Similar to mechanics in the automotive world, test-and-measurement companies are the quiet heroes of wireless technologies.
They take little credit when the networks hum and huff, yet they witness each technology’s creation day and play parts in their burial rites. From handsets to access points and gateways to each piece of infrastructure, test-and-measurement players breath, move and monitor.
And with the dawn of third-generation services, the importance of test is on the rise.
“Testing is going to be a big part of the migration,” said Francis Sideco, product marketing manager of Comarco Inc., one of the prominent players in the test-and-measurement space, referring to the frenzy over next-generation technologies that have become magnets for billions of dollars in investments from North America to Europe to Asia.
The obsession, he notes, is about 3G, as well as 3.5- and fourth-generation networks.
A slew of technologies is breeding with fury, and the competitive and creative prowess of companies are being summoned to come to terms with the challenges they pose to the industry. The new names are endless: Wi-Fi, WiMAX, ultra-wideband, ZigBee, Bluetooth and Z-Wave to name a few. Cable technology is beginning to come into play as well.
Many new technologies are seen as disruptive, and some of them may not endure. But unlike the past when carriers had to worry over only one or two technologies, this is an era of integration, of bringing everyone to the party.
“We see convergence of many technologies,” remarked Keith Cobler, marketing manager of Tektronix, one of the leading companies in the test-and-measurement space. He said the eruption of many technologies poses a peculiar challenge to the industry and companies like his.
Convergence means many platforms coming together in an interoperable way, and that means investing in new forms of test-and-measurement devices to make sure everything works together as it should, said the industry experts.
The focus is on what some players now call the triple play, encompassing voice, data and video services. New devices are emerging, offering new applications, one of which is instant photography. Video is emerging, if in fits and starts. The evolution requires that testing and monitoring are perfected for the consumer experience, so carriers can derive returns on their investments.
Of the three, voice may become the Santa Claus of services, as carriers eventually may want to offer it free and rely on data and video as the real revenue drivers, explained Amir Ghanouni, business director for the Americas at Aeroflex Inc., another player in the arena.
All the major carriers are working with the test-and-measurement players to make their networks ready for the complex tasks ahead. For instance, NetTest Inc. said it has worked with Cingular Wireless L.L.C., Vodafone Group plc and Hutchison 3G in deploying 3G monitoring services.
“For test companies to be successful, the test equipment must have the architecture to maintain the integrity of the networks,” said Sideco.
One development that demonstrates the significance of these test companies is the onset of carrier consolidation. Cingular and AT&T Wireless Services Inc. came together to trump Verizon Wireless as the biggest carrier in the United States, but it also threw up its own challenge for test-and-measurement companies.
For an intra-technology consolidation, it will require a shift in business model, explains Karl Erik Traberg, director of product marketing and systems at NetTest, one of the fast-growing players in the test-and-measurement market. Things like monitoring systems and operations support systems, which were purchased by individual departments, will now fall under the responsibility of those in charge of integrating the platforms.
But it gets more complicated when the consolidation involves companies with disparate technologies like the proposed Sprint-Nextel Communications merger.
“Vendors need more flexible platforms,” commented Traberg, and that explains why some players have established the OSS-J, a standards organization made up of vendors and operators to ensure easy integration across systems.
“IP is the enabler,” said Cobler, adding it is supposed to simplify matters. Yet things are increasingly more complex, he said. He noted that carriers are witnessing a shift of intelligence from the core network to the access part of the infrastructure.
“It’s a reflection of the end user as a driving force, insisting on value-added services,” he said, which makes the work of test-and-measurement companies all encompassing, covering the services from end to end. Traberg confirmed the trend, saying carriers are now more customer-service oriented.
Tektronix acquired INET Technologies last year with a view to covering the wide gamut of tasks from diagnostics to management of the networks, according to Cobler.
Traberg said tools such as test-and-protocol analyzers, handheld instruments and centralized network monitoring systems become increasingly vital in fulfilling the obligations posed by new and complex networks and technologies. He identified the four major segments of the test-and-measurement operation as customer management, service fulfillment, service assurance and billing.
All these areas are geared toward satisfying the customer, he explained. The customer management part caters to the customer relationship management task, which entails managing databases, handling complaints and solving problems. As carriers consolidate and the customer base swirls, test-and-measurement companies will intensify their diagnostic activities. Traberg said the tasks for carriers are even more daunting given that they have not reached the deployments of releases 5 and 6 of the W-CDMA protocol as yet.
Service fulfillment refers to setting up service for customers, whether it is enterprise or consumer. Service assurance refers to ensuring smooth sailing of operations from both network and service perspectives. Billing is an important customer contact and must be accurate and easy to understand.
These services are compelling players to develop new solutions, such as gathering key performance indicators to get new information for customers.
Traberg said fixed-to-mobile convergence will also throw its own complexity into an already-complex stew. He cited fixed operators like British Telecom, which supports mobility services. The carrier plans to leverage its Session Initiation Protocol-based signaling and Internet Protocol core to access applications and services for wireless end users.
As the technologies mushroom, so will applications and content, and therefore, the task of test-and-measurement companies.
