1. technology and computing

sandvine.com/africa
Sandvine in Africa
Table of Contents
Booklet Introduction
For more information on Sandvine’s commitment to African operators, visit sandvine.com/africa.
35+ Networks in 20 African Countries Trust Sandvine to Improve Quality of Experience, Control Costs, and
Drive Service Innovation.......................................................................................................3
Introduction to Sandvine
For more information on Sandvine, visit sandvine.com.
Introduction to Sandvine: The Network Policy Control Leader..........................................................4
Sandvine’s Solutions for Communications Service Providers.............................................................5
2H 2014 Global Internet Phenomena Findings
Learn more about Sandvine’s Global Internet Phenomena Report: sandvine.com/trends/global-internet-phenomena.
Africa, Fixed Networks.........................................................................................................6
Africa, Mobile Networks........................................................................................................7
Success Stories from Africa
For more information on Sandvine’s success in Africa, visit sandvine.com/africa.
African Operators Make the Switch to Sandvine...........................................................................8
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Raises the Bar................................................................................10
What’s Up with WhatsApp and Econet?....................................................................................12
Service Innovation with Third Party Partnerships .......................................................................14
A Million Reasons to Select Vox Telecom...................................................................................16
Service Innovation Opportunities for African Operators
For more information on Sandvine’s successes, visit sandvine.com/success.
Sandvine Powering Bite-Size Mobile Internet Plans......................................................................18
2
35+ Networks in 20 African Countries Trust Sandvine to Improve
Quality of Experience, Control Costs, and Drive Service Innovation
A message from Dave Matthews, Sales Director, EMEA:
Throughout Africa, communications service providers (CSPs) are rapidly building out their networks to enhance services
and extend coverage into new and previously unconnected locations. While engaging in these expansion activities,
CSPs must overcome competitive pressures and malicious misuse of their network, as well as demographic challenges
including dynamic subscriber behaviors, relatively lower disposable income levels, and a high percentage of prepaid
customers.
With a strong local team, and leveraging the knowledge and expertise of our in-region partners, Sandvine has a proven
track record of deploying network policy solutions in Africa. Deployments ranging from small, regional operators
to large, multi-national providers continue to successfully improve subscriber quality of experience (QoE), control
operational costs, protect the network from malicious activity, and drive revenue with service innovation.
With Sandvine, you can simply do more. Launch innovative services such as sponsored data, bundled services, roaming
plans, and bolt-ons with Sandvine’s industry-leading business intelligence solution—all while improving customer QoE.
This package contains insight uncovered through Sandvine’s Global Internet Phenomena Report, with a unique focus on
emerging broadband usage trends across Africa, and examples detailing relevant operator implementations, including
success stories capturing Vox Telecom and Econet Wireless Zimbabwe’s service innovation offerings across their fixed
and mobile networks.
For general inquiries, or to reach an Account Manager, contact [email protected] or visit sandvine.com/africa.
Sandvine in Africa:
A Snapshot of Diversity
Sandvine’s network policy control solutions
are deployed by 35+ operators in 20
countries in Africa on a wide range of
access technologies:
•
•
•
•
DSL: 26
Mobile: 11
Fixed Wireless: 3
Converged: 3
Large multi-national providers and small
African operators alike are using our
platform to achieve a wide range of
benefits:
•
•
•
•
Usage Management: 19
Traffic Management: 35
Business Intelligence: 36
Network Security: 14
sandvine.com/africa
Introduction to Sandvine: The Network Policy Control Leader
Sandvine Creates Intelligent Broadband Networks That Deliver Insightful
Business Intelligence, Increased Revenue, and Reduced Costs
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.
“As a global company, Telefónica’s network insight and business intelligence is key
to understanding how we can better serve our vast subscriber base worldwide.
Working with Sandvine since 2008 has brought us closer to understanding and acting
on the needs of our customers, while improving revenue opportunities and the costeffectiveness of our network.”
- Vicente San Miguel, CTO
A Trusted Global Vendor
With regional support, services delivery, and sales offices, and an extensive network of local partners, Sandvine serves
our diverse customer base of more than 250 fixed, mobile, and converged networks in over 90 countries, serving
hundreds of millions of data subscribers worldwide.
LONDON
Regional Sales
Headquarters
SWINDON
Regional Support
& Services Delivery
WATERLOO
Global Headquarters
SINGAPORE
Regional Sales, Support
& Services Delivery
DUBAI
Regional Sales, Support
& Services Delivery
Sandvine deployment in country
Sandvine’s Solutions for Communications Service Providers
Sandvine is committed to innovation through investment in research and development. Our track record of industryfirsts is a source of pride, our feature breadth is unmatched, and by focusing exclusively on communications service
providers (CSPs) we are able to comprehensively understand and anticipate the challenges network operators face.
As a result, our customers get earlier access to a wider range of tools and more powerful capabilities, letting them
implement countless use cases across a range of business needs. From measuring video quality of experience (QoE), to
deploying new subscriber services using our integrated charging capabilities, to extending your infrastructure lifetime –
we’ve got the solution you’re looking for.
Business Intelligence
The era of big data is upon us and
now, more than ever, you need
accurate, right-time information
about network usage and trends in
order to make informed decisions.
For hundreds of CSPs worldwide,
Sandvine’s business intelligence
products are the source of truth for
this information.
Our business intelligence portfolio
is comprised of the industry’s most
accurate traffic classification
technology, the powerful Network
Demographics reporting product,
and Network Analytics, the only true
analytics product built for CSPs.
Revenue Generation
Cost Reduction
Many of our customers are looking
for ways to grow and diversify
revenue, and to achieve competitive
differentiation, and are turning to
our Usage Management product to
achieve these goals.
Our customers ask us, “How can
we reduce costs without reducing
the experience?” We’ve developed
a number of solutions that let you
achieve business objectives without
compromising subscriber QoE.
More than 100 CSPs worldwide, with
fixed, mobile, and converged access
networks, rely upon Sandvine Usage
Management to power innovative
subscriber services.
Our Traffic Management product,
with our exclusive QualityGuard
technology, extends the lifetime of
your infrastructure and manages
network congestion to preserve QoE.
This success has not gone without
notice: in 2011 we were privileged
to be recognized as powering the
“World’s Best Implementation of
Tiered Data Pricing”*.
Our Network Security product lets
you combat online threats, including
outbound email spam and denial of
service attacks, and comply with URL
filtering regulations.
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Incluye todos tus correos
Por sólo
Incluye todos tus chats
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y chats
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Incluye todos tus redes
sociales
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The Innovation and Market Leader
An unmatched commitment to research and development delivers the industry-first, exclusive and standards-compliant
solutions that let our customers out-maneuver their competition. From being first in the world to utilize peer-to-peer
caching, to inventing stateful traffic redirection, to tracking the rise of video streaming, to supporting standards-based
next-generation service innovation use cases across all access technologies, Sandvine has led the way and will continue
to do so. For a longer list of some of Sandvine’s industry firsts, unique innovations, and notable accomplishments, visit
sandvine.com/innovation.
The market has recognized this commitment to innovation; Sandvine was identified as the global market share leader
in standalone deep packet inspection (DPI) on the strength of being chosen by leading operators worldwide, including:
TECHNOLOGIES
*2011 Broadband Traffic Management (BBTM) Award
5
2H 2014 Global Internet Phenomena Findings
Africa, Fixed Networks
As a market where mobile networks are many subscribers’ primary way of accessing the Internet, an examination of
fixed access networks in Africa reveals some interesting findings.
Unsurprisingly, Real-Time Entertainment is one of the leading source of traffic; accounting for only just over a quarter
of peak downstream traffic which is still a far cry from regions who see streaming audio and video account for the
majority of peak traffic.
Figure 1 - Peak Period Aggregate Traffic Composition – Africa, Fixed Access
Looking at the top applications, HTTP at 22.9% of peak downstream traffic is the clear leader in share, well ahead of
YouTube (12.3%) which is typically the top source of traffic on many networks globally. The reason for video accounting
for a lower share could have to do with fixed networks in the region providing slower speeds than what is seen in parts
of Europe or North America. The slower speed could also play a role in explaining why BitTorrent is the second ranked
application on the aggregate, since downloading and watching content later may prove to offer a superior experience
to the on-demand video options available in the region.
Upstream
Rank
Application
Downstream
Share
Application
Aggregate
Share
Application
Share
1
BitTorrent
28.21% HTTP
22.93% HTTP
21.43%
2
HTTP
16.67% BitTorrent
13.29% BitTorrent
16.84%
3
Facebook
8.33% YouTube
12.29% YouTube
11.22%
4
YouTube
7.77% Facebook
9.44% Facebook
9.18%
5
Skype
4.71% SSL
4.30% SSL
4.39%
6
SSL
4.69% MPEG
4.25% MPEG
3.65%
7
MPEG
1.69% Windows Update
2.82% Skype
2.92%
8
Dropbox
1.49% Flash Video
2.73% Windows Update
2.41%
9
Flash Video
1.17% Skype
2.41% Flash Video
2.36%
10
Windows Update
1.08% iTunes
2.30% iTunes
1.97%
75.80%
76.77%
Table 1 - Top 10 Peak Period Applications - Africa, Fixed Access
6
76.37%
Africa, Mobile Networks
Africa is a region with tremendous potential for growth, but few understand what the traffic composition in the region
is. At Sandvine, we believe that to understand Africa, you must be in Africa, and thanks to now being deployed in
multiple mobile networks in the region, Sandvine is able to publish usage statistics for a second straight year.
Figure 2 - Peak Period Aggregate Traffic Composition – Africa, Mobile Access
In most regions, Real-Time Entertainment is the traffic category that is the most dominant. This is not the case in
Africa however. During peak period, Real-Time Entertainment accounts for only 6.6% of peak downstream traffic,
which crowns Web Browsing as the dominant downstream traffic category, accounting for over 38.6% of traffic.
Communications applications continue to also prove popular in Africa, the mix of VoIP and messaging applications now
being the second largest traffic category in the region.
Upstream
Rank
Application
Downstream
Share
Application
Aggregate
Share
Application
Share
1
BlackBerry
15.26% HTTP
27.22% HTTP
23.80%
2
HTTP
11.81% BlackBerry
12.62% BlackBerry
13.17%
3
WhatsApp
8.98% WhatsApp
6.37% Whats App
6.98%
4
SSL
6.29% BitTorrent
4.88% BitTorrent
4.60%
5
Facebook
4.52% Google Market
4.56% SSL
4.21%
6
BitTorrent
3.59% Opera Mini
3.84% Google Market
3.71%
7
WAP v2
1.80% SSL
3.63% Opera Mini
3.38%
8
Opera Mini
1.78% WAP v2
3.58% Facebook
3.27%
9
Viber
1.32% YouTube
3.47% WAP v2
3.20%
10
Yahoo! Mail
1.23% Facebook
2.92% YouTube
2.87%
56.58%
73.09%
69.19%
Table 2 - Top 10 Peak Period Applications - Africa, Mobile Access
In most regions, YouTube is the application responsible for generating the most mobile bandwidth, but in Africa it
accounts for just 3.5% of traffic. HTTP traffic is the leading source of browsing traffic at 27.2% and WAP browsing
(typically web browsing on a feature phone) is also a contributor at 3.6%. WAP actually saw significant decline year over
year, likely caused by increased adoption of smartphones in the region. Africa is also the only region where Opera Mini,
a web browser focused on data efficiency, is among the top 10 applications.
Learn more about Sandvine’s Global Internet Phenomena Report: sandvine.com/trends/global-internet-phenomena/
7
Success Story: African Operators Make the Switch to Sandvine
Fixed and mobile providers across Africa are switching to Sandvine for market-leading
platform scalability, solution flexibility, deployment versatility and charging accuracy.
For communications service providers (CSPs), working with multiple vendors and multiple access technologies means
that you need standards-based solutions that not only scale, but that increase speed-to-value through simplified
implementation and dedicated support. Selecting a vendor that loosely meets these requirements or has promised
to deliver the functionality in the future means the CSP could be left with post-implementation workarounds that
inflate deployment costs, cause unnecessary headaches or, even worse, that cause critical, customer-impacting service
outages and lost revenue.
Every broadband network is unique, and African CSPs have diverse goals and objectives that serve as the driving forces
in the selection of a network policy control solution. Sandvine’s innovative technology and unique capabilities have
been engineered to address the complex needs of communication service providers. With more than 25 successful
deployments across fixed, mobile, and converged networks in Africa, CSPs cite platform scalability, solution flexibility,
deployment versatility and charging accuracy as key differentiators in their decision to select the Sandvine platform.
Operators benefit from predictable implementation costs, greater service innovation capabilities and more use cases,
while prepaid and postpaid subscribers benefit from accurate billing and improved quality of experience that is
completely transparent to them.
• Sandvine has 100+ successful billing and charging deployments worldwide
• Sandvine is deployed at 35 networks across 21 African nations
• Sandvine has an extensive team deployed throughout Africa
Turning Shared Frustration into Shared Elation
At AfricaCom 2012, in Cape Town, South Africa, Sandvine spoke with the CCO of a Tier-1 3G provider based in
Southern Africa about the implementation challenges he was facing with his current vendor. Citing difficulties in
charging accuracy, narrow use cases, and a vendor-induced service outage as specific sources of frustration, he was
keen to learn about Sandvine’s capabilities in these areas and our differentiated use cases.
After spending some time discussing our traffic classification technology, real-time charging accuracy (thanks to our
direct, real-time communication to an OCS over Gy), and broad service innovation use cases, he enthusiastically
introduced us to the CEO of a fixed broadband provider who was having similar problems with the same vendor.
Sandvine replaced the incumbent at both providers in a matter of months after demonstrating the superiority of
our solutions.
Customer Profile #1: Tier-1 provider with fixed and mobile (3G) access technologies serving 8 million subscribers,
based in Southern Africa
Customer Profile #2: Tier-2 DSL provider based in Southern Africa
Situation: A network policy control solution existed at both CSP locations, but was causing implementation
headaches, billing inaccuracies and critical, service-affecting network outages.
Sandvine Solution: The Sandvine platform and our Usage Management product for real-time, accurate, prepaid and
postpaid charging.
Subscriber Benefits: Improved quality of experience and accurate billing.
Operator Benefits: Accurate billing (no lost revenue or refunds), lower total cost of ownership, predictable
implementation costs and schedules, greater service innovation and more use cases.
Enabling Charging Accuracy through Real-Time Billing Integration Technology
Engineered specifically for communications service provider networks, the Sandvine platform provides solution
flexibility and performance density that scales to enable more use cases with predictable deployment timelines.
Our leading traffic classification and measurement technology combined with the ability to maintain flow state
in asymmetric networks provides the data foundation required for billing and charging accuracy, as well as
comprehensive metrics for reporting and analytics:
• Billing and Charging Accuracy: With a standards-compliant PCRF and interoperability to interface directly, in
real-time, with your OCS via Gy, billing and charging functions trusted to the Sandvine platform don’t suffer
from the latency that causes competing solutions to suffer from revenue leakage
• Performance Density that Scales: Efficient control plane and data plane scalability to support deployments
across fixed, mobile, and converged networks, regardless of the number of subscribers
• Solution Flexibility: A single platform that addresses many use cases including: network security, business
intelligence, service creation and quality-aware congestion management
With Sandvine
Without Sandvine
PTS connects directly
to OCS via Gy,
providing accurate,
real-time metering
and preventing
revenue leakage
PCEF connects
indirectly to OCS,
introducing reporting
delays, metering
inaccuracies, revenue
leakage, and another
point of failure
What our customers are saying...
“Sandvine’s real-time traffic classification and metering is a
key element in delivering the variety of service tiers on Cell
One’s 3G network. Knowing our data subscribers will only be
billed for the data they consume helps us maintain the loyalty
and satisfaction we have with our customers today.”
- Frank Amaral, COO
9
Success Story: Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Raises the Bar
Sandvine’s Usage Management product is powering new pre-paid and post-paid
packages to serve Zimbabwe’s growing demand for mobile data and strengthen
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe’s market leadership
“We are committed to maintaining our leadership position in Zimbabwe by rolling out new services that meet the
growing demand for mobile Internet data across the country.” said Leon de Fleuriot, General Manager: Products and
Services, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe.
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe is using Sandvine’s Usage Management product with plug-and-play capabilities that will
enable them to roll out new revenue-generating services for their pre-paid and post-paid subscribers. Sandvine
was selected based on our ability to fulfill the technical requirements of usage-based charging over 3GPP Diameter
Gy and policy enforcement over 3GPP Diameter Gx, which are critical for rolling out new services such as roaming
notifications, bill shock prevention, family plans, and data bundles.
The African market is especially unique, as most users are connecting to the Internet for the first time through mobile
devices, and using applications like BBM, Facebook, and WhatsApp. However, even though video is currently only 6%
of mobile traffic in Africa1, Africa will be a fast video adopter and forward-thinking operators like Econet Wireless
Zimbabwe are rolling out creative device- and application-based service tiers to drive revenue and increase adoption of
mobile Internet.
“Sandvine’s technical accuracy and scalability gives us confidence that as our network and
subscriber adoption continues to grow, so too will our service offerings.”
- Leon de Fleuriot, General Manager: Products and Services
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe
Customer Profile: Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, the largest subsidiary of the Econet Group, serving 8.5 million
subscribers on its 2G, 3G, and LTE networks.
Opportunity: Roll out new revenue-generating services to address the demand for mobile data and increase
subscriber purchase continuity, with pre-paid and post-paid packages
Sandvine Solution: Together with local partner three6five, Sandvine’s Usage Management product was selected to
provide real-time usage-based charging over Gy and policy enforcement over Gx, powered by the Sandvine Policy
Engine
Subscriber Benefits: Great new services and features, like roaming notifications, bill shock prevention, family
plans, and data bundles
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Benefits: Increased revenue, billing accuracy, and increased subscriber satisfaction
Sandvine 2H 2013 Global Internet Phenomena Report, https://www.sandvine.com/downloads/general/global-internet-phenomena/2013/2h-2013global-internet-phenomena-report.pdf
1
Delivering the Mobile Internet to Zimbabwe
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe’s mission is “To serve Zimbabwe by pioneering, developing and sustaining, reliable,
efficient and high-quality telecommunications of uncompromising world-class standards and ethics.”2
Together with our local partner, three6five, Sandvine’s Usage Management product was chosen ahead of
competitive offerings to power the subscriber services at the core of this mission for a number of reasons:
• Plug-and-Play Capabilities that got Econet up and running
• Usage-based charging over 3GPP Diameter Gy that connects to the billing system in real-time, ensuring billing
accuracy
• Policy enforcement over 3GPP Diameter Gx to take appropriate action
• Ability to support multiple quota wheels per subscriber, along with application and device awareness, features
that are foundations to the rich pre-paid and post-paid services Econet is introducing
To make sure Econet Wireless Zimbabwe got the full benefit of the Usage Management product and was able to
quickly introduce these new subscriber services, three6five and Sandvine’s Professional Services worked to quickly
and fully integrate the solution with the existing billing infrastructure.
2
https://www.econet.co.zw/about-us/mission
11
Success Story: What’s Up with WhatsApp and Econet?
Sandvine powers Econet to extend their market leadership with the introduction of
innovative WhatsApp Bundles
Around the world, more than 100 operators are leveraging the power of the Sandvine platform to drive service
innovation through the introduction of new revenue-generating products and services. From roaming passes to
sponsored data to tiered service plans, Sandvine customers are benefiting from leveraging market-leading business
intelligence to uncover actionable insight and establish differentiation from competitors.
Enabled through direct Online Charging over diameter Gy and PCRF integration via usage over Gx, Econet Wireless
Zimbabwe has introduced revolutionary WhatsApp Bundles that enable their subscribers to share photos, videos, voice
notes, locations, and files on the popular real-time communication application, WhatsApp, as much as they want for a
fixed price per month, week, and even per day.
Introducing New and Innovative Services Based on Actual Subscriber Behaviors
Econet Wireless, a leading operator of 3G and LTE
services in Zimbabwe with over 8.5 million subscribers,
trusts Sandvine Business Intelligence to uncover and
predict trends with subscriber, application, device,
and network resource behaviors. When combined with
Sandvine’s Usage Management product, including direct
Online Charging over Gy, Quota Manager, and PCRF with
a revolutionary drag-and-drop GUI to configure quota
and build service plans, operators have a powerful
combination of service innovation capabilities that
exist nowhere else in the marketplace.
“Sandvine’s leading business intelligence
and service innovation capabilities enable
us to better understand emerging trends
on our network and rapidly introduce new,
innovative services that are highly-valued
by our customers.”
- Leon de Fleuriot, General Manager:
Products and Services
Success Story Highlights
Customer Profile: Econet Wireless Zimbabwe operates
a 3G and LTE network with over 8.5 million subscribers
Opportunity: Create new, market-leading services
based on actual subscriber behaviors and trends
Sandvine Solution: Base Traffic Management, PCRF
integration via usage over Gx and Online Charging (Gy)
Benefit to Subscribers: Cost certainty with their
monthly bill and services that are tailored to their
actual usage patterns and interests
Benefit to Operators: Competitive differentiation,
incremental activations, and increased revenue from
new services
Another First for Econet
While other operators are talking about what to do in the future and wondering what their platforms can support,
Econet is using the Sandvine solution to seize opportunities today. Econet’s WhatsApp Bundles complement their
recently launched Facebook Bundles (also powered by Sandvine) — just another way Econet is continuing to outmaneuver and out-innovate competitors.
Turning Insight into Action with Sandvine
With Sandvine’s Network Analytics and Usage Management products, any operator, regardless of the combination of
access technologies deployed, can gain actionable insight that is uniquely provided by Sandvine to drive an almost
endless combination of service innovation possibilities.
Get Insight
Take Action
Use the Network Analtyics Device Insights Dashboard
to segment subscribers and uncover trends with
application usage unique by device.
Use ServiceDesigner to configure Sandvine’s PCRF
using a drag-and-drop GUI to configure existing quota
thresholds or rapidly build new features or bolt-ons that
your subscribers can purchase.
13
Success Story: Service Innovation with Third Party Partnerships
Vox Telecom’s Wildfire gaming package satisfies subscriber demand
Vox Telecom, a South African communications service provider (CSP) with DSL operations wanted to increase subscriber
revenue and achieve competitive differentiation when faced with the following issues:
• Diverging revenue and cost: Subscription revenue was not growing at the same annual rate that delivered bytes
were increasing
• Changing subscriber preferences: Subscribers were actively looking for services tailored to their needs and
research indicated they were willing to pay for them
• Increased competition: Multiple competitors in the market were offering additional choice to subscribers
Vox Telecom believed that subscribers who were gaming enthusiasts formed a market segment that would respond
positively to a tailored service plan and promotion, as internal research suggested that quality of experience (QoE) was
both understood by and important to the gaming population.
Solution Requirements
After studying the business intelligence gathered from the network to
identify opportunities, the ideal solution described by this customer
consisted of a service promotion that was tailored to the needs of
gamers which included the following features:
• Increased download and upload speeds over standard service plans
• Increased monthly quota over standard service plans
• Prioritization of all gaming ports to ensure that gaming traffic is
completely unshaped and quality will not be interrupted during
periods of congestion
Once the plan was defined, Vox Telecom formed a partnership with
Look & Listen, a leading retailer in South Africa, provided subscribers a
unique code when they purchased Call of Duty. Subscribers could then
login to their self-service portal, enter their code, and their service
plan would automatically be upgraded to a trial of the new gamingfocused service plan.
Vox Telecom Success Story
Customer Profile: African DSL provider,
serving more than 100,000 subscribers
Challenge: Find new and incremental
sources of revenue in the face of
increased local competition and
flattening subscriptions
Opportunity: Offer online gaming
enthusiasts a promotional service plan
tailored to their needs, packaged with
the purchase of a particular video game
through local retailers
Sandvine Solution: Usage Management
product deployed on Sandvine’s network
policy control platform
Subscriber Benefits: Free trial of
gaming-focused service plan with
increased speed, monthly quota, and
protected QoE when gaming
Customer Benefits: Increased revenue
from higher-margin gaming plan
Deploying the Solution
Vox Telecom already had Sandvine’s network policy control platform in place, as part of an existing Usage Management
deployment for standard service creation use cases. Additionally, they were also relying on the Network Analtyics
business intelligence product for insight into subscriber trends and segmentation – it was through examination of
Network Analytics that they decided to pursue a plan that targeted gamers.
To implement the innovative promotional plan, Vox Telecom leveraged the API capabilities that are part of Usage
Management’s Quota Manager featureset. This API enabled Quota Manager to integrate the operator’s B/OSS systems so
that when a promotional code is entered via Vox Telecom’s self-serve portal the subscriber is automatically provisioned
to the gaming-specific service plan.
After the additional quota or 30-day trial was up, subscribers are then notified and presented with the option to
permanently upgrade to the gaming-focused service plan or purchase additional blocks of quota.
“Vox Telecom is eager to make an impression in the
marketplace and in the minds of prospective customers. The
ability to deliver optimal broadband and innovative services
to subscribers, regardless of the access technology, was a key
driver for our selection of Sandvine.”
- Douglas Reed
Executive Head of Strategy and Innovation
Partnerships Open the Door for Service Innovation
Sandvine’s Usage Management use cases aren’t limited to just creating gaming plans – Usage Management contains
powerful features that have been used by customers around the world to create and provision a wide range of
innovative service plans and bolt-on packages.
Some ideas being explored for implementation by Sandvine’s customers include partnerships with:
• Loyalty points providers - Subscribers redeem their travel or grocery loyalty points to gain additional quota or
temporary speed increases to their service plans
• Online retailers – Zero-rated access is provided to an online retailers website, and if the subscriber makes a
purchase they are given unrestricted access for a given time period or quota amount
• Advertising networks – When a subscriber’s monthly quota is reached, they are given the option to view video
advertisements to gain additional quota
15
Success Story: A Million Reasons to Select Vox Telecom
Vox Telecom leverages the power of Sandvine’s Usage Management product to introduce
innovative, third-party promotions to stand out in a crowded market
Vox Telecom, a DSL provider in South Africa, has teamed up with Samsung on a promotion that offers one million
megabytes (MBs) of usage of their Fat Pipe premium ADSL service for every Samsung Smart TV purchased through
participating retailers. Enabled through Sandvine’s Quota Manager, a feature set of Sandvine’s Usage Management
product, Vox Telecom has developed another innovative branded partnership. Leveraging industry-leading capabilities
of Quota Manager such as Turnkey Provisioning, that enable operators to accelerate their speed to market of new
services, Vox Telecom has powerful tools to quickly respond to evolving market trends and launch differentiating
services faster than ever before – without the need for costly or lengthy professional services engagements.
For customers in South Africa within Vox Telecom’s serving area who are considering the purchase of a Smart TV, this
promotion provides an incredible incentive. Not only will their television viewing experience be improved through the
purchase of a Samsung Smart TV, but customers can enjoy an optimized Internet experience by using the MAC address
of their newly purchased Samsung Smart TV to redeem Vox Telecom’s 1 Million Megs promotion through a captive portal
that’s enabled through Sandvine. That’s a Terabyte of premium Fat Pipe ADSL service to stream YouTube videos, watch
movies, connect with social media, email, chat, surf and more from their Samsung Smart TV or other devices as much
as they want, for the next 12-months.
Success Story Highlights
Customer Profile: Vox Telecom provides ADSL services to more than 100,000 customers in South Africa
Opportunity: Incent incremental ADSL activations by providing a premium Internet experience while enhancing
the television viewing experience of Vox Telecom customers through an innovative promotion in partnership with
Samsung
Sandvine Solution: Sandvine Quota Manager, a feature set of Sandvine’s Usage Management product
Benefit to Subscribers: Increased value and incentive to purchase a Samsung Smart TV, a better viewing
experience, and a better Internet experience
Benefit to Vox Telecom: Increased brand recognition through alignment of Vox Telecom brand with large consumer
goods brand (Samsung), increased incremental activations, increased subscriber satisfaction
“It was very important for
us to supply a data service
solution that would enhance the
consumer’s viewing experience
and we, together with Samsung,
believe that our Fat Pipe ADSL
product was the perfect match.”
- Gary Sweidan, Executive Head of
Products and Marketing1
Vox Telecom, (2014). Million Megs of Data Giveaway. [online] Available at: https://www.voxtelecom.co.za/news/million-megs-of-data-giveaway
[Published 12 May. 2014].
1
The Building Blocks of Service Innovation
The flexibility of the Sandvine Policy Engine combined with the power of SandScript, Sandvine’s freeform policy
language, gives operators the distinct capability to turn any condition into any action while moving at the speed
of the market and satisfying dynamic customer demands. In Vox Telecom’s case, their “Million Megs Fat Pipe ADSL”
promotion follows their wildly successful “Wildfire” promotion where they partnered with a local retailer around
the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops II to provide 40GB of “gamer optimized” ADSL Bandwidth to customers who
redeemed a voucher (fulfilled transparently by Sandvine) included with the purchase of the game:
Sandvine Enables Third-Party Partnerships for Vox Telecom
“Vox Telecom is eager to make an impression
in the marketplace and in the minds of
prospective customers. The ability to deliver
optimal broadband and innovative services
to subscribers, regardless of the access
technology, was a key driver for our selection
of Sandvine.”
- Douglas Reed,
Executive Head of Strategy and Innovation
More information can be found in the Success Story:
Service Innovation with Third-Party Partnerships
Sandvine gives operators the power to combine any subscriber behavior condition such as application, segment
(Consumer/Business), billing cycle (prepaid/postpaid), or device with network conditions such as speed, access
technology, QoS, volume, time, or event-based to create innovative products and services packages that make
the most sense for their subscribers and their market. For more than 100 operators around the world, these
key features of Usage Management are speeding the delivery of new services like top-ups, bolt-ons, sponsored
connectivity, third-party partnerships, and “Bite-Sized” data plans while addressing emerging needs of the
business around Customer Experience Management (CEM), Big Data, service auditing, advertising, and customer
segmentation:
Online Charging: Enables communications service providers (CSPs) to create revenue streams through real-time
application metering and charging and subscriber notification capabilities
Record Generator: Delivers highly-scalable, flexible-format data records (xDRs) that support valuable use cases
including billing, revenue assurance and fraud detection, “Big Data”, CEM, advertising, personalized services,
auditing, and subscriber segmentation initiatives
Policy Enforcement: Provides Quality of Service (QoS)
and application-level control for revenue assurance
and differentiated speed-based, QoS-based, or
application-based plans
Quota Manager: Delivers the capability of introducing
any combination of time-of-day, device, or usagebased services
Additionally, operators can use the drag-and-drop GUI
of ServiceDesigner to configure Sandvine’s PCRF –
further speeding service innovation time-to-market
from months to days with the ability to visually construct
Building a Simple iPhone Plan Using Sandvine ServiceDesigner
new features, plans, bolt-ons, and even configure quota
thresholds on new or existing plans with only a few clicks of a mouse.
17
Success Story: Sandvine Powering Bite-Size Mobile Internet Plans
Smart Communications Leverages the Power of Sandvine’s Usage Management Product to
Deliver Innovative Time-of-Day and Application-Based Mobile Internet Plans
In many countries around the world, the ubiquity of WiFi and the higher relative cost of mobile data services means
that the Internet experience for many prepaid mobile subscribers is often confined to the borders of a given WiFi
network. Also, many subscribers aren’t clear on the differences between a GB and a MB of data, so choosing the mobile
data plan that makes the most sense for them can be equally challenging.
With subscribers becoming increasingly mobile and their usage coming in shorter bursts for very specific application
types, customers are looking for bite-sized Internet plans that are more aligned to their needs. To meet the needs of
this emerging segment, mobile operators need to rapidly create new, innovative bite-size mobile Internet plans that
offer time-of-day usage by the minute, hour, or day for highly-valued applications, while offering subscribers the ability
to create personalized application bundles that traditional postpaid and prepaid plans do not provide.
This is precisely why Smart Communications, the leading wireless services provider in the Philippines, selected
Sandvine. Enabled through Sandvine’s Quota Manager, a feature set of Sandvine’s Usage Management product, Smart
has developed a service called “PowerApp” – the world’s first mobile Internet store that gives subscribers the power
to choose the perfect mobile data bundle for them for worry-free Internet access and incredible affordability. Smart’s
growing base of prepaid subscribers is now able to buy their mobile data the same way they buy applications: by
clicking their desired apps directly on their device to create a completely customized mobile data experience.
Innovative Mobile Services for Today’s Innovative Mobile Subscriber
Smart relies on Sandvine’s Quota Manager, a feature set of Sandvine’s Usage Management product, to deliver
PowerApp – the world’s first mobile Internet store that gives subscribers the power to choose the perfect mobile
data bundle for worry-free, unlimited Internet and incredible affordability.
Success Story Highlights
Customer Profile: Smart Communications, Inc.
(Smart) is the Philippines’ leading wireless services
provider with 55.4 million subscribers on its GSM
network. Smart offers 3G, HSPA+, and LTE services,
while its satellite service Smart Link provides
communications to the global maritime industry.
Opportunity: Create ‘bite-size’ mobile Internet
plans: short-term, time-based access to highlyvalued applications
Sandvine Solution: Sandvine Quota Manager, a
feature set of Sandvine’s Usage Management product
Benefit to Subscribers: Cost certainty, mobile data
access that’s aligned with how customers desire to
pay for their mobile data experience, and increased
mobility – the customer does not need to stay within
a WiFi zone to stay connected
Benefit to Operators: Competitive differentiation,
incremental activations, and increased revenue from
new services
A First for the Philippines
While other operators are talking about what to do in the future and wondering what their platforms can support,
Smart is using the Sandvine solution to seize opportunities today. Smart’s PowerApp provides unlimited, short-term
access to highly valued applications that their subscribers choose at usage intervals that make the most sense for
them - so their customers can stay connected outside the boundaries of WiFi networks.
Not Smart
Smart!
Usage confined to a WiFi network without
Sandvine-Powered Smart PowerApp Installed
Maximum Mobility with the
Sandvine-Powered Smart PowerApp Installed
Why the World’s Leading CSPs Choose Sandvine Usage Management
Sandvine’s Usage Management product is powering service innovation for more than 100 operators worldwide, with
solutions that include application-based tiers, time-of-day and shared usage plans, data bundles, and bill-shock
prevention. Using the drag-and-drop GUI of ServiceDesigner to configure Sandvine’s PCRF, CSPs can respond more
dynamically to emerging mobile trends, creating new services in a matter of minutes with a few clicks of a mouse while
speeding time-to-market of launching new services from months to days.
Six Benefits of Sandvine-Driven Service Innovation
1. Accuracy: Real-time traffic classification and
metering of network applications for accurate
billing and prevention of revenue leakage
2. Standards: Best-in-class implementation of
3GPP Policy and Charging Control (PCC) standards
(including real-time support for online charging use
cases) in a best-of-breed product
3. Turnkey Provisioning: Standard interfaces
simplify provisioning and integration with existing
B/OSS elements
4. Plug-and-Play: Rapid, GUI-based (using
ServiceDesigner) definition and deployment of
innovative service plans, and individual and shared
bundles
5. Interoperability: Proven to work with a wide
range of solution partners in LTE, 3G, mobile,
cable, DSL, and converged networks
Drag-and-Drop Service Innovation with
Sandvine’s ServiceDesigner
6. Scalability: Able to meet the needs of the
smallest and largest networks
19
Headquarters
Sandvine Incorporated ULC
Waterloo, Ontario Canada
Phone: +1 519 880 2600
Email: [email protected]
European Offices
Sandvine Limited
Swindon, UK
Phone: +44 (0) 1256 698021
Email: [email protected]
Copyright ©2014 Sandvine
Incorporated ULC. Sandvine and
the Sandvine logo are registered
trademarks of Sandvine Incorporated
ULC. All rights reserved.
www.sandvine.com
To learn more about the latest Internet trends: www.internetphenomena.com
Revision: 2014-11-18