NEW YORK – Service delivery platforms (SDPs) are emerging as a critical enabling technology for both wireline and wireless telecom carriers to deliver next-gen services profitably, reducing the costs and time needed to acquire, provision, maintain, and deliver services, according to a new report from Light Reading Insider, the paid research division of Light Reading Inc.

Service Delivery Platforms: The Next Grand Design? analyzes the emerging SDP sector by defining exactly what SDPs are and what they do, detailing why SDPs are essential to carriers' long-term plans, and dissecting the strategies of the leading vendors in the SDP arena, including major technology players Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Alcatel (NYSE: ALA; Paris: CGE), and Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ).

Next-generation telecom services will include potentially thousands of services, many of which will be delivered by third-party service developers, notes Caroline Chappell, the author of the report. "Service providers need to make it easy for third-party developers to plug new services into their networks, but they must also ensure that they aren't disintermediated by those developers," she adds.

But while service providers are attracted by the price proposition of micro MSPPs, those surveyed by Light Reading Insider say they also want to make sure that these products will be able to deliver the quality and reliability needed to keep customers happy.

Key findings of the report include:

In addition to detailing and analyzing the SDP plans of major technology providers, the report identifies the startup players that are providing key elements for SDPs. These SDP specialists include AePona Ltd.; Drutt Corp.; Infitel International N.V.; jNetX Inc.; MobileAware Ltd.; Mobile Cohesion Ltd.; Open Cloud Ltd.; Volantis Systems Ltd.; and Wysdom Inc.

Service Delivery Platforms: The Next Grand Design? is available as part of an annual subscription (12 monthly issues) to Light Reading Insider, priced at $1,350. Individual reports are available for $900. To subscribe, please visit: www.lightreading.com/insider.

For additional information, to request a free executive summary of the report, or for details of multi-user licensing options, please contact:

Jeff Claudino
Sales Manager
Insider Research Services
619-229-9940
[email protected]

For review copies, members of the media may contact:

Gabriel Brown
Chief Analyst
Insider Research Services
44-20-7701-9330
[email protected]