How MNOs can Combine PM and Probe Data to Consolidate Platforms, Reduce OPEX and Accelerate Insight Discovery
A leading MNO combined PM and Probe data to consolidate platforms, reduce OPEX and accelerate insight discovery. Read the case here
Meeting the Challenge of Delivering Assurance for Demanding IoT Applications
Deep network visibility and insights help Telecom26 deliver class-leading performance for its IoT services.
Introduction
According to recent research, there are now more than 3.9 billion cellular IoT connections globally, across all core network technologies (that is, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, Massive IoT) — a figure set to rise to 7.2 billion by 2030 . Analyst firm Juniper Research reckons that there will be 6.5 billion by the same date — a modest difference, but the company also thinks there will be growth of 60% between 2025 and then (according to this Ericsson Mobility Report) .
This stellar growth has driven the emergence of a number of specialist IoT connectivity providers, eager to serve new applications and customers and to capitalize on this buoyant market, and to support roaming for IoT services. However, not all IoT connectivity and roaming providers are the same.
And, with an increasingly complex set of applications and use cases, service delivery is becoming harder and harder. That’s because all of these devices generate significant levels of traffic – both signaling (control plane) and data (user plane) – creating a challenge for all IoT service providers. Roaming generates even more cross-border traffic, exacerbating this situation.
In this context, IoT service providers are now seeking to differentiate their offers – and performance, particularly for roaming applications and use cases, has become a critical yardstick by which they can be measured, creating opportunities to achieve this differentiation.
Recognizing this, Telecom26, a leading independent provider of cellular IoT roaming and connectivity services, sought to ensure that it was able to deliver, maintain and even exceed the performance required by its customers, particularly as their applications grew more complex.
The Challenge
Supporting a Complex Land and Sea Network, with Demanding IoT Applications
Telecom26, founded in Switzerland in 2012, has built an extensive global roaming network. It runs its own full mobile core, while using agreements with more than 1100 network partners, in more than 200 countries and territories to support global connectivity. Most of its customers deploy their solutions in multiple countries, capitalizing on the roaming footprint Telecom26 offers.
Seamless connectivity is at the heart of Telecom26’s offer. In addition to the unrivalled global roaming network it supports, Telecom26 also offers multi-IMSI SIMs. These enable users of Telecom26’s SIMs to access additional networks for connectivity, depending on the profile chosen.
Depending on which IMSI is in use, which could change through time, a different network might be selected. This matters to some customers, particularly those deploying in in different regions or continents, as it enables them to have more choice over the networks to which they are connected and to benefit from special rates and packages offered by Telecom26.
Serving a Wide Range of IoT Customers
As well as operating across a global land footprint, Telecom26 is also a maritime operator and a full member of the GSMA. As a result, it serves a wide range of IoT customers, across a diverse set of applications, and from any location – land or sea.
All of this means that Telecom26 has a complex network architecture and operational environment. Its customers depend on the service delivered and maintaining the performance and quality is crucial. In the face of growing competition, Telecom26 sought to create differentiation through service performance.
Solution
Insights to Manage Performance and to Back Stringent SLAs
The key to this is insight into what’s happening to each SIM, what it’s doing, where it is, whether there is service disruption, and so on. While that information can be obtained, it can be difficult to do so at the pace required to support real-time services and to enable proactive service monitoring.
Further, the information needs to be available to the operational team at all times. So, Telecom26 needed a solution that would enable it to easily monitor and visualize its network, the services delivered across it, and the SIMs and devices that are connected to it, wherever they may be located. This would also allow its engineers to accelerate troubleshooting and helping to deliver SLAs to its customers.
Telecom26 selected Polystar to provide a complete network monitoring and analytics solution. There are two elements to this. OSIX provides network monitoring and probe capabilities, while KALIX offers dashboards that display the information collected.
Real-Time Information
The solution is passive and can collect real-time information regarding network signaling and data without disrupting service delivery. This data allows Telecom26 to capture an end-to-end view of service delivery. Unlike a classical mobile operator, which is primarily concerned with just one network, Telecom26 needs to understand what’s happening across the hundreds of networks that to which its SIMs are connected. Polystar enables Telecom26 to obtain this view.
The multi-IMSI approach means that there can be complicated signaling flows, which can make troubleshooting a slow and difficult process. However, with the end-to-end view and the ability to easily interrogate the Polystar platform via the KALIX interfaces, Telecom26 can quickly locate and isolate any problems – and correlate these with specific customer tickets and alarms. Moreover, the real-time visibility and advanced analytics means that Telecom26 can pre-empt problems, resolving them before they impact customers and service delivery.
End-to-End Visualization
With the deployed solution, Telecom26 can, effectively, visualize the entirety of its network from a single point, without having to create such a view by manually correlating different perspectives. The user interfaces offered by KALIX can also be customized, so that engineers and other staff can focus on what matters.
The dashboards are used continuously and help Telecom26 drive KPIs and benchmarks. Uptime, fault resolution, time to repair and more are all key to SLAs. But, an SLA stands or falls on the provider’s ability to deliver. Telecom26 uses the information collected and presented by OSIX and KALIX to ensure that it meets and exceeds targets. The insights also help maintain relationships with its network partners, since the objective information collected can help them to resolve any local issues.
As a result, of these investments, Telecom26 can manage its network and remote SIMs more effectively, delivering a better experience for its IoT customers. Customers benefit from proactive service monitoring and rapid fault resolution, because the solution enables drill-down to perform Root Cause Analysis quickly and efficiently.
Differentiation on Quality for IoT
“Telecom26 has differentiated service offers – business critical, mission critical and more – which it is able to support because of the insights the advanced monitoring and analytics platform provides.”
