Openwave Joins F5 Networks Technology Alliance Program

Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: OPWV), a global software innovator delivering context-aware mediation and messaging solutions, today announced a partnership with F5 Networks. This collaboration is expected to provide intelligent integration of the companies' products and enable dynamic policy control and enforcement with user- and service-level awareness as part of Openwave's traffic mediation solutions for wireless operators worldwide. Through the technology partnership, Openwave® Smart Policy, a context-aware policy management solution, and Openwave® Integra, a traffic and policy management solution, will be integrated with F5® BIG-IP® solutions.

The integrated Openwave/F5 solution makes extensive use of F5's advanced layer 7 functionality including F5 iRules, an event driven scripting language that provides operators unprecedented control to directly manipulate and manage IP traffic. Leveraging F5's highly scalable VIPRION® platform as the policy enforcement point, the solution is designed to provide a cost-effective way for mobile operators to apply dynamic and context-aware policy rules using a rich set of data sources, including existing policy and traffic management systems, enabling operators to more effectively monitor, manage and monetize the mobile internet.

“Data usage is growing tremendously on mobile networks, with the potential for creating network congestion and poor experiences for customers,” said Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst, Ovum. “Even with the increased capacity and efficiency gains expected from LTE and other 4G technologies, operators need to pursue other options for managing traffic on their networks to ensure the best possible experience for customers.”

“F5 is pleased to welcome Openwave into our Technology Alliance Program,” said Calvin Rowland, VP of Application Partner Programs, F5. “We believe that the combination of our BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager and VIPRION systems with Openwave's context-aware Smart Policy and Traffic Mediation solutions will significantly benefit mobile network operators. Our combined solutions will enable operators to rapidly adapt to changing application and business challenges by optimizing data traffic, with the ultimate goal of effectively managing their networks and driving revenue.”

This solution is powered by Openwave® Smart Policy, a context-aware policy management solution that is designed to address the rising tide of mobile broadband services by helping operators better monitor and manage their network utilization at a user, device and application level. The roll-out will also be accompanied by Openwave® Integra, a traffic and policy management solution that supports all of Openwave's Traffic Mediation products and affords operators the flexibility to select the deployment architecture and features that meet their specific needs, while reducing TCO. Both solutions are designed to help operators effectively manage, monitor and monetize mobile traffic from an increasingly diverse set of mobile devices and internet content – all from a single point of control in-network.

“Openwave is pleased to join forces with F5 in bringing to market an integrated set of the industry's leading software and hardware policy management solutions,” said John Giere, senior vice president, products and marketing, Openwave. “With the increasing popularity of smartphones and other mobile-capable devices, the demand for data applications continues to grow exponentially and operators are struggling to keep up with the pace. We believe that dynamic control of the context-aware application delivery solution enabled by Openwave and F5 will help operators provide better user experience and more effectively utilize network resources.”

Openwave Smart Policy
Openwave Smart Policy adds application specific policy dimensions, complimenting overall network policy, to mobile broadband traffic. Through dynamic feedback and greater visibility into the traffic flow, Smart Policy enables creative service plan options. Policies based on factors such as the access network used, the user social group, the volume consumption per service and/or time of day/week and the bandwidth usage level in different areas of the network, allow operators to have better control of the user experience and cost of the service delivery.

Openwave Integra
Openwave Integra can seamlessly update an operator's WAP environment to embrace internet protocols, preserving and maximizing existing investments with new opportunities to develop revenue. Integra is focused on orchestrating and mediating a set of mobile internet services, which are driven by a rich policy rules-engine that allows each transaction processed to be appropriately treated depending on such factors as user profile, device capabilities, content being accessed and network. Integra plug-in services architecture enables all value-added services provided by Openwave to be easily installed and deployed on top of Integra. The operator may also choose to develop or avail of other third party services through this plug-in API.