Verizon’s Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) RFP: Sandvine is Definitely in Play

Implications: 1.Apparently, Verizon has just  put the RFP for DPI together. 2.It is certainly not clear at all that the request is even on the street, yet. 3.At this point, it appears that Sandvine will be a real challenger to get a piece of the RBOC’s business.

Analysis:  

Since late June, there has been speculation that Verizon issued a DPI RFP. There are indications that actually an RFP has been put out. Right now, it is more about collecting information and once that is all in-house, the real work will begin on selecting a vendor.

One can take it as a given that Verizon already has some DPI equipment in its Waltham, MA laboratories – most likely including Cisco Systems and potentially Sandvine. It is not out of the question that the RBOC will be ready to deploy this technology by the end of the year.

With this type of uncomplicated equipment, it is not unusual these days to have a shorter time frame for an RFP to be completed – unless of course, it is a brand new product to the marketplace. There has been more reliance on other operators telling Verizon about their experience with such solutions. In concert with the in-house lab work, it eliminates the requirement for extensive field trials that were conducted in the past. And of course, there would be no need to go through the onerous Telecordia OSMINE process for this type of gear.

Assuming that all of the equipment under consideration has been tested in a lab that Verizon recognizes the whole process could be short-circuited because Verizon will be familiar with the capabilities of the various offerings. If one anticipates 30 to 45 days for all of the responses to get back, and then the inevitable contract haggling, it would not be expected to take too long to potentially deploy the DPI technology.

The threat of net neutrality regulation by the FCC does not appear to have made Verizon cautious in moving toward DPI. While it is definitely understood that the commission will encourage as much of an open network as possible.