If you were to talk to an average mobile phone user, “4G” LTE access and over-the-top applications would be at the top of the list in terms of what is required from the network operator and handset. We’ve heard for many years now that text messaging is in terminal decline, voice calls are dying a slow death and that an all-IP network has taken over and will continue to dominate. But is that really the case?
While there’s certainly been an overwhelming appetite for LTE and the promise it brings of being part of the “connected world,” fundamentally, all handsets continue to offer call and text capabilities, and because of that, SS7 remains an important signaling service. The death of SS7, which was built in the 1980s as a mass market signaling protocol, was predicted in the early 2000s; its headstone inscribed by industry and media commentators. Even industry analyst Forrester predicted that by 2010, 45% of the voice market would be handled by VoIP technologies. But, due to a number of contributing factors, since the start of the year we’ve seen a revival, and in some areas, large growth.
One major reason for the revival is that the reliability of SS7 has proven to be a major strength compared to that of the all-IP network, which has faced criticism. Quality-of-service should be vital for any operator, and as such, reliability is paramount in achieving a high service level. Due to substandard IP transmission between the signaling transfer points and mobile switching centers, we’ve heard of critical cases in which some areas have been out of communication.
Operators have had to fix the problems posed, and as such, have fallen back on the trusted SS7 to ensure that a high level of service remains. Network service providers are continuing to make the migration to LTE but the complete all-IP network will still be a while in the making. Legacy connectivity for voice and text messaging remains an absolute requirement for connecting media gateways, STPs, switches, databases and other telecom applications between legacy circuit switched architecture and IP networks. Operators are now adding direct SS7 signaling connections via time division multiplexing technology as an alternative carrier to the poor IP transmission. The number of possible SS7 protocol stack combinations is growing, depending on whether it is used for specific mobile or intelligent network services and whether the transport is over IP, ATM or TDM networks. In fact SS7 is becoming so important that instead of being called “legacy” it is now referred to as “traditional.”
The second major reason SS7 lives on and continues to grow is the use of text messaging in marketing and business. It’s clear that text messaging is not as popular among end users as a form of communication like it was 15 years ago. According to estimations from Deloitte, the number of texts sent dropped from 152 billion in 2012 to 145 billion in 2013, while the number of messages sent using OTT applications was thought to have risen from 57 billion in 2012 to 160 billion in 2013. Despite the drop in end-user usage, businesses are now turning back to the future with text message payments. It’s often the simplest technologies that provide the easiest solutions, and it’s become clear that text message payments are underpinning the rise in mobile wallet applications. This trend is even more prevalent in developing markets where end-users have greater access to mobile phones than bank accounts, meaning it’s easier to transfer cash and send payments via text message. Statistics show that mobile payment transactions are set to rise globally from $235.4 billion in 2013 to $563.4 billion in 2016. As a result, there has been a rise in SS7 inquiries for SMSCs.
Another reason text messaging remains popular with businesses is its marketing value. Text message open rates are proven to be much higher than OTT messages or marketing e-mails. Recent reports show that text messages have an open rate of 98%, while in contrast e-mail marketing reports a 22% open rate. Because of this, text messaging remains an important, and potentially lucrative, method of communication for businesses. It’s also a highly convenient method of communication. For example, there’s been a huge increase in applications that use text messages to alert end users of a delivery.
Due to this upturn, legacy nodes and applications are not all dying or being replaced; they are being upgraded with higher-density solutions. The not-so-hidden benefit is that network service providers can realize additional return on investments from legacy equipment while delivering high performance solutions to their users. Providers need to ensure that they have the hardware in place to reap the rewards on offer.
In addition to traditional SS7 TDM cards and protocol stacks, it’s essential for networks to address the need for highly reliable SigTran communications and SS7-SigTran interworking. It’s important to know that the need for high-performance, highly reliable signaling isn’t eradicated when you go to LTE. Diameter, which is the SS7 equivalent for LTE, needs a highly dependable transport mechanism to ensure that it maintains the “five-nines” reliability that mobile networks demand.
Operators need to ensure they are ready to meet the challenges of today’s and yesterday’s networks. The move to the all-IP network in the rise of LTE has not been as smooth as predicted, so it’s become paramount for networks to make sure they have a signaling service in place that they can rely on. SS7 has been written off on numerous occasions over the past 15 years, but with the rise in text message payments and the unpredictability of IP networks, it’s still a highly important signaling protocol. It is inevitable that in the future, most telecommunication infrastructures will be based on IP systems but that is clearly still a way off. Until then, operators need to manage the transition as smoothly as possible and that is why SS7 lives on and continues to be a benchmark for signaling protocols.
Robin Kent is director of European operations at Adax Europe. For many years, Kent held senior positions within established equipment manufacturers, software houses and integrators in the telecom, wide area network and office automation markets. Kent joined Adax in 1994 to establish the Adax business unit in Europe. He has overseen the company’s successful transition from an OEM technology supplier to a customer-focused provider of high-quality, high-performance telecommunications products to network equipment providers and VAS companies throughout EMEA and India.
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