Mformation and Bridgewater Systems Partner to Support Seamless Service Delivery over WiMAX Networks
1Integrated solution enables zero-touch provisioning and management of WiMAX devices
Edison, New Jersey, USA and Ottawa, Canada – June 16, 2008 - Mformation® Technologies Inc. and Bridgewater Systems (TSX:BWC) today announced the integration of MFORMATION SERVICE MANAGER™ with the Bridgewater Systems™ service control and subscriber data management solution. Through this integration, WiMAX operators will be able to automatically detect, provision and manage WiMAX devices over the air using industry-standard IP and OMA DM protocols, thereby reducing service introduction costs, enabling new flexible supply channels for WiMAX devices, and immediate subscriber access to WiMAX services. This integrated solution is being implemented with a tier-1 WiMAX service provider in North America.
“WiMAX brings to subscribers an unprecedented freedom to choose the devices they want and to buy them where they prefer. For WiMAX operators, the choice in subscriber devices translates to the need to manage a higher number of devices that cannot be pre-provisioned by the operator,” commented Monica Paolini, founder and president of Senza Fili Consulting. She added, “We also expect that new subscribers will want to activate service as they plug in their device, without calling the operator or visiting its store, and expect the process to be transparent and fast.”
WiMAX services promise to enhance the mobile Internet, allowing users broadband access to advanced data applications and personal content from anywhere on any WiMAX-enabled device. MFORMATION SERVICE MANAGER for WiMAX enables mobile operators and service providers to remotely activate, configure, diagnose, update, secure and manage WiMAX-capable devices through all phases of their lifecycle, ensuring a seamless service experience for WiMAX customers.
The Bridgewater® solution features a real-time subscriber data management capability which can share dynamic data such as location, presence, IP address, roaming status, and registration status with MFORMATION SERVICE MANAGER. This dynamic subscriber context enables the device management platform to configure and upgrade the device with a zero-touch operation for both new and existing subscribers, reducing operating expenses and accelerating service adoption.
“Bridgewater enjoys a solid reputation for proven interoperability with a broad range of vendors, and is committed to building a rich WiMAX ecosystem that enables our customers to deploy best-of-breed solutions,” said Farshid Mohammadi, vice president product line management for Bridgewater Systems. “The combination of Mformation’s market-leading device management capabilities with Bridgewater’s carrier-grade service control solution provides a scalable approach to provisioning and managing the wide array of devices that will be connected to WiMAX networks.”
“Mobile device management and subscriber data management platforms are critical enablers of a seamless subscriber experience in an increasingly complex mobile environment that includes WiMAX and other next generation IP-based networks,” said Matt Bancroft, Mformation Chief Marketing Officer. “The integration of the Bridgewater Systems service control solution and MFORMATION SERVICE MANAGER is a critical step in ensuring the success of new WiMAX-based device and service initiatives at our mobile operator and service provider customers around the world.”
When new WiMAX devices register with the network, MFORMATION SERVICE MANAGER detects the new device and calls the Bridgewater solution to resolve the device IP identity. The Bridgewater solution then provides key subscriber information to Mformation’s OMA DM-based device management server, triggering over-the-air activation, provisioning and management of the service on the device. Subsequent device management activities, such as firmware updates, are also supported. The Bridgewater solution allows MFORMATION SERVICE MANAGER to register those devices that require updates, monitors when these devices access the network in real time, and notifies MFORMATION SERVICE MANAGER to initiate an automatic update. The integration provides a scalable means of initiating any provisioning or management actions with any WiMAX device on the network and facilitates the seamless management of a wide range of devices over WiMAX and other all-IP networks.
About Bridgewater Systems
Bridgewater Systems develops subscriber-centric service control solutions, including access control and policy management software for fixed, mobile and converged networks. Using Bridgewater solutions, global service providers can offer personalized services and experiences to their subscribers by maintaining a real time policy that controls how subscribers interact with networks, services, and their devices. Vendor-neutral and access network agnostic, Bridgewater’s carrier-class solutions help global service providers launch new services faster, target them more accurately, and maximize profits by creating a decision point that brings dynamic subscriber context to controlling and merchandizing the subscriber interaction with IP-based services. More than 100 leading service providers around the globe including Verizon Wireless, Sprint, Bell Mobility and SmarTone-Vodafone trust Bridgewater’s technology to help them deliver world-class services. www.bridgewatersystems.com.
