Openet extends policy management with Forkstream acquisition

B/OSS specialist Openet has announced the acquisition of Irish policy management firm Forkstream, for an undisclosed sum.

Spun out of University College Dublin and supported by Enterprise Ireland, Forkstream’s technology enables operators to define policies for routing mobile data streams within and between different access networks while maintaining a seamless user experience.

Forkstream’s client side technology is hooked up to the network core via Openet’s Interaction Gateway, so operators can manage network access policies using the Policy Controls Rules Function (PCRF) and uses standards that enable consumer devices to discover and communicate with non-3GPP networks such as wifi or WiMAX. This provides granular control of traffic offload policies and enables new business models that include service options specific to an access network, the companies said.

“Integrating Forkstream into the Openet PCC ecosystem enables our customers to overcome many challenges related to seamlessly integrating multiple access networks with cellular services,” said Openet CTO Joe Hogan. “They developed an elegant solution to ensure cross-network session continuity and flow management, which is key to a quality user experience.”