CAMPBELL, USA: In 2011 a new category of products, which Infonetics Research classifies as Diameter signaling controllers, was introduced to alleviate Diameter traffic congestion and allow the signaling and control plane within networks to efficiently scale.

There are a number of vendors jockeying to play a role in Diameter signaling control, and Tekelec has an early lead in this nascent market.

"Diameter traffic in the signaling and control plane of all-IP based networks is guaranteed to continue to increase, forcing operators to utilize Diameter signaling controllers to more efficiently manage and scale that traffic," affirms Diane Myers, directing analyst, VoIP and IMS, Infonetics Research.

Several high-profile network outages have exposed weaknesses in Diameter signaling and proved how debilitating excessive signaling traffic could be to operator networks, including Verizon Wireless' LTE network crash in early 2011, Telenor's 18-hour LTE network outage that prevented calls from connecting and text messages from being delivered, and NTT DoCoMo's outage in January 2012 that was attributed to Android devices, which load the network with control signals even when users are inactive.

"The key drivers behind the increase in signaling traffic is the fast-escalating use of mobile broadband networks, new devices and smartphones (from high-end Apple iPhones to less expensive Huawei devices and everything in between), and mobile applications, particularly gaming and social networking apps like Facebook that are in constant use or always on. Even battery-saving gadgets can spur signaling each time they reactivate a mobile phone, adding to Diameter signaling traffic congestion," he added.

Infonetics expects at least 15 vendors to have diameter signaling controllers by the end of 2012, when market leadership will begin to take shape.

Myers adds, "As LTE networks expand, driving even more traffic to the network, the Diameter signaling controller market will take off rapidly: we forecast a 106% compound annual growth rate in vendor revenue through 2016, in line with global growth in LTE networks and LTE subscribers."

Today the majority of Diameter signaling controller revenue comes from North America, due in large part to leading LTE network deployments; however, there is growing activity in Asia Pacific and EMEA as LTE continues to expand in those regions.