2014/02/06 Exploding mobile device traffic, acquisitions heat up Diameter signaling controller market

Campbell, CALIFORNIA, January 30, 2014—Market research firm Infonetics Research released excerpts from its just-published market size and forecast report on Diameter signaling controllers, which handle and secure the exponentially increasing Diameter signaling traffic on service provider networks triggered by mobile devices and machines.

Expected strong growth in the Diameter signaling controller (DSC) market is attracting vendors from varying backgrounds, from telecom hardware and software vendors such as Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, and Oracle, to traditional signaling vendors (Ulticom), pure play vendors (Diametriq), IP experts (F5), and vendors in the policy and control space (Amdocs, Comptel, Openet).

“The Diameter signaling control market is still relatively new, but in 2013 it matured through the success of a broader range of vendors and strong growth worldwide, with revenue more than doubling over the previous year,” notes Diane Myers, principal analyst for VoIP, UC, and IMS at Infonetics Research.

Myers adds: “The vendor landscape continues to shift with acquisitions and new entrants. Oracle, via its acquisition of Tekelec and Acme Packet, is the Diameter signaling control market leader in 2013, followed very closely by F5 and Huawei. Ericsson and Huawei have made significant pushes into the Diameter space and should be viewed as formidable threats. As exploding traffic from mobile devices, smartphones, and machines further vexes mobile operators, we expect competition in the Diameter signaling controller market to intensify in 2014.”

• Infonetics forecasts global Diameter signaling controller revenue to grow at a 54% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2018
• The #1 use case for Diameter signaling control remains centralized routing, but roaming via Diameter Edge Agent (DEA) is close behind, and policy and charging rules function (PCRF) binding continues to see significant activity
• Key areas of diameter signaling controller product development in 2014 include virtualization and a more widespread integration of interworking function (IWF)
• North America controlled nearly 80% of the Diameter signaling controller market back in 2011, but Asia Pacific quickly caught up in 2012 and EMEA came close to parity by 2013 due to the significant ramping of LTE in these regions; Latin America is starting to show more activity as LTE expands there