With the latest traffic analysis and policy control software from Enea, the operator will more effectively manage service assurance and user experience for the ever-increasing volumes of data traffic.

“The main focus for us is to run the best network and continue enhancing the quality of service for our users,” says Rolly Ehouman, CTO at Orange Cote D’Ivorie. “To succeed, we need data from powerful analytics tools. Enea is a proven supplier with whom we are happy to build a long-term relationship for advanced and innovative software that matches our needs.”

Orange Cote D’Ivorie, with over 15 million customers, is a leader in landline, mobile and internet sectors.

Moving to a cloud-native architecture will secure future expansions and provide a more agile, secure approach to service delivery.

“The flexibility of Enea’s policy, classification, and analytics solution will enable Orange Cote D’Ivorie to continue delivering great quality of service in the face of an exponentially increasing demand for internet access,” says Roland Steiner, senior vice president, Network Performance and Applications, at Enea. “Using a cloud-native, scalable solution will help gain valuable insights for planning and performance management, cost effectively.”

The Enea Dual-Mode Policy Manager provides consistency and cost benefits through a single, common subscriber profile, and can scale to handle real-time policy decisions for fixed access including fiber to home.

Its virtualized deep packet inspection engine enables operators to enhance service assurance and secure data access.

The very technology that connects us may also be our weakest link. That’s the message from Enea’s recent handbook, which outlines how mobile signaling – the silent operator behind our calls, messages, and data transfers – might also be the Achille’s heel of our digital age.  

 Why is this so crucial? Because a breach in mobile signaling doesn’t just mean a dropped call or a delayed text.

It can lead to unauthorized access to user data, intercepted communications, and even state-sponsored espionage. The cyber warfare tactics employed in the war in Ukraine are a chilling testament to this, where the digital environment has overlapped dangerously with the physical battlefield. 

 These risks are explored in detail in a new handbook authored by Rowland Corr, VP & Head of Government Relations at Enea.

The handbook is titled “Why Signaling Security Will Make or Break Mobile Network Resilience: A Handbook for Mobile Network Regulators and Operators” and was written to give regulators and operators an understanding of the fundamentals of signaling and the associated vulnerabilities.

Here are some of the topics covered: 

The First Real Cyberwar

As the report starkly puts it, “We are now witnessing the first real cyberwar.” The Russian effort to exploit vulnerabilities in network signaling systems has been a significant but underreported element of the digital onslaught against Ukraine.

This warfare underscores the intricate relationship between mobile telecommunications, signaling, and critical infrastructure. 

What is Mobile Signaling

An overview of the role that signaling plays in the mobile ecosystem and why this has historically been left out of the cybersecurity conversation. 

The Vulnerability of Signaling Systems

Mobile signaling, especially the still ubiquitous Signaling System 7 (SS7) protocol, is riddled with vulnerabilities exploited by state-level threat actors in offensive cyber operations worldwide.

Today, the exploitation of  signaling vulnerabilities involves threats to confidentiality and integrity as well as to availability of data and services across all mobile generations.

The comparatively low maturity of recognition, reporting requirements and resourcing addressing signaling undermines cyber resilience and poses a unique threat to national security as victims are uniquely powerless to protect themselves.  

The Need for a High Benchmark

Basic or so-called baseline security measures are not enough. The key to enhancing signaling security lies in establishing a high, common benchmark for protection.

This involves moving beyond static configurations and adopting a proactive, adaptive, and aligned approach to cyber defense.  

Operator Blindspots:

Many operators today lack fit for purpose signaling protection to detect significant incidents. Without mature incident reporting frameworks and the capabilities to support them and make threats visible in the first place, telecoms threat sharing will remain nascent and ultimately  ineffective while hostile targeting campaigns and data leakage go undiscovered 

A Call for a Mission-Oriented Approach

The handbook emphasizes the need for a mission-oriented approach that brings together private, public, and tertiary sectors.

This approach should be aligned with the interests of civil society to transform our approach to communication and connectivity.  

 In a world underscored by mobile connectivity, it’s essential that the very networks that uphold this connectivity are fortified against threats.

Enea’s handbook is a clarion call to operators, regulators, and the industry at large, emphasizing that when it comes to mobile network resilience, signaling security is not just a technical concern—it’s a matter of global safety. 

Dive into the full handbook to understand the intricacies of mobile signaling and the urgent actions needed to safeguard our interconnected world. 

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The Digital DECwriter III terminal was discovered in a storage room at the Enea headquarters and is a reminder of the company’s pioneering spirit.

“Sweden is one of the world’s leading digital innovation hubs and it is great that this historic e-mail terminal is now put on display by the museum,” says Stephanie Huf, Chief Marketing Officer at Enea. “Today our business is about making the world’s communications safer and more efficient. Our software optimizes huge volumes traffic while improving the user-experience, and our firewalls secure many mobile networks and protect billions of messages.”

An entire generation has grown up taking e-mail, the internet and mobile communications for granted, and essential services such as banking, education, and shopping all depend on these technologies.

The historic e-mail symbolized the dawn of this new era but is a stark contrast to today’s rich multimedia emoji-laden messages. It was very straight forward and curiously referred to a computer called Yoorp, whose true identity still remains a mystery:

Subject: Hello

You are now hooked to the mcvax. This is just a test. Reply, we will be calling you again soon! 

Ignore any references to a machine called “yoorp”, it is just a test. Mail should go to mcvax!….”.

Regards, Jim McKie. (mcvax!jim).

At the museum, the e-mail terminal will be part of the ‘Subject: Hello’ exhibition that captures the development of the Swedish telecom industry and takes its name from the very same e-mail.

It was sent from the Mathematic Center in Amsterdam to Enea employee Björn Eriksen on April 7, 1983, at 2:02:08 p.m. and a replica has been produced for the exhibit.

“The terminal is a significant object and symbolizes the shift to new ways of communicating through the computer with first e-mail, and later through a publicly accessible web,” says Peter Du Rietz, Curator at the Museum of Science and Technology. “We do not have many significant objects from this shift and we are grateful that Enea now chooses to donate this object to our collections.”

An official handover ceremony will take place at the museum on October 19 (see details below). The event is open to the public and will celebrate the history of telecommunication in Sweden as well as the contribution of local industry players, including the significant role Enea has played in this evolution.

Details of Handover Ceremony

Venue:   Museum of Science and Technology, Museivägen 7, Stockholm

Date:     October 19

Time:     6.00 p.m.

More about Enea

Enea is a world-leading specialist in software for telecom and cybersecurity. The company’s cloud-native solutions connect, optimize, and secure services for mobile and fixed subscribers, enterprises, and the Internet of Things.

More than 100 communication service providers and 4.5 billion people rely on Enea technologies every day.

Enea has strengthened its product portfolio and global market position by integrating a number of acquisitions, including Qosmos, Openwave Mobility, Aptilo Networks, and AdaptiveMobile Security.

Enea is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.

Rowland Corr, Vice President of Government Relations at Enea, was one of several industry experts invited to share his expertise at the Committee of Inquiry, which consists of 38 Members of Parliament.

The PEGA Committee was formed in March 2022 by the European Parliament to investigate spyware, particularly in relation to the alleged targeting of journalists, lawyers, law enforcement officials, diplomats, and other people of influence in the EU.

Corr appeared at the Committee’s most recent hearing on March 16, 2023, and prefaced his contribution by urging the Committee to broaden its scope, highlighting the fact that other forms of spying beyond the use of spyware were steadily occurring over mobile networks that were relevant to the Committee’s concerns.

“Spyware is the tip of the iceberg in mobile telecom surveillance,” Corr commented. “Vulnerabilities in mobile networks, and governance gaps are exploited by threat actors to execute unauthorized intrusions with impunity.”

Corr also made the point that capability must be prioritized over mere compliance to combat the threat effectively, as the signaling security landscape continues to evolve over time. He continued, “This area of risk is not sufficiently understood, reported or integrated at national levels. Critical infrastructure protection, cybersecurity, and national security all intersect when it comes to mobile network security. And the key to improving resilience may lie in emphasizing capability over compliance on the part of stakeholders – be they operators, regulators, or cyber agencies.”

Recently, the potential for access to EU-based infrastructure to be used by third-country actors as a tool for surveillance, separate from the use of spyware, has increased significantly. Corr continued to impress upon the Committee the importance of looking at surveillance threats beyond the basic use of spyware tools like Pegasus and, in parallel, focus on infrastructure as a whole:

“A key area of vulnerability is mobile telecoms signaling and the abuse of access to signaling infrastructure. To put this vulnerability into context as an area of surveillance risk – the use of mobile spyware weaponizes the personal device of the victim, and the use of mobile signaling weaponizes the network serving them. Put simply, in the hands of attackers, the mobile service itself becomes the cyber weapon.”

As 5G is adopted worldwide, there is a pressing need for secure interworking between protocols, network elements (across generations) and a need for secure interconnections nationally and internationally. This represents an increasingly complex and critical area within electronic communications.

Enea has received industry recognition as a leader and innovator in mobile telecoms security for protective solutions, research into vulnerabilities, and contribution to the development of industry guidelines. As outlined by the Committee Chair, a core part of Enea’s business is securing networks and protecting subscribers worldwide against unauthorized intrusions.

The PEGA Committee was tasked with gathering information on the extent to which Member States or third countries are using intrusive surveillance to the extent that it violates the rights and freedoms enshrined in the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. The Inquiry has a 12-month mandate, which parliament can extend if required. A report based on the findings of the Inquiry is set to be published later this year.

The introduction of Enea’s Telecom product portfolio will further enhance mobile operators’ ability to unlock the potential of 5G and provide more choice in pre-validated solutions to ensure a faster time to deployment for solutions.

Enea’s telecom products include the Stratum Network Data layer, 5G Service Engine, Subscription Manager and Policy Manager, providing a range of subscriber data management, authorization and traffic management capabilities for both 4G & 5G mobile environments.

Azure Operator Nexus Ready programme provides an API layer to automate and manage network functions. The Enea network functions will integrate and validate at both the API interoperability level and the automated deployment level to provide telecom operators the option to build, host and operate these containerized functions as part of a network in a cloud or hybrid cloud environment.

As pre-validated services, the Enea network functions will be available in the Azure Marketplace.

“The integration with Microsoft Azure Operator Nexus demonstrates Enea’s commitment to multi-vendor telecom architecture, software-based solution and open interoperability.”, said Osvaldo Aldao, Vice President of Product Management at Enea. Further adding, “The addition of our Stratum network data layer as an open 5G UDR & UDSF will provide the data management foundation to drive a fully cloud native architecture with  Azure Operator Nexus”.

“Enea joining the Microsoft Azure Operator Nexus Ready  Programme enables both network function expertise and deployment experience from their extensive portfolio”, said Ross Ortega,  Vice President – Azure for Operators, “Enea’s pre-validated functions in the Azure Marketplace will be an essential building block for operator networks”.

5G technology, when combined with edge computing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain, enables network customization like never before, providing a unique opportunity to build and control the network experience end-to-end.

Unlike 4G, the speed, latency abilities and application potential of 5G carves out a purpose far beyond consumer devices. According to a GSMA report, 5G connections will surpass 1 billion in 2022 and 2 billion by 2025, and 5G will account for over a fifth of total mobile connections.

Beyond mobile phones, 5G will play a major role in key industries, like healthcare, manufacturing, defense and more, keeping critical systems and applications running.

As these networks continue to gain traction in enterprise operations, the need for heightened security increases.

Private networks, locally hosted or via the cloud, offer a path to data ownership, high levels of security, application customization, and differentiated performance.

Casa Systems, Enea and IBM have built a complete Private 5G solution that combines best in class technology with agility for service providers to deploy, or enterprises to build, Private 5G solutions that are more scalable, dynamically adjustable, reliable and secure.

All three organizations are playing a significant role in bringing the Private 5G network to life. Casa Systems’ end-to-end 5G wireless solutions portfolio addresses the coverage and capacity needs for today’s public and private networks, powered by its Axyom Software Framework.

Enea delivers security advancements through end-to-end encrypted communications and subscriber data management without vendor lock-in through its open shift model.

IBM’s Cloud Pak for Network Automation enables network operation automation so CSPs can transform their networks, evolve to zero-touch operations, reduce OPEX and deliver services faster, as well as advance telcos’ zero trust strategy.

Bringing together subscriber data management, with built-in security, interoperability and multi-access 5G, the partnership will deliver ultra-low latency with reduced end-to-end delivery costs and create a path to 5G network deployment with centralized control and edge-based delivery intelligence. The organizations are currently working on a customer Proof of Concept (POC) collaboration in Dallas.

Manufacturing is just one example of an industry where Private 5G networks will play a critical role. Manufacturing is expected to be the largest beneficiary of 5G services, with many manufacturers already planning to build private 5G networks for factory applications.

Technologies like robotics, AI, IoT, 3-D printing, AR, cloud technologies, and more, will be powered by 5G, and this new wave of technology is transforming the concept of manufacturing from mass production to massive customization.

A flexible and programmable environment—based on highspeed, low-latency wireless 5G connections, the use of edge computing and AI— is essential for the new industrial landscape.

Additionally, IBM is working with Casa to build ORAN solutions to address Private 5G use cases enabling service providers and enterprises to build solutions that are much more flexible and resilient to change than they are today.

ORAN provides carriers the ability to use disparate best-in-class components without the worry of vendor lock-in.

Besides cost savings, the openness of the ORAN architecture makes the network increasingly efficient delivering key benefits including flexibility, agility, and scalability of the network.

Radio Intelligent Controller (RIC) enables best-of-breed Open RAN to support interoperability across different hardware (RU, servers) and software (DU/CU) components, as well as advanced ML/AI tools to deliver real-time self-optimized network automation.

O-RAN delivers on the promise of 5G with a software driven, affordable architecture offering gigabit throughputs, O-RAN interoperability, and edge-friendly deployments.

Casa Systems’ O-RAN technology is an extension of its core products, streamlining implementation and management of a fully virtualized solution offering slicing and local breakout which is key to support future use cases.

5G has the potential to support thousands of use cases and applications for consumers and enterprises across industries. Our collaboration, as best-of-breed vendors, will not only help us to harness the potential of 5G, but prepare for the future through hybrid-cloud led technology and business transformation.

Citing figures from the GSMA, the industry organization for mobile network operators, the report highlights growing demand of video, in share of data volume.

The radio access network (RAN) currently accounts for 73 percent of energy costs for the average mobile operator, with video content accounting for up to 70 percent of the data volume.

As network speed and functionality improves, data and energy consumption will increase further, creating a problem for environmentally conscious operators looking to fulfill their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives without compromising user Quality of Experience (QoE).

According to ABI research, mobile data is seeing a compound annual growth rate of 32 percent.

“We see video streaming and gaming as key drivers of this growth,” states Fei Liu, Industry analyst, ABI research. “As such it is essential to consider how these flows can be optimized for delivery both in terms of resources used and user experience.”

Enea’s traffic management solution automatically optimizes video content streaming in real-time so the amount of data being transferred can be reduced without affecting QoE.

According to the research, once deployed, the solution could lead to a 20 percent reduction in the amount of data needed to deliver video at the same perceived quality, resulting in average energy savings of more than ten percent across the network.

Based on the average wholesale price of electricity, this could save a typical operator ten million dollars annually.

How the solution works

The packet gateway in 4G and user plane function in 5G are critical components when analyzing data flow between devices and the internet, such as data metering.

However, these components do not have the necessary capabilities to detect the category of content, so cannot differentiate between video streaming and other forms of traffic flow, such as downloading or updating software applications.

According to the report, the Enea 5G Service Engine can make such distinctions for both 4G and 5G traffic, allowing video streaming flows to be automatically optimized independently of the content provider or end-user.

Crucially, the content is never decrypted, so net neutrality is preserved.

Impact on quality of experience

The report offers a typical scenario where content providers automatically match video streaming to the available bandwidth.

As network access improves, this often results in ultra-high definition (UHD) video content being streamed to mobile devices with small screens.

As the resolution increases, so does the demand on bandwidth and physical resources.

One hour of HD video (1080p) will consume four times more data than one hour of DVD quality (480p) streaming, but with no noticeable difference to an end user on a mobile device.

Enea’s traffic management solution takes advantage of this fact, optimizing the amount of data needed to transfer video to the end user while constantly monitoring QoE.

If a user wishes to access a higher resolution, they can override the settings from their device.

According to the report’s findings, by managing the network so that fewer bytes are transferred to individuals for an experience of the same perceived quality, operators will be able to onboard more users and allow their network resources to go further, creating a path for growth in a video-heavy traffic environment.  

“Operators need to deliver a quality network experience to end-users to be competitive, but they also have to contend with rising costs due to energy prices.” says Osvaldo Aldao, VP and Head of Telecom Product Management, Enea. “These costs can’t be simply passed on to the end-users. The Enea traffic management solution is the answer to maintaining a great user experience and handling high density traffic like Video; this means the data volume is reduced, and this will directly drive down the energy consumption.”

These are some of the key findings from a new Enea survey, conducted independently by the Technology Innovation Council who interviewed mobile operators globally.

Forty-two (42%) of operators are looking to deploy multi-vendor 5G cores, yet, in response to a different question, 1 in 3 (33%) want to stay with their incumbent vendor to manage subscriber data. Some operators are turning to new frameworks for managing their 4G and 5G cores, however others decide strategies on a use case basis.  

Most operators interviewed recognized the benefits of open, multivendor architecture – but revealed that their concerns were no single point of contact and support (36%), interoperability (30%) and a lack of operational tools (19%).

Unsurprisingly cost worries loomed large for many operators taking part in the study. Total Cost of Ownership is the key consideration when it came to selecting 5G subscriber data management (SDM) technology, especially for operators sticking with an incumbent vendor.

And 39% of these mobile operators had experienced rising costs along with vendor lock-ins and inflexibility because of the existing vendor. Yet while 5G gives operators the freedom to use multiple vendors, 83% were concerned about interoperability in multi-vendor architecture.

Interoperability is a key attribute of 5G multivendor architectures, but operators are currently divided on this.  What’s more, when it comes to interoperability, both those opting for multivendor and those staying with incumbent vendors place a higher priority on open standard interfaces than full 3GPP compliance.

The mixed picture with 5G strategies was also reflected in cloud migration timelines which showed another split result. 66% of operators that are migrating to multivendor environments have also begun to move to the cloud.

By comparison, 41% of those using their incumbent vendor have one foot in the cloud – revealing that nearly half of operators with incumbent vendors are not utilizing the benefits of cloud technology. 

Despite the stark contrasts in deployment and cloud strategies, there is a clearer picture about utilizing the edge. More than 90% of operators are leveraging their edge capabilities. 31% are already piloting use cases and 29% are using the edge to reduce latency on 5G control functions, while others are using it to develop mesh architecture and scale up with hybrid clouds.

Stephanie Huf, SVP and CMO of Enea said, “This survey has uncovered that there is cautious pragmatism amongst many operators. For example, many want their technology to interwork to standards, but they see full standards compatibility of lesser importance. Operators are being practical and while many appreciate how multi-vendor architecture can transform networks – they want to ensure that they have the right skillsets in place and have complete control over their networks, subscriber data and total cost of ownership before they take the plunge.”

The report accompanying the survey can be downloaded here.

These are amongst the major trends Enea has highlighted in a new report entitled: 7 Trends That Will Shape the Mobile Industry In 2022.

Each year, Enea surveys a cross-section of mobile industry thought leaders and experts to identify the key trends for the next 12 months.

For 2022, those thought leaders included ABI Research, Analysys Mason and Strategy Analytics.

The trends in 2022 include:

1. State-sponsored cyber-attacks accelerate and evolve: 

2022 will undoubtedly bring an increase in the number and sophistication of nation state cyber-attacks on mobile telecom infrastructure.

As tensions between global power brokers intensifies in hotspots such as Taiwan, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, mobile networks’ value as a target for espionage and disruption will soar.

Furthermore, IT/OT/telco convergence and 5G’s expanded attack surface including 2G, 3G and 4G weaknesses will all provide ripe terrain for achieving geopolitical ends via cyber warfare.

2. Hyperscaler protocols dictate terms to operators: 

Complex encryption protocols, such as Google’s QUIC, based on UDP, were meant to keep subscribers safe and improve web and video performance. And they have.

But they’ve left operators scrambling to maintain the traffic visibility they need to stay in the game.

Expect more trouble ahead as UDP dominates traffic, and newer encryption protocols like eSNI and DoH/DoT become the norm.

3. Video delivery shifts to new edge clouds:

According to analysts, the edge cloud market for mobile operators is set to grow significantly in 2022. Ultra-low latency applications like live multi-angle sports streaming and cloud gaming will be at the forefront of this growth.

While Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) have been bringing content and users closer together for many years, the nature of the edge cloud tilts the game in favor of mobile operators, who have ready-to-go locations across thousands of towns and cities.

4. Sustain the environment AND the bottom line: 

Driven by the disruptive impact of climate change, consumer pressure, and a need to cut costs, “greenwashing” is out.

Impactful earth-friendly strategies are in – but operators need to go beyond the straightforward savings of virtualization. For example, Subscriber Data Management systems with flexible capacity expansion and smart synchronization between servers can deliver TCO reductions of up to 50 percent.

What’s more, RAN congestion management can increase cell site capacity by 15 percent also reducing hardware footprint.

5. Wi-Fi ties the knot with 5G: 

As mobile operators deploy 5G, they’re struggling with in-building penetration that is up to 100x worse than 3G/4G.

This undermines their ability to displace the residential broadband market and support indoor enterprise IoT use cases.

With Wi-Fi 6 tripling the available spectrum of earlier WiFi specifications, 2022 will see operators building their own Wi-Fi 6 capacity in public locations combining Wi-Fi 6 and 5G.

Jan Häglund, CEO of Enea said: “For mobile operators, 2022 will usher in both opportunities and threats that deeply impact their bottom line. In the past, network providers had to grapple with encroaching hyperscalers, now a plethora of attack vectors make security in particular a critical consideration. We trust that the trends highlighted in this year’s report provide a roadmap for mobile operators to navigate our post-pandemic world.”

The Full Report Can be Found HERE.