Software and systems behemoth Oracle has announced the acquisition of Tekelec, network signalling, policy control, and subscriber data management vendor for communications networks. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
"As connected devices and applications become ubiquitous, intelligent network and service control technologies are required to enable service providers to efficiently deploy all-IP networks, and deliver and monetize innovative communication services," said Bhaskar Gorti, senior vice president and general manager, Oracle Communications. "The combination of Oracle and Tekelec will provide service providers with the most complete solution to manage their businesses across customer engagement, business and network operations, service delivery and end user applications."
It’s clear what’s going on here. There’s money to be made helping telecoms firms modernise their IT infrastructure in order to be in a position to launch new products and make more money from existing customers. Competition is stiff and margins are under pressure.
As Ovum’s Dana Cooperson, principle analyst, puts it, the race is on between IT-centric and telecom-centric vendors: "Both are trying to help communications service provider (CSP) customers better manage and monetise their networks and the data they generate," he said.
"This acquisition further extends Oracle’s move into the heart of telecom networks," Cooperson added. "Tekelec will extend Oracle Communication’s network control capabilities, which it also bolstered with its February announcement to acquire Acme Packet. Tekelec also focuses on extending its service control solutions, adding policy control and subscriber data management to its list of capabilities. Oracle has in the past partnered to provide these capabilities, but by bringing them in-house it will have more opportunity to shape the roadmap and combine the capabilities in a more tightly-coupled solution."
Oracle said the proliferation of smart devices, mobile applications, and connected services has led to an exponential increase in network signalling and data traffic. Service providers require intelligent network control technologies to address these increased network workloads as well as to deploy and monetise cloud and over-the-top services, according to the firm. It said Tekelec’s technology is already in use in over 100 countries.
Oracle said it will be able to combine the Tekelec technology with some of the smarts from its previous acquisition of networking firm Acme Packet.
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"In an increasingly mobile and social world, customer experience is about optimising network performance and personalising services based on what engages, moves, and inspires people," said Ron de Lange, President and CEO, Tekelec. "Together with Oracle, we expect to accelerate the pace of service innovation by helping service providers transform the way they manage and monetise the explosive growth in signalling and data traffic on their networks."
