Carriers look for intelligence at the edge of the network

摘要

Routers appear to be one of the remaining bright spots in the generally overcast market for wireless equipment vendors. With many carriers putting their 3G plans on ice for now, traditional equipment vendors are struggling with stagnant demand and operator skepticism in terms of 3G deployments. While traditional wireless vendors, such as Ericsson, Nokia and Nortel Networks, have focused more on the radio access technologies for next-generation wireless networks, along with newer handsets, applications and services, the critical missing link in the chain has been the data-networking infrastructure in the wireless core network. Although small in terms of dollar values, the market for wireless routers now seems to be heating up, with a flurry of recent deals announced by the likes of Orange UK, Vodafone Sweden, China Unicom, Cellcom and Tele2 in Sweden. Most of the established vendors, and a bevy of eager startups, such as Megisto, WaterCove, Tahoe and Starent, are vying to supply the infrastructure that will power new wireless data services. Traditional router vendors, such as Cisco and Redback, are also actively working on developing routers that address this space, while Juniper has partnered with Ericsson and jointly developed a wireless router.