Bridgewater Systems has announced that during 2010 it surpassed management of more than ten million devices supporting a range of machine-to-machine (M2M) applications.
Bridgewater enables mobile operators to offer a variety of M2M services by securely managing M2M connections on 3G and 4G networks using intelligent broadband controls such as device service control, dynamic policy control and device identity management.
More than ten million devices, on a range of worldwide service provider networks, are supported today by Bridgewater products that: manage secure device access to 3G and 4G networks; model complex device network entitlements such as security requirements, time-of-day, day-of-week restrictions; and meter device usage in real time.
These deployments support numerous M2M applications such as smart meters for utility companies, automotive infotainment services, in-vehicle tracking devices and mobile payment services.
The Bridgewater Policy Controller/PCRF supports dynamic metering and quality of service (QoS) control for devices. An M2M service provider recently selected Policy Controller to meter network resource usage on a per-device basis, as part of their M2M service offering to global operators.
The Bridgewater Service Controller provides device service control, enabling secure device access to mobile data networks.
Policy Controller and Service Controller are anchored by Bridgewater’s Subscriber Data Broker, a common subscriber and device identity management platform that allows operators to model devices and their corresponding network entitlements in logical groups, with the ability to target individual devices with unique security or resource requirements.
“Our 2010 policy momentum validates the tangible business value and flexibility that can be derived from our carrier-grade policy control solution,” said David Sharpley, senior vice president of Bridgewater Systems. “Bridgewater is at the forefront of delivering innovative policy use cases that leverage our extensive policy experience and our unique approach of enabling service, policy, subscriber and device controls that allow service providers to create exciting new services while simultaneously managing network congestion.”
Shira Levine from Infonetics Research added: “
M2M transactions are expected to well outpace human transactions over the next several years, which will drive investment in solutions that can support the high volume micro transactions that are associated with M2M traffic.
Intelligent, real-time policy control solutions that are capable of supporting that transaction volume will become increasingly important, as will subscriber and device identity management capabilities that allow the operator to identify and track the data sent between devices. Those vendors with a proven track record in supporting these requirements today are well positioned to support service providers in capitalising on the M2M market opportunity.”
