Mobile Personalization

Mobile personalization company Bridgewater Systems (News - Alert) and Sandvine, which sells network policy control products for fixed and mobile operators, have announced integration and interoperability testing enabling intelligent policy control tools for 3G and 4G mobile operators.

More specifically, officials of both firms announce interoperability of Sandvine's (News - Alert) Policy Traffic Switch, which “detects network conditions, counts usage and enforces network and subscriber policy decisions defined by the Bridgewater Policy Controller to manage mobile data growth and deliver new services.”

The testing included the PCRF Gx and Gy usage metering interfaces for 3GPP-compliant Policy Control Enforcement Points.

The joint policy tools let mobile operators deliver tiered services by applying policies that, for example, give Bronze subscribers 500 megabytes per month of data, with no peer-to-peer services or parental controls, while providing Gold subscribers with one gigabyte per month of data including peer-to-peer services and parental controls.

They can also be used to personalize application usage by applying policies such as allowing unlimited social networking for a fixed monthly fee, offering usage restrictions during school hours, and ensuring fair usage by applying policies based on subscriber service plans and real-time network congestion levels.

“The joint Sandvine and Bridgewater solution is live today in a major North American 4G operator network,” Bridgewater officials said, adding that the two companies are working together on joint opportunities globally.

Earlier this year TMC’s (News - Alert) Marisa Torrieri reported that Bridgewater announced a Radio Access Network congestion product that extends the Bridgewater Policy Controller with a new RAN Congestion module.

“The end result,” Torrieri wrote, is “a combination product that addresses real-time cell site congestion information with subscriber entitlements to deliver enhanced services.” The company gave demos at Mobile World Congress (News - Alert) in Barcelona.

Bridgewater and Sandvine’s interoperability testing “showcases the two companies' commitment to delivering 3G and 4G policy control products that are standards compliant,” Sandvine officials say, “and address next generation services requirements for mobile operators.”