Radcom snagged a named Tier 1 provider today when AT&T announced it's using the software provider's service assurance software to support its move toward a virtualized, New IP network.

Radcom Ltd. , whose customers have been mum on naming themselves to date, has been making inroads with its MaveriQ service assurance software since 2015 when the company announced that it had closed a $13 million, three-year deal with a Tier 1 customer. (See Radcom Lands Its Biggest Ever Deal.)

Since then, Radcom has announced several multi-million dollar deals with providers in APAC, South America and North America but the names of those providers have been absent. But this time, AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is calling out the Radcom name -- and that should put the vendor squarely in the center of the much-watched competitive NFV solutions arena.

According to AT&T's blog post today, the Tier 1 provider is virtualizing service assurance functions to boost performance and optimization, isolate network issues and maximize customer experience. By using Radcom's MaveriQ virtual network probing (vProbe) functions, AT&T is able to move that network monitoring solution to the cloud, thereby eliminating the need for customer hardware like routers and switches.

AT&T says it selected Radcom because of its strengths in virtualization, scalability, performance and efficiency, and will use MaveriQ to deploy vProbes as virtual network functions (VNFs) running on the AT&T Integrated Cloud.

Susan A. Johnson, senior vice president of global supply chain at AT&T, tells Light Reading via email, "This a critical part of our software-centric network build. Our path of SDN is not just about better efficiency and lower cost. It is also about improving intelligence in our network to monitor our performance at every level. The service assurance function is a critical part of this improved intelligence and performance."

As for the decision to go with Radcom, Johnson says, "[Radcom is] a disruptor in the service assurance area that has not played in the traditional hardware probe business. We were seeking an innovative solution to virtualize the probing function from a software-centric company. We believe that virtualization of service assurance can provide distinct advantages... Radcom's MaveriQ software has the right features, performance, efficiency and scalability to serve a large complex customer like AT&T."

The Tier 1 provider has been working with Radcom for over a year, according to Johnson. "We've been getting to know Radcom, reviewing their solution and working to better understand the integration effort to move to this software solution," she said. "This work with Radcom speaks to the innovation and disruption that our shift from hardware to software enables. Radcom is a totally new vendor to AT&T and brings some meaningful innovation to the service assurance function."

AT&T plans to integrate the vProbe functions into its network through ECOMP, the infrastructure delivery platform that powers its software-defined network. The last few weeks have been busy ones for AT&T and ECOMP, which stands for Enhanced Control, Orchestration, Management and Policy.

Last week, the service provider announced that it has been collaborating with Amdocs in the development of ECOMP. The week prior, AT&T said it plans to release ECOMP into open source via the Linux Foundation. (See AT&T Taps Amdocs as ECOMP Integration Partner and AT&T Offers 'Mature' ECOMP as Open Source MANO.)

In addition, AT&T announced the availability of Network Functions on Demand as part of its Network on Demand platform. (See AT&T Offers Network Functions On Demand... Sort Of.)

The provider said it's chugging along with its plans to virtualize 30% of its network this year. Last year, it hit 5.7% and passed its goal to virtualize 5% of its network.

— Elizabeth Miller Coyne, Managing Editor, Light Reading