Companies providing device and service management solutions for femtocell networks will garner $360million in revenue within the market by 2013, according to a new research brief from ABI Research.
According to ABI, critical functions that need to be supplied by network management and integration vendors include performance management, remote configuration, security provisioning, timing, traffic routing and management, update management, access control and authentication, and accounting. The increasing adoption of industry standards such as TR-069 and IEE1588V.2, as well as innovative use of GPS and TV signals, are likely to simplify the situation significantly.
Vice president and research director Stuart Carlaw observed that, "As the market evolves in terms of RFP activity and trials, it is becoming increasingly clear that real differentiation is swinging more to how the integration and management of the femtocell network is being facilitated."
He goes on to add that, "Although they are rarely emphasized, it is clear that security and timing solutions are growing in importance. The fact that a femtocell is a very exposed network element that can be an entry point for malicious attack and timing in a heavily distributed network is challenging, and could cause catastrophic disruption. It is imperative that carriers and vendors address these issues in conjunction with more traditional management tasks."