Acme Packet Extends SBC Platform with Diameter Signaling Control

| Feb 14, 2011 | IP Services Infrastructure | Analyst: Joe McGarvey

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Event Summary

February 14, 2011 – Acme Packet introduced the Net-Net Policy Director, a new product that the company is calling a policy exchange controller (PEC). The Policy Director is designed to address security, interoperability, routing and scaling challenges in next-generation all-IP networks related to exchanges of Diameter-based control traffic between components in an operator’s network and between home and visited networks. The product is currently in customer trials.

Quick Take

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Positive on Acme Packet’s introduction of the Net-Net Policy Director, as the new product provides Acme Packet with the opportunity to leverage its existing market-leading SBCs to address an emerging and related carrier infrastructure issue. The new product, which Acme Packet is calling a policy exchange controller (PEC), is designed to address the growing complexity and scale of Diameter signaling within and across all-IP networks, especially IMS-based and LTE mobile networks. The Net-Net Policy Director gives Acme Packet the advantage of going after a new market opportunity by extending the functionality of an existing product that has been deployed in more than 1,100 operator networks. The highly anticipated product introduction is slightly flawed in that Acme Packet is not the first to introduce a device designed for Diameter signaling control and the company has yet to unveil a commercial customer.

• Vendor Importance: High to Acme Packet, as the company is pursuing a nascent market that could eventually represent revenue opportunities that could approach the still-growing SBC market. As the SBC market leader, Acme Packet is in a strong position to leverage its SIP expertise and market status to gain an early foothold in what the company is calling the policy exchange controller market. The Policy Director introduction is also an important step in Acme Packet’s stated strategy to expand the breadth of functionality it now offers through its session border control and security products significantly. A failure to establish a significant presence in the burgeoning market could represent a setback in Acme Packet’s overall strategic plans.

• Market Impact: High on the Diameter signaling control market, as Acme Packet, which is the undisputed market leader in the SBC space and the current darling of Wall Street, carries a disproportionately high amount of influence in the market compared to its modest size. Though Acme Packet is at least third to the market with a Diameter-based product, with Tekelec and Traffix Systems already offering deployments of their respective products, the company’s official debut in the new market will attract attention from the media, Wall Street and mobile operators. Though competitors will now need to defend their products against Acme Packet’s Policy Director, they will also benefit from the industry attention Acme Packet’s arrival in the market will generate.

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