A new product suite from Alcatel-Lucent enables service providers open their networks to application developers and content providers who can speedily create new customer applications and services.
The iPhone app store has introduced a new mechanism for adding applications, and in so doing, it has also accustomed consumers to the lightning-fast introduction of enormous volumes of new applications.
It’s a model that other service providers have to consider adopting. A-L’s Application Exposure Suite, Open API Service, and supporting services aim to enable service providers to adopt an approach similar to Apple’s app store, as A-L says, “combining the trusted capabilities of service providers with the speed and innovation of the Web to provide both consumers and business users with richer experiences.”
The A-L suite provides access to key service information, such as the location of subscribers, service preferences, billing relationships and more, to make it easy for developers to create ‘mash up’ applications that combine the functionality of service provider networks with Web-based capabilities, the company said.
The Application Exposure Suite allows service providers to make their assets in their networks available – via a secure “exposure layer” – to application and content providers, giving them a means functionalities, such as billing, location or connection optimization, to add to their applications, Alcatel Lucent explained.
A-L’s new products and services complement its High Leverage Network architecture.