Know Your Content

Service providers probably wish they didn’t have to think about over-the-top content at all, given the challenge it presents. The smarter approach is to better understand that traffic, for the sake of their network— and their customers. By Rich Karpinski

While service providers offer some walled-garden services, users continue to leverage the open ecosystem of services, apps and products available to them. Over-the-top (OTT) content—such as Netflix streaming movies, Skype two-way video calls or graphics-heavy Facebook wall posts—presents telecom service providers with a great conundrum. In many cases, access to that third-party content or

those online (and increasingly mobile) activities is the reason users value their broadband connections in the first place. Yet today, providers have very little control over the content that runs over the top of their networks—both wireline and wireless. That presents several key challenges for service providers:

first, they are limited in managing how that content impacts their networks, and ultimately their bottom lines; second, they need fresh and innovative approaches for participating in these new revenue-generating services; and third, they are hamstrung in how they can ensure a superior, differentiated experience for customers accessing that content. Overcoming those limitations is crucial. Operators must

be able to manage the bandwidth demands on their networks to control costs and plan for the future. At the same time, they must be able to keep customers happy and expand their

10 | TELLABS INSIGHT Q1

service offerings or, in today’s highly competitive market, they won’t have much of a future at all. How can operators address OTT traffic and simplify their

networks, and do it all while offering new services and saving money? The answer, in a phrase, is they need to become more “content aware.” What exactly does that mean? Providers need capabilities

to capture, measure, analyze and manage the content and services being consumed over the top of their networks. They need access to that crucial information in real time in order to respond rapidly to network hot spots. And they need it historically—to apply analytics and metrics against it that can help them plan their networks, discover new service opportunities build content partnerships. The ability to deliver such capabilities sits at the center of the Tellabs SmartCore®

9200 Series, which couples strong

IP routing functionality with enhanced tools and capabilities for providing insights into network content. Delivered via a new SmartCard architecture, the Tellabs SmartCore 9200 series lets service providers mix and match the technologies they need—such as flow-based or packet-based inspection and advanced security capabilities—to gain the insights that today’s service delivery strategies demand.

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