Sandvine's Service Delivery Engine strengthens PCRF-PCEF Interface

Sandvine's open approach allows services to be defined and implemented in minutes

WATERLOO, ON, July 9, 2013 /CNW/ - Sandvine, (TSX:SVC) a leading provider of intelligent broadband network solutions for fixed and mobile operators, today released its latest Service Delivery Engine (SDE) platform version with new Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) functionality to roll out revenue generating services faster than ever before, such as roaming notifications, bill shock prevention, family plans and data bundles.

Sandvine's SDE is LTE standards-compliant, conforming to 3GPP Release 11, and offers an open architecture that closes the gap between the control and data planes. Sandvine's SDE is a fully-compliant PCRF product. It can work in conjunction with Sandvine's Policy Traffic Switch (PTS) to provide a unified platform for network policy control in fixed, mobile and converged operator networks, or alternatively the SDE interfaces with third party Policy and Charging Enforcement Functions (PCEFs).

Sandvine is deployed at over 80 mobile CSPs worldwide including more than twenty with LTE networks where Sandvine's solutions are being used today or planned for use in the near-term. Sandvine's LTE deployments are located in such advanced broadband nations as the United States, South Korea, Hong Kong and Germany.

"Stratecast expects the overall policy management market to reach $3.8 billion in 2017 and we believe that Sandvine's approach of an integrated policy engine, with PCRF and PCEF components, will be validated by the marketplace," said Karl Whitelock, Director Global OSS BSS Strategy, Stratecast Frost & Sullivan.  "This is especially relevant as Sandvine continues to gain repeat business of advanced policy-enabled solutions within its existing customer base."

Sandvine's open and user-friendly approach to usage-based billing allows popular use cases, like bill shock prevention, to be defined and implemented in minutes. Typical service plan development and implementation is structured in a rudimentary system where services are defined separately and then stitched together.  Optimizing the signaling interface between the PCRF and PCEF functions, Sandvine's unified approach to network policy control simplifies service definition and implementation, and provides a lower total cost of ownership for the communications service provider (CSP).

"As mobile networks migrate from 3G to LTE, the need for universal service plans that bridge these technologies is critical," said Don Bowman, CTO, Sandvine. "Sandvine's latest SDE release builds on our existing foundation in the control plane and opens the doors for future developments in Software-Defined Networking."

Sandvine's Service Delivery Engine 7.0 features and benefits include:

• Single policy vendor architecture with unified policy definition, decision and enforcement across the control plane (PCRF) and the data plane (PCEF).
• Shared policy engine with the Policy Traffic Switch (PTS), enabling high performance policy control without overwhelming signaling traffic
• Application-centric, standards-based PCRF, capable of signalling policy enforcement to third party GGSNs or PGWs via standard Gx interface
• 3GPP Release 11 standards compliance and extensive interface support for consistent network-wide policy control in any IP environment
• Integration with existing B/OSS systems through standard interfaces, lowering operational costs and ensuring a simple, future-proof deployment in any access technology
• Built-in integration with Sandvine's Usage Management product to capitalize on revenue generating opportunities including service tiers, roaming notifications, bill shock prevention, family plans, day passes and third party promotions
• ServiceDesigner graphical interface for rapid service creation offering intuitive drag-and-drop functionality so new services can be defined by CSP's business experts as well as network experts.  A feature of Sandvine's Control Center, ServiceDesigner is an operations management GUI used to centrally create and deploy network-wide service policies.

Sandvine's approach to SDN is described in the whitepaper "Policy Control & SDN: A Perfect Match?" and for more information on Sandvine's SDE platform visit www.sandvine.com.

ABOUT STRATECAST
Stratecast collaborates with our clients to reach smart business decisions in the rapidly evolving and hyper-competitive Information and Communications Technology markets. Leveraging a mix of action-oriented subscription research and customized consulting engagements, Stratecast delivers knowledge and perspective that is only attainable through years of real-world experience in an industry where customers are collaborators; today's partners are tomorrow's competitors; and agility and innovation are essential elements for success. Contact your Stratecast Account Executive to engage our experience to assist you in attaining your growth objectives

ABOUT SANDVINE
Sandvine's network policy control solutions add intelligence to fixed, mobile and converged communications service provider networks to enable services that can increase revenue and reduce network costs. Powered by Sandvine's Policy Engine and SandScript policy language, Sandvine's networking equipment performs end-to-end policy control functions including traffic classification, and policy decision and enforcement across the data, control and business planes.  Sandvine's products provide actionable business insight, the ability to deploy new subscriber services and tools to optimize traffic while enhancing subscriber Internet quality of experience.

Sandvine's network policy control solutions are deployed in more than 200 networks in over 85 countries, serving hundreds of millions of data subscribers worldwide, www.sandvine.com

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this release which are not historical facts constitute forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws ("forward-looking statements") and are made pursuant to the "safe harbour" provisions of such laws. Statements related to potential benefits of, and demand for, Sandvine's products are forward looking statements which are subject to certain assumptions, risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Sandvine to differ materially from the results, performance, achievements or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements.

SOURCE: Sandvine

For further information:

MEDIA CONTACT
Dan Deeth
Sandvine
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INVESTOR CONTACT
Rick Wadsworth
Sandvine
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