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Tatara Systems Launches Wi-Fi Service Delivery Platform
Tatara's solution enables retail providers, network operators, aggregators and application providers to work together to maximize the value of public Wi-Fi services for end users
Acton, Mass. (May 19, 2003) - Tatara Systems today unveiled its Wi-Fi Service Delivery Platform, which will allow service providers to achieve the one critical aspect still missing from public wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) networks: profitability. Tatara's platform enables service providers such as mobile operators, wireline carriers, aggregators, ISPs and cable operators to improve the value and security of public Wi-Fi services offered to end users - while simultaneously improving the economics of their own businesses through roaming, wholesaling or becoming "virtual providers" of Wi-Fi services.
Put simply, the Tatara Wi-Fi Service Delivery Platform enables operators to separate Wi-Fi network ownership from customer ownership without sacrificing control, manageability or advanced service capabilities. This allows retail service providers - providers who manage end user relationships and who may or may not operate any Wi-Fi networks - to extend coverage through roaming partnerships with wholesale network operators - providers who own Wi-Fi networks and may or may not have direct relationships with end users. The Tatara platform accomplishes this separation while delivering unparalleled, secure visibility into both subscribers and critical Wi-Fi service data such as usage and performance information - including data collected while customers are roaming on partners' networks.
"The most critical aspect to achieving profitability with public Wi-Fi is centered on one business issue; enabling scale of economies. Today public Wi-Fi is a collection of immature and isolated access islands. The crucial technical challenge facing the operators is how to make infrastructure investments that allow them to seamlessly expand network availability while lowering total operational costs without sacrificing security, and customer ease of use. Service providers can drive additional Wi-Fi network usage in two key ways: by establishing seamless roaming for their subscribers - which caused the number of cellular subscribers and usage to skyrocket years ago - and by allowing others to resell their network services," says Bob Egan, president of Mobile Competency. "It is critical for service providers to accelerate the path to Wi-Fi profitability by easily supporting roaming, wholesaling and virtual operator agreements - without ever losing control of the customer."
Using Tatara's carrier-class platform, retail service providers can work with an evolving landscape of partners to quickly secure cost-effective and broad Wi-Fi coverage while maintaining ownership of the end customer relationship. The platform:
Maintains real-time presence, state and reachability information for all end users, no matter whose network they are on - even after a VPN connection has been established;
Allows carriers to extend their revenue-generating services and maintain control even when customers roam onto partners' networks; and
Delivers critical features that are missing from today's Wi-Fi experience, such as a consistent user experience across all networks as well as advanced security.
Similarly, Tatara's carrier-class platform allows Wi-Fi network operators to deliver wholesale services to retail providers in an efficient, secure and cost-effective manner. It:
Maintains and distributes location, security, configuration and other network information to roaming partners;
Distributes real-time information to the subscriber's home service provider for authentication, authorization and billing as well as logs usage information locally for inter-operator settlement; and
Manages local content and application information, distributing it to retail partners to ensure that end users have access to local value-added services.
"Tatara enables service providers to cash in on the Wi-Fi revolution by maximizing partnership opportunities, not just by building out networks," said Steve Nicolle, president and CEO of Tatara Systems. "Retail service providers can do this without sacrificing control of their brand or losing the direct relationships they have established with their subscribers, and network operators can allow this to happen without losing the ability to provide location-specific content and services."
Most importantly, end users benefit when service providers deploy the Tatara solution. They get the broadest possible coverage across numerous network providers. They get a simple and consistent experience across multiple network technologies such as Wi-Fi, GPRS and CDMA. And they get piece of mind knowing that their credentials and application content are highly secure - which is a big concern for enterprise CIOs. In addition, they get access to an increasingly broad range of value added applications - while still paying only one bill and contacting only one company for customer care.
The Tatara Wi-Fi Service Delivery Platform product family consists of three components. Two of these components, the Tatara Subscriber Gateway and Tatara Service Manager, support retail service providers. The Subscriber Gateway is a carrier-class platform deployed in a service provider's central facility. It communicates securely with the Service Manager - a small footprint client application optionally deployed on the end customer's Wi-Fi enabled laptop or PDA - to deliver robust authentication, authorization, billing, audit and advanced service capabilities. The third component, the Tatara Partner Gateway, supports wholesale providers. The centrally deployed, carrier-class platform is compatible with virtually any Wi-Fi network hardware and does not require any specific client software to be deployed on the user's terminal.
Both platforms share a 99.999 percent reliable, scalable infrastructure, are fully compliant with all relevant standards and are designed to integrate with existing devices and applications. Both are unique in that they do not require equipment or proprietary software to be installed in a partner's Wi-Fi network or hotspots - allowing, for instance, a retail provider that has deployed the platform to easily roam with network operators who have not and vice versa. Tatara's Wi-Fi Service Delivery Platform is also ideal because it does not require retail providers to deploy their own expensive backhaul networks - which can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars per month or more per hotspot. Instead, the platform securely routes only the necessary control and application information to the retail service provider.
Compared to alternative solutions, Tatara's approach can shorten the payback period for public Wi-Fi networks by more than 18 months. The Tatara Wi-Fi Service Delivery Platform is in trials today and is scheduled for commercial deployment later this year.
About Tatara Systems
Tatara Systems develops service delivery platforms that accelerate the path to profitability for public wireless LAN ("Wi-Fi") service providers. Tatara's Wi-Fi Service Delivery Platform enables both retail and wholesale service providers such as mobile operators, wireline carriers, neutral host network operators, aggregators, ISPs and cable operators to profitably support roaming relationships without sacrificing security, control or advanced capabilities. By providing unparalleled visibility into critical Wi-Fi service data such as usage and performance information - including information collected while customers are on roaming partners' networks - Tatara's patent-pending architecture gives service providers unprecedented control over services, usage, network quality and security using just one centralized platform. The result is more attractive Wi-Fi business models that expand revenue opportunities, deliver shorter payback periods, require less capital and produce higher ROIs. Based in Acton, Mass., Tatara Systems is a privately held company backed by the leading communications investment firms Highland Capital Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners. For more information, visit www.tatarasystems.com.
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