Applications market was supposed to be huge in NGN networks. What we have seen instead is a simple PSTN emulation led by softswitches and not application servers. What are the reasons for this?
There are several key barriers depending upon who you speak to. New comers have to at latest match the existing core offerings and that is their first priority. For established players there are integration issues. The applications technology exists but the business models are still in emerging stages. Obviously user adaptation is also a delay factor.
There are not many generic application server vendors in NGN market right now. Dynamicsoft and Ubiquity were acquired some time back. Why has the market not sustained many application server vendors in NGN, when all NGN is about is applications?
Again, as I mentioned there are issues such as service provider business cases and business models, user adaptability etc. Financing is also an issue. It is rather difficult for an application server startup to get adequately financed given the state the industry is in. Ubiquity tapped the public markets because the existing VCs decided not to finance the project further.
You offer generic application server platform as well. Do you find enough expertise on the carrier end to write their own applications?
We have customers who have grown through IN into NGN. What we have seen in the NGN applications domain is that the development is typically limited to web oriented manipulation and enhancement. Service providers however speed up the go-to-market with system integrators. We have trained some system integrators and the learning process proved to be very quick. Large integrators however are not so active in NGN space yet. You also have to consider that the application logic is only about 10% of your effort in developing the application. The rest is mainly the back office integration and CRM etc.
Can you point at any new applications based on your platform that have been implemented by carriers?
We have deployed FMC in different forms. We did FMC over VPN for MTS in Eastern Europe which brings together fixed and wireless networks. We are involved in implementation of Location based services for a mobile operator. We are deploying additional IN type applications in NGN environment.
When do you expect the new innovative IP applications, those that are non-traditional, to start getting traction?
I think the traction has already started. FMC for instance justifies the investment in new application servers. But to put a date to it, we are expecting 2009/2010 timeframe to see the deployments of nextgen applications on a wider scale.
At transport layer the IP-to-PSTN call flow has been achieved quite easily. However the intelligent features that reside in the PSTN are difficult to port over. How far are the nextgen SCPs enabling service providers to extend these legacy features over to non-PSTN networks?
The drivers do not exist to port PSTN features over to IP. Those who have the IN, have it, and do not want to stretch them. And some of these existing platforms are reach their end of life so they may not be adequately supported in the future. However there is some interest among large enterprises to port over the PSTN features of their existing switches.
You seem to be focused more on interfaces to legacy network rather than NGN. Does that limit your scope of application innovation?
We are focusing on both. The advantage of focusing on both is being able to synchronize networks which is what most established providers are interested in. This helps us to be much more flexible and be able to offer hybrid applications solution.
You have decided to support IN based FMC as well. What are the prospects of such a solution when most carriers are exploring IP based FMC?
It gives us flexibility. We are able to discuss possible solutions for a wide variety of approaches.
Is WiFi-Cellular convergence the way forward toward wireless wireline convergence?
We provide both IN based and WiFi-GSM FMC. From market perspective there is certainly much more traction for WiFi-GSM FMC implementation.
There is confusion among the end users about what converged wireline wireless services are really about. How far is this confusion responsible for poor uptake of FMC services?
I would not call it a poor uptake. We have been involved in multiple FMC projects and we see increasing traction in this area coming from service providers. Regarding the end user reaction it is a bit too early to generalize. We are still mostly trialing things.
Why is there not much traction for IMS/VCC based FMC?
There is a perception in the market that doing VCC involves an IMS makeover for the entire network. Service providers carrying that perception think that they should not invest in IMS for the sake of just one application (FMC) where user adaptability is an issue.
Femtocell limits you in the sense that you have to use the same provider for broadband as well as cellular services. What is your perspective about the prospects of Femtocell based FMC?
Certain mobile operators will push Femtocell. It is one of the options. To some of them it is more suitable. The management of such offering is an issue as it scales. But there will be players who will push this solution.
How many FMC customers do you have including the trials?
We have less than 10 FMC deployments and over 16 FMC trials going on.
How many are IN based and how many IP based?
The ones that are commercial are IN based. And most of the trials are IP based.