Technology market research firm Infonetics Research, reported that the Diameter Signaling Control (DSC) market will grow threefold between 2014 and 2018, to $1.3 billion. Globally, the Diameter signaling control market totaled $381 million in 2014, an increase of 81 percent over 2013. The top use case for Diameter signaling control in 2014 was once again centralized routing, but roaming via DEA (Diameter Edge Agent) was right behind. North America accounted for over a third of Diameter signaling controller revenue in 2014, followed by EMEA and Asia Pacific.
According to Infonetics, DSCs handle and secure the exponentially increasing Diameter signaling traffic on service provider networks triggered by mobile IP data and voice services. Growth in the regions is predominantly tied to rising LTE subscribers, however in EMEA, where there are many more operators, the need for signaling controllers for roaming emerges as the major driver.
Infonetics expects DSCs to be implemented as VNFs (virtual network functions) beginning in 2015, with North American operators and a few European mobile operators leading the way.
Diane Myers, Principal Analyst for VoIP, UC, and IMS at Infonetics Research
Developed as the next-generation signaling protocol, Diameter has begun to permeate networks, driven by increasing LTE usage and the emergence of VoLTE (voice over LTE). As a result, the Diameter market spiked 81 percent in 2014 from the previous year. The Diameter vendor landscape is beginning to shake out, and it's a tight race at the top between Huawei, F5 and Oracle. We see a strengthening of Ericsson and a push from Alcatel-Lucent, Sonus and now Mavenir with its acquisition of Ulticom. The consolidation continues, and we expect even more in 2015.
