Cisco Cisco Prime Provisioning 6.5 Information Guide

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Intelligence Report
Report: Inmarsat and Cisco Team to Deliver Advanced Services Over Global Xpress (GX), No Fiber Here!
services a success, expanded subscriber base is not guaranteed.
•  Inmarsat will need to eventually take over the management of the Cisco Prime Fulfi llment and Provisioning software 
systems, a skill set it will need to develop.
•  Global Xpress will be competing head on with the Hughes Network Systems EchoStar XVII with JUPITER high-
throughput technology; diff erentiation will be required to change the game to one of service diff erentiation.
•  Inmarsat will potentially be competing with the very vendors it needs to distribute its Global Xpress services; may need 
to rethink its distribution channels.
•  Global Xpress, if successful, could displace established satellite service revenues, thereby threatening currently lucrative 
revenue streams, which it would need to replace.
 
Analytical Summary
Perspective:
 Positive
• Positive on Cisco and Inmarsat’s announced alliance because it proposes to deliver advanced services over the new 
Global Xpress (GX) satellite network, which can be leveraged to tap underserved markets such as those unreachable by 
fi ber and even traditional microwave infrastructures. GX will be launched in 2013 at a projected cost of $1.2 billion, with 
full global coverage available by late 2014. Th
  e new satellites’ downlink speeds will be up to 50Mbps, and up to 5Mbps 
over the uplink, speeds which can satisfy applications such as video, telepresence and others which will be available. 
Cisco is providing its Prime Fulfi llment and Provisioning technology, a new access router and will build and operate 
the network on a fully managed basis before transferring it to Inmarsat – a BOT model. Th
  e new services will address 
a population segment which is currently not being addressed by traditional Telcos, and if successful, opens the door to 
more ubiquitous broadband services anywhere any time.
Vendor Importance:
 High
• High to Inmarsat, because the capabilities being proposed by the alliance will help it leverage its massive GX investment 
by delivering new high value applications representing new revenue streams. However, this alliance is unlikely to be the 
only avenue Inmarsat is taking to insure its investment in GX is exploited for a broad range of applications. Because 
other high capacity satellite networks coming on-line, such as the HNS EchoStar XVII with JUPITER high-throughput 
technology (services to begin October 2012), Inmarsat will need to establish a broad ecosystem to diff erentiate its off er 
as being much more than just a high throughput solution. Th
  e importance of the alliance is high to Cisco since it can 
leverage its very signifi cant investment in Prime management technology to serve new markets, which need the same level 
of fulfi llment and provisioning sophistication required in traditional IP core – edge and access networks. Th
 e alliance 
also enables Cisco to off er a new specialized access router and fuels its new professional services off er with a highly visible 
BOT project.
Market Impact:
 High
• High on the satellite-based telcom services market because the new service capabilities, which are being proposed by 
Inmarsat’s GX network (Inmarsat-5 [I-5] satellites, supplied by Boeing), Cisco’s Prime Fulfi llment and Provisioning 
technology and the new router variant will enable the companies to deliver services to markets that previously went 
mostly untapped due to lack of performance, cost or fl exible service off ers. Th
 e off er of higher quality video services and/
or high speed Internet access to remote locations should attract new subscribers to Inmarsat’s services and provide incre-
mental equipment and services revenues for Cisco. Vendors who have a history of providing satellite base stations, such as 
Alcatel-Lucent and Juniper, can also position themselves to leverage higher capacity satellite networks to deliver advanced 
services supported by their end to end management solutions.