Guavus rolls out Pipeline 5.0; says big data tool can help MSOs manage usage-based billing

Silicon Valley-based big data company Guavus has announced the latest version of its Pipeline data mediation tool for the cable industry.

The San Mateo, Calif.-based company, chaired by former Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) CTO Mike LaJoie, said its big data tool is used by all the top U.S. MSOs that measure data usage through Internet Protocol Detail Record. IPDR is becoming increasingly relevant, as more MSOs, including Comcast, move toward usage-based billing of broadband services. 

"Pipeline is a mediation tool that enables cable operators to fuse and correlate disparate sources of (big) data, including IPDR data, which is an important source of data for tracking data usage," Chris Menier, VP of product & strategy, cable & MSO, told FierceCable. "This enables MSOs to process, analyze and collect massive scales of data that can be used to offer usage usage-based billing, improve network and service planning, mitigate congestion in the network and support proactive network maintenance. Usage-based billing is becoming increasingly more important for MSOs who want to compete with OTT players like Netflix and Hulu, vs offering package-based offerings."

Pipeline 5 has an open API, enabling it to integrate with existing operator infrastructures. And it is fully compatible with next-generation network infrastructures and service standards, including DOCSIS 3.1, Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) and DOCSIS Provisioning of EPON (DPoE).

"Subscribers are cutting the cord in droves; abandoning fixed-term rigid packages in favor of flexible pay-as-you-go OTT services," said Anukool Lakhina, founder and CEO of Guavus. "By embracing usage-based billing, cable firms can offer the flexibility their subscribers crave by only charging for the data they consume. Yet to do so they need to have more granular, real-time visibility into subscriber consumption to feed into existing and next generation BSS frameworks. Pipeline provides that functionality while ensuring compatibility for next generation standards."

For more:
- read this Guavus press release

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