Juniper Networks and NSN have announced that they are expanding their existing partnership to help develop fast, scalable secure mobile broadband services.
The two vendors have decided to team up to focus on four key challenges facing operators: mobile backhaul, radio access security, mobile site connectivity and carrier-grade Network Address Translation (NAT).
NSN and Juniper Networks’ new next gen mobile backhaul solution is designed specially for operators needing to upgrade and consolidate their backhaul networks to support LTE and LTE-Advanced architecture.
The radio access security solution will mean that traffic can be encrypted and firewalled as it comes into the mobile network over the LTE network, as well as traffic coming in from the 2G/3G radio access network.
Meanwhile a new solution for mobile site connectivity will help operators seeking to upgrade or extend their mobile infrastructure at the controller sites or mobile core, while carrier-grade NAT will help operators plan for IPv6 migration as public IPv4 address run out.
Many of NSN’s current LTE network customers are already using IP solutions developed by NSN and Juniper Networks, but the new solutions are meant to help deal with security issues that arise with the building of IP networks.
As Phil Twist, NSN’s Head of Portfolio Marketing, Network Systems, recently told Mobile Europe, 3GPP is still working on security standards for IT-based security.
“It’s easier to build a network without taking security into account. It’s more complex when you do. The methods we’re putting into place ensure that the PKI downloads to a base station so that a small cell or a new LTE eNode B can start working automatically without you having to visit the site with a software licence and set it up manually [to ensure security],” said Twist.
Twist also hinted that NSN is currently working on an end-to-end solution that can embed security elements into all parts of the network, including the cloud.
“The advent of LTE means that mobile networks have become focused on the transition to IP,” said David Fremaux, vice president of Strategic Alliances, Juniper Networks. “These four solutions build the best platform for mobile broadband operators as they meet the huge demand for speed, connectivity and security at scale.”
Gerhard Staudenherz, head of OEM Products Business Line at NSN, added: “Our end-to-end solutions based on open standards undergo thorough interoperability testing, which translates into cost savings for operators. Moreover, in addition to improving network availability and quality, our Radio Access Security solution is the market-leading 3GPP compliant solution.”