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Follow UsCALIFORNIA, USA: The policy management market is heating up as a growing number of operators deploy policy solutions to address near-term concerns like network congestion, deliver value-added services, and comply with regulatory requirements, on top of the many operators deploying policy management during their LTE trials and deployments.
Market research firm Infonetics Research expects the global policy management software market to jump 49 per cent in 2011 over 2010, and to hit $1.61 billion in 2015.
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Shira Levine, directing analyst for next gen OSS and policy at Infonetics Research, says: "The acquisition of Bridgewater Systems by Amdocs marks a shift in the policy management market by creating an integrated policy/charging solution backed by a large, well-established vendor with a strong sales force."
Global revenue from policy management software deployed in mobile networks is forecast by Infonetics to nearly triple in the five years from 2011 to 2015, driven by operators seeking to:
o Manage bandwidth usage during peak hours to alleviate strain on shared RAN resources caused by 3G and PC-based data services.
o Offload traffic onto WiFi networks.
o Enable advanced subscriber controls and variable charging based on time of day or subscriber profile.
o Create specialized service packages around specific applications or services, such as social networking or high definition video.
o Control rating and charging for mobile broadband roaming and day passes.
o Deliver over-the-air provisioning of modems/CPE and support QoS requirements associated with delivering voice services over WiMAX and LTE networks.
o Support convergent services that span fixed and mobile networks.
"Going forward, solutions that integrate policy management with charging and some degree of subscriber awareness will become table stakes, as operators move beyond basic bandwidth management into value-added services and innovative pricing models. Suppliers without that capability will be at a significant disadvantage," believes Shira.
Machine-to-machine (M2M) connections will be a key driver in the policy management market, as operators deploy solutions to identify and track M2M traffic and apply policy rules based on the nature of the transaction, time of day, network congestion, and other factors.