Cellular Selects Airwide

Mobile messaging infrastructure and applications provider Airwide Solutions has revealed that US network operator Cellular South is deploying AirMessenger Routers, AirMessenger Store, and AirGate gateways to handle massive growth in customer use of text messaging. This tiered architecture, coupled with Airwide AirManager CDMA OTA (over the air) and AirManager Reporting for message traffic analysis will help Cellular South continue to strengthen its position as the largest independent mobile operator in the US.
Since 2004, Cellular South has seen its messaging traffic increase by 300%. Greg Latour, the companys Senior Vice President of Technology Development, attributes the growth to Cellular Souths $7.99 (4.07) per month unlimited text messaging service, which has become widely popular among young adults, teens and their parents.
“Our previous system for managing the high volume of text messages was not providing the flexibility or capacity we needed to accommodate the significant demand increase from our customers,” says Latour. “After a thorough evaluation of different technologies, we chose Airwides tiered architecture because it provides Cellular South with a reliable and scalable solution upon which we can grow our popular text messaging products.”
Cellular South first deployed AirMessenger Routers to alleviate high storage demands resulting from the increased messaging traffic. AirMessenger Routers provide intelligent traffic distribution and first delivery attempt of messages, rather than automatically storing them, to eliminate the congestion and throughput issues associated with traditional SMSCs. 
The company then deployed AirMessenger Store to provide dynamic messaging storage of those messages that couldnt be delivered on the first attempt. Together with AirMessenger Router, AirMessenger Store gives Cellular South the first two tiers of an intelligent infrastructure that distributes messaging traffic quickly and efficiently. AirMessenger Store saves Cellular South money by eliminating the cost of connecting to the network via expensive, low-throughput SS7 connections. Instead, the storage device connects to AirMessenger Router via high-throughput IP connections that also allow Cellular South to scale quickly and affordably.
AirGate messaging gateway is another tier of Cellular Souths messaging infrastructure. AirGate will allow Cellular South to securely connect its infrastructure to different text and value-added services. It will also ensure that Cellular South can effectively manage the content provided by third-party mobile value-added service providers (VASPs) to prevent unwanted traffic reaching subscribers.
To accelerate provisioning without forcing subscribers to drive to stores, Cellular South will deploy AirManager OTA. The company will be able to provision customers over the air, saving money in typical in-person provisioning costs. The operator will also minimize the costs of constantly managing ever-changing roaming lists as AirManager OTA automates this process.
Cellular South will also analyse messaging traffic in real time to ensure maximum uptime and quick resolution to subscriber problems with AirManager Reporting. The company will be able to see up-to-the-minute status information about the infrastructure, identify troubling traffic patterns and plan ahead for anticipated spikes.
“Cellular South is taking a holistic approach to delivering on its promise to subscribers,” says Airwide CTO Vince Kadar. “It has a winning formula for its messaging offering, and customer demand has skyrocketed. Deploying Airwides suite of products gives it a tiered architecture to grow its service offerings, traffic capacity and revenues, now and in the future.”