights a need to go beyond a socialized approach where one appliance is trusted as a security gateway. It pushes everyone toward a multi-layered-security approach, where operators protect the core, the transport layer and the application layer from rogue sites.

The Diameter Signaling Router (DSR) and Policy Server (PCRF) can strengthen security at particularly the control and application layers. Because botnets exploit routing software and servers, DSRs and Policy Servers play a role in preventing amplifications that otherwise get out of control and bring down networks.

For example, in our recent whitepaper, “Multi-layer Security for the Digital Lifestyle Provider,” we describe Access Control(ACL) Lists, Topology Hiding, Encryption, Congestion Control and other security measures augmented by the DSR and/or PCRF.

We look at the ways in which operators can add layers of protection, such as by implementing topology hiding, which protects the network host names from a DDOS. and we look at how encryption can be used for safeguarding subscriber data.

All in all, the operators’ strategies have to be proactive and multi-layered in order to prevent access from unknown partners or rogue sites. There’s no question the growing sophistication of services, and the mobilization and social revolution underway will mean not only innovation, but also more malicious security threats among operators and the third parties with which they will work – intentionally or not.

Mobile operators will continue to invest heavily in their relationships with customers, as they want to champion their brands as Apple, Samsung and Google have done. They also want to ensure their revenues and profits are not further eroded long term by third-party applications and over-the-top providers.

To create positive consumer perceptions about their brands and to deepen their customer relationships, operators know they have to differentiate according to more sharply defined customer wants and behaviors. This means offers and supporting network resources must evolve to dynamically adjust according to how people behave as individuals and in groups. This may include sharing data in real time with advertisers, or optimizing Quality of Service according the needs of an over-the-top application. In short, operators are are becoming “digital-lifestyle providers.”

The most critical element of this transition to digital lifestyle provider status is an adaptable, dynamic and flexible network, one that understands the customer in detail and responds to their actions with personalized, informed reactions. In short, operators require ThinkingNetworks™. This is not a ‘rip-and-replace’ proposition; rather, it is a phased evolutionary approach that adds and changes technological resources as the operator’s business changes according to market demand.

To evolve today’s mobile networks toward this more effective end state, we see four key overlapping phases, including:

• The New Diameter Network (NDN)
• Virtualize through the Cloud
• Monetize in mobile and social-networking environments
• Realize a policy-driven, software-defined ThinkingNetworks™ end state

In the first phase, operators tame the ‘signaling storm’ that could compromise their investments in Diameter-based environments through the New Diameter Network, which brings agility and speed to routing and signaling and provides crucial policy insight about subscribers and their devices, behaviors and apps. Policy becomes the ‘big brain’ of the network, keeping all relevant gateways, databases and operator systems informed. It also facilitates the real-time personalization that is essential to today’s demanding customers.

With that network humming, operators are ready to move into the second phase – a cloud environment that virtualizes network resources. This adds the benefits of on-demand resource allocation and optimal capacity utilization. It also exploits industry trends in software-defined networking (SDN) and standardized hardware improvements that are bringing down CapEx and OpEx unit costs.

In Phase 3, operators turn the tables in the market and go from passive ‘pull’ status to active, relevant ‘push’ vehicles, capable of interacting with entire social networks based on user interests and group behaviors. And, just as the human brain takes in multiple data points simultaneously to influence one’s actions, “one-of” consumer transactions suddenly become a dynamic real-time web of interactions. The network can then push revenue-generating recommendations, offers and ads based not just on one-to-one behaviors, but across this pulsating network of group insights, preferences and decisions.

Finally, in phase 4, ThinkingNetworks™ continually listen, learn and optimize. Instead of periodic off-line reporting and inexact capacity planning exercises, the operator is now given the power to adapt resources according to that delicate balance among business plan goals, network conditions, and customer desires.

The end game is achieved by giving the operator the capabilities they have sought for so many years: the ability to serve the market more quickly, more dynamically and more cost-effectively, and this is what brings differentiation and puts the operator in the driver’s seat as digital lifestyle providers.

To learn more read the new whitepaper: The ThinkingNetworks™ Revolution: A Call to Action for Digital Lifestyle Providers

Downtown DC has braced for the arrival of up to 800,000 people, who will observe the 57th U.S. Presidential inauguration today. The event will be tweeted, shared and recorded on video by the assembled crowds, some of whom will be using 4G services and applications on their smartphones.

Besides the additional data traffic surge, Tekelec expects this event to generate increased Diameter signaling traffic, thanks to an increased density of LTE device users attending the ceremonies. In fact, the 57th Inauguration is sure to be very different from the 56th in terms of technology: four years ago, smartphones only had approximately an 11 percent market penetration – and BlackBerrys outnumbered iPhones two to one.

Additionally, LTE was not yet in service anywhere in the world.

Now, more than 55 percent of Americans own a phone that is capable of video streaming or Internet connectivity – a total of more than 100 million Smartphones. Add to the mix a new, dedicated free Inauguration app with live streaming (Inauguration 2013), and it’s easy to see how mobile data and subsequent Diameter signaling traffic will surge.

The density of LTE-enabled devices means that 4G coverage will be seriously tested during periods of peak usage, thus forcing subscribers onto 3G and Wi-Fi networks. Also, attendees’ mobility in and out of coverage areas may cause subscribers to switch from LTE to 3G networks, and back again. The result on the core network will be periodic spikes in Diameter signaling traffic.

It will be interesting to see how operators fare once users start comparing what they expect from their devices and mobile network providers, and what actually ends up taking place to either enhance or mitigate the Inauguration experience.

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Every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data — so much that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone, according to IBM figures. For mobile operators, “Big Data” presents real opportunity for generating new revenue streams if they figure out how to morph abstract data points into something visceral, emotional and tangible, as stated by Rick Smolan last week during the inaugural Wired Health Conference in New York.

There is no doubt Policy and governance will grow in importance as mobile operators and enterprises across different industries explore how new types of data such as “self quantifiers” will be gathered via smartphones and other mobile devices to measure everything from sleeping patterns to toe nail growth, to a person’s cadence and balance as they walk. Extending the reach of policy to smart devices will also help operators better match network resources to services and customers, as with Wi-Fi offloads and actions related to fair usage.

If the concept of “Policy Everywhere” evolves at a pace commensurate with that of “Data Everywhere,” then mobile operators can build an intelligent network model, for which Policy will be the innovation engine.

Operators will have to transition Policy’s complexion from one of monitoring monthly quota and fair-use management to one that goes beyond the core network and onto subscriber devices, machine-to-machine (M2M) devices, cloud providers, and service delivery and OTT provider platforms.

Using Policy Everywhere, mobile operators can play a bigger role in helping health care, utility, automotive and other industries derive business insights from the surging amount of data gathered from social media, digital videos and pictures, purchase transaction records, cell phone GPS signals, consumer genomics, and personal trackers (like Fitbit, Zeo or the Nike fuel bracelet).

In other words, mobile operators’ use of Policy Everywhere will be a critical factor in making Big Data something people care about, and making it something they don’t have to worry about.

With the ability to push policy control beyond the network core to its edge, operators can develop creative strategies to:

• Optimize and personalize each subscriber’s experience
• Create lucrative, two-sided business models with third-party, OTT and cloud providers
• Maximize resources and improve QoS

It’s just a matter of time before Policy becomes centrally defined within an intelligent control layer that is independent of the underlying network infrastructure and applied globally across networks, devices and applications.

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Like a long-lost friend, unlimited data is getting a warm reception from media – major networks and trade channels – but will it make a real comeback among subscribers? And if so, will it attract more profitable subscriber segments?

These are the questions that are intelligently answered with policy solutions that pinpoint operators’ most profitable customers, and then enable operators to establish and enforce rules that enhance the customer experience for customers most likely to consume the types of services that drive loyalty and revenues.

Why compromise the quality of experience for the greater whole of users, who may suffer dropped connections and difficulties connecting to networks because of the heavy usage of a small percentage of people during peak hours and in congested cell areas?

Operators that want to get the most out of their 3G and LTE investments should continue on the quest to personalize services and content according to subscribers’ usage patterns, preferences, locations, and circumstances.

Operators need network analytics, and then can leverage real-time data from networks and subscriber data management (SDM) systems. This approach will help establish a strategy for balancing traffic in a way that optimizes the customer experience based on customer preferences and the value they place on the services. Central to that will be Policy solutions (PCRF), which define the rules for new services for different subscriber segments based on operator network requirements and marketing strategies.

While some operators may grow their subscribers based short term by bringing back unlimited data, the long-term profitability of operators – and the long-term role they will play as enablers in an OTT-driven model – will depend on their ability to stay the course in pursuing personalization of services. Those services will depend on dynamic charging and pricing models.

It’s no secret that OTT players have successfully decoupled applications and services from the underlying networks responsible for driving the all-important “customer experience.” As a result, service providers should consider how OTT players like YouTube, Facebook, Amazon and Google can become a critical link back to what has become the disintermediated “traditional” customer” – the end consumer of communications and data services.

For example, in the “Verizon versus AT&T: Whose iPhone is better?” debate, end users care about the quality of experience enabled by the device and the apps available on the device. Their loyalties will sway according to which network optimizes their devices’ performance.

Since the telco brand is not directly tied to the devices and apps, but rather indirectly, it is important to cultivate that “indirect” link and open it to monetization by nurturing the OTT relationship. After all, service providers have the technological and business know-how to enrich OTT apps and services with differentiating capabilities (like speed boosts during gaming or video downloads).

Service providers have an opportunity to monetize the service level agreement (SLA)- and quality of service (QoS)-driven capabilities OTT players would otherwise struggle to create on their own.

There exists a universe of untapped services for both consumers and enterprises if operators consider OTT players their new “customers” as opposed to their competitors.

To read more about nurturing the OTT players as a revenue-rich customer base, go to the Tekelec white paper “New Diameter Network: Over-the-Top, Clouds and Machines.“

The mobile data business is growing rapidly, To fully capture this mobile data opportunity, service providers need to become a service and content enabler. Click on the video below to hear Travis Russell, technologist, Tekelec discuss why adding value to the network should be a top priority for service providers.

By Olivier Terrien, Director of Strategic Marketing

We are in the age of the data tsunami. Equipped with increasingly smart devices, dongles and tablets, consumers are devouring mobile bandwidth at an unprecedented pace with no end in sight.

Unfortunately, radio access network (RAN) technologies, delivery architectures and economics haven’t kept pace with customers’ increasing appetite for mobile broadband access. Techniques used by handset manufacturers to optimize the customer experience, such as saving battery life, are severely impacting the signaling load and resources in the RAN. Mobile network congestion is increasing as more and more subscribers flock to data-intensive devices and applications. This congestion strains network resources and bandwidth, negatively impacting subscriber’s quality of experience (QoE) and creating churn because subscribers – especially smartphone users – won’t remain loyal if service quality doesn’t meet their expectations.

RAN congestion is a complex challenge, and there’s no simple solution to the problem. Each network reacts differently to bandwidth surges and rapidly changing usage patterns, depending on its capacity and network resources. Adding capacity to the network to prevent peak-usage congestion – essentially over provisioning the network – isn’t a cost-effective or practical answer since RAN bandwidth is still very expensive compared to core network bandwidth. Yet, finding a solution to RAN congestion is critical to long-term success, since RAN congestion has a direct and immediate impact on QoE and ultimately to subscriber loyalty.
Maintaining optimal QoE takes more than simply mitigating RAN congestion. It requires the ability to improve the customer experience with intelligent policy shaping that dynamically balances QoE with available network resources. That’s the idea behind Tekelec’s RAN-Aware Policy Management solution. It combines both historical and real-time data collected, parsed and analyzed from several sources including passive signaling and user data probes, RAN alarms, Location base servers with subscriber profile information to inform the policy-decision process. The solution delivers static and dynamic visibility into the RAN, which the operators need to detect what’s taking place and uses that visibility to shape policy management in real time.

As the mobile broadband market heats ups, RAN congestion management will continue to take center stage. There’s no doubt that it’s a vital component in the quest to ensure QoE. However, long-term success in this highly competitive and consumer-drive market takes more than simply delivering bandwidth. It requires end-to-end, context-aware solutions that enable operators to dynamically shape and influence policy, tune and balance network resources in real time, and measure quality of experience to continually improve service usage and customer loyalty, yielding higher revenues.

More information about how to tackle RAN congestion can be found here.

Watch this short video for a quick overview of Tekelec.