Carriers have long provided vital connectivity to their subscribers and have maintained
a trusted relationship with them. However, recent technological "revolutions," as
represented by the Web 2.0 phenomenon, have meant that web portals are posing a
threat to carriers' customer bases. The collaborative content that these next generation
service providers offer may prove irresistible.
The proliferation of next generation telecom networks and the internet have empowered
the individual, regardless of location, to access a vast array of information and
premium entertainment services. Today's consumer has come to expect instant, unimpeded
access to this content.
However, today's consumers are faced with maintaining separate relationships with
connectivity-rich, content-poor carriers and content-rich, connectivity-constrained
web-players. Here is where the opportunity lies; when carriers can leverage the
vast subscriber data assets at their disposal, they can provide a host of value-added
services to consumers, not the least of which are secure identity management services.
This, coupled with offering content providers value-added access to subscribers,
could open up a new service paradigm for carriers to grow their businesses.
An entirely new market has emerged where third party providers seek to sell premium
content, such as mobile TV and Video on Demand services, to authorized mobile subscribers.
While this new market creates new business models, it also presents a challenge
to content providers and carriers, who must derive a partnership and employ a technology
that enables them to maximize this opportunity. Deployment of this authentication
innovation must be at the network edge, where new services can flourish without
affecting the integrity of core networks.
Ulticom's nSignia ePASS answers this challenge by providing a 3rd Generation Partnership
Project (3GPP) "bootstrapping" or identity management server that offers carriers
an opportunity to provide highly secure, end user-authenticated access to premium
applications and services while maintaining the user's identity and privacy. Carriers
who deploy nSignia ePASS in their networks can establish intelligent links to application
and content providers, and open up the promise of the web to their subscribers via
broadcast, multicast, and unicast-based web services.
Ulticom designed nSignia ePASS as an edge device to fit seamlessly into carrier
networks to quickly open up new profitable lines of consumer and corporate business.
Designed around the 3GPP Generic Bootstrapping Architecture (GBA), nSignia ePASS
is a large scale, carrier-grade, open standards-based solution platform with hardened
interfaces, encryption, and multiple firewalls to provide high-level security.
The 3GPP GBA opens the full range of web-based services and content to mobile consumers
by replacing multiple sign-ons with automatic, secure authentication through a mobile
device's SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card. The user will be able to initiate
and complete the transaction without having to enter a user name, password or payment
information. Instead, nSignia ePASS automatically authenticates the device to the
network, which recognizes it each time the user accesses the service.
As a network element in carrier networks, nSignia ePASS makes accessing the full
universe of private and corporate web services as easy as turning on a cell phone
or PDA. It replaces manually typed user names and passwords with automatic authentication
through information on the mobile devices' SIM cards.
nSignia ePASS offers a variety of key benefits to the telecommunications ecosystem:
- Consumers can simplify their access methods to consolidated value added services with the assurance that their identity is being managed by a trusted partner - their carrier.
- Enterprises can use bootstrapping technology hosted by wireless carriers to offer easy, yet secure mobile access to corporate resources.
- Carriers can leverage the value of their network, along with strong subscriber relationships, to provide trusted identity management services to content providers in a way that protects subscriber privacy.
- Content Providers can increase their served market by partnering with carriers to offer wide varieties of profitable, value-added services and content to the carrier subscriber base.
- Network Equipment Providers can expand their product portfolio by offering an edge solution that fits seamlessly into carrier networks to quickly open up new profitable lines of business.
- Handset Manufacturers can further elevate the device revolution by offering a secure interface to a vast network of content and services.
For more information, please contact sales@ulticom.com.