Openwave Mobility releases forecast for 2018

Openwave Mobility has recently released its predictions for 2018. The forecasts are based on two major pieces of analysis - the “mobile video index” (MVI) based on live data gathered from over 30 global mobile operators and the “NFV Playbook”, based on NFV trials and deployments with insight from leading industry analysts.

Speaking on the same, John Giere, President & CEO, Openwave Mobility, said, “In 2017, nearly 40 per cent of all mobile video traffic was HD. HD requires 3-4x more bandwidth than standard video and this is stretching some networks to breaking point. In 2018, we forecast HD to reach 50 per cent of mobile video traffic. 2018 is a make or break year for mobile QoE. Forward looking operators have started the fight back to take control of their networks and subscribers.”

Adding further, Matt Halligan, Chief Technology Officer, Openwave Mobility, commented, “Our research in 2017 revealed strengths and weaknesses in mobile operator NFV strategies. On a positive, AT&T’s initiative with Open Source software and clear objectives tied to annual bonuses provided inspiration to a number of other operators. But on the negative, some operators have misaligned the financial and business case for NFV. For example, the majority of an operator’s budget, typically 80-90%, is still Capital Expenditure. This is fundamentally misaligned with the very DNA of a cloud model, which is a pure Operational Expenditure. This is a cultural issue and we anticipate tough conversations between finance and operations groups to continue in 2018. Based on our observations, successful operators appear to spend 70% on VNFs and 30% on NFV infrastructure. We expect that to continue.

The iPhone X created a buzz when it introduced the world to facial recognition. Rather than allowing OTTs such as Google and Apple to “own” subscriber identity and security, mobile operators have been working with industry initiatives such as GSMA Mobile Connect on authentication platforms. Yet, OTT data encryption has impacted this too. Header Enrichment, a security identification method used by operators, does not work with secure traffic. New technologies able to manage encrypted data are turning the tide for operators.
 

“In 2018, a handful of forward-thinking operators will start to use identity and security mechanisms to alleviate the headache of remembering usernames and passwords. Our research conducted in 2017 in the US and Europe found that 76% of subscribers want help from mobile operators to offer them single sign-ins for apps and services – to make life easy,” said Aman Brar, Vice-President, SDM & Global Alliances, Openwave Mobility.

Given these trends, mobile operators require a unified identity profile for each subscriber. This would take into account the subscriber's requirements and ensure they receive the best possible QoE however and wherever they consume media. This puts the operator on the best possible footing for 2018 to monetize their data and sustain this virtuous cycle of mobile video and cloud.

Tags: Openwave Mobility, mobile video index, mvi, NFV Playbook, John Giere ceo Openwave Mobility, Matt Halligan cto, iPhone X, varindia