FOTA Usage
in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
November 2011
vRapid Mobile® Notice
Copyright© 2008-2011, Red Bend Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Patent U.S. 6,546,552,
This Software is the property of Red Bend Ltd. and contains trade secrets, know-how, confidential information and other intellectual
property of Red Bend Ltd.
vRapid Mobile®, Red Bend®, and other names, as well as the Red Bend Logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Red Bend Ltd.
All other names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
The Product contains components owned by third parties. Copyright notices and terms under which such components are licensed can
be found at the following URL, and are hereby incorporated by reference:
http://www.redbend.com/images/stories/redbend_pdf/red_bend_legal_notices.pdf
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
Table of Contents
1
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................. 5
1.1 THE VALUE U.S. OPERATORS SEE IN FOTA .................................................................................5
2
FOTA USE CASES IN THE U.S................................................................................................ 7
2.1 RAPID ADOPTION OF SMARTPHONES ..........................................................................................7
2.2 ANDROID VERSION RACE ..........................................................................................................9
2.3 AVOIDING RECALLS ............................................................................................................... 10
2.4 FIXING DEFECTS ................................................................................................................... 10
2.5 NEW FEATURES.................................................................................................................... 11
2.6 OPTIMIZING PERFORMANCE ................................................................................................... 11
2.7 UNIFORM DEVICE MANAGEMENT ........................................................................................... 12
3
WHY FOTA IS BETTER THAN A CABLE UPDATE ................................................................... 13
3.1 FOTA YIELDS A HIGHER UPDATE SUCCESS RATE ........................................................................ 13
3.2 BETTER USER EXPERIENCE...................................................................................................... 13
4
SPRINT’S BUSINESS APPROACH TO FOTA .......................................................................... 16
4.1 FOTA TESTING VALIDATION................................................................................................... 17
4.2 FOTA DELIVERY ................................................................................................................... 17
4.3 SUPPORT FOR STANDARDS ..................................................................................................... 19
5
CONSUMER EXPERIENCE .................................................................................................. 20
5.1 OPERATOR AND CONSUMER RELATIONSHIP .............................................................................. 20
5.2 UPDATE METHODS ............................................................................................................... 22
6
5.2.1
Pull-Mode ..................................................................................................................... 22
5.2.2
Push-Mode and Automatic Updates ............................................................................. 23
SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 25
Table of Figures
Figure 1: U.S. Cellular Market Distribution ..........................................................................................5
Figure 2: Regional Smartphone Penetration ........................................................................................7
Figure 3: Rapid Increase in Mobile Phone Firmware Image Size .........................................................8
Figure 4: Motorola Publishes Plan for Android Software Upgrades ....................................................9
Figure 5 : Motorola XOOM Software Update Announcement .......................................................... 11
Figure 6 : Online Petition vs. LG Optimus 2X..................................................................................... 12
Figure 7 : Apple iOS and Android 2.2 Percent of Phones Upgraded ................................................. 13
Figure 8 : OTA Update Process .......................................................................................................... 14
Figure 9 : Cable Update Process ........................................................................................................ 15
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[3 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
Figure 10 : Sprint Software Update Explanation ............................................................................... 16
Figure 11 : Sprint Has Perfected the FOTA Deployment Process ...................................................... 17
Figure 12 : Update via the Platform Providers .................................................................................. 18
Figure 13: Sprint Software Update Information ............................................................................... 20
Figure 14: Verizon Software Update Information ............................................................................. 21
Figure 15: Verizon Palm Pre Pull Update Process ............................................................................. 22
Figure 16: Verizon Software Push Update Process ........................................................................... 23
Figure 17 : AT&T Software Push Update Process .............................................................................. 24
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[4 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
1
Introduction
This document describes Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA) usage and its success in the United States.
By learning from the experience of mobile Operators in the U.S., service providers in other markets
will understand how to effectively launch and operate a FOTA service for mobile consumers.
This paper provides specific use cases for performing FOTA updates by U.S. Operators. It details
the overall consumer experience during the FOTA updating process and describes why Operators
in the U.S. have a high level of confidence in FOTA technology. This paper also explains FOTA
processes between Operators and device manufacturers and effective techniques for update
management.
This is the second report from Red Bend Software to examine FOTA adoption. The first report,
“Case Study and Success Story: FOTA Usage in Japan,” can be downloaded here.
1.1
The Value U.S. Operators See in FOTA
The United States is one of the most advanced cellular markets in the world with more than 303M
million subscribers. With more than 100 million FOTA updates that will be delivered over the air in
2011 (estimation by Red Bend), the four top U.S. mobile Operators—Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and TMobile—lead the U.S. in implementing FOTA.
Number of Subscribers (in Millions)
13 10
AT&T
35
95.5
49.9
VzW
Sprint
94.1
T-Mobile
US Cellular
Others
Figure 1: U.S. Cellular Market Distribution1
According to CTIA, mobile penetration in the U.S. reached 102.4% in June 2011. With the U.S.
considered a saturated market, Operators are competing to retain subscribers and prevent churn.
One of the important capabilities in keeping consumers satisfied with their mobile service is to
ensure that device software is up to date with the latest features.
1 Source: CTIA
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[5 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
Operators in the U.S. use FOTA to provide up-to-date software versions with additional
functionality, improved performance and defect fixing without the need for consumers to go to a
service center. Moreover, FOTA provides customer care representatives with an additional way to
fix software-related issues in mobile devices, thereby reducing device handling time.
Each of the tier one Operators in the U.S. has built its own device management system that
provides capabilities such as device provisioning, settings configuration and FOTA updating.
As part of their detailed device requirements, the Operators mandate that OEMs include FOTA in
all mobile phones and connected devices, but unfortunately not all of the Operators are strictly
enforcing it. In addition, manufacturers are required to implement a communication and logic
layer that the Operator can use for remotely provisioning, configuring, updating and managing the
devices in their network in a uniform way and according to standards.
After several years spent validating the technology, building the infrastructure and establishing the
processes, U.S. Operators, OEMs and consumers trust FOTA. It is a seamless and highly reliable
process that is common like any other popular mobile service such as email or Web browsing.
Because the process is easy, free and reliable, U.S. consumers demand FOTA updates in order to
get new features and improve device performance.
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[6 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
2
FOTA Use Cases in the U.S.
The volume of FOTA usage is increasing significantly as more and more updates are done
successfully every year. In 2011, it is predicted by Red Bend that the number of updates in the U.S.
exceeded 100 million, and since there is a growing percentage of smartphones in the market,
FOTA usage will continue to increase substantially in the coming years.
No doubt the sharp increase in smartphone adoption provides a strong back-wind to the
popularity of FOTA, but there are other compelling use cases driving FOTA in the U.S. to reach
even higher usage.
2.1
Rapid Adoption of Smartphones
During the last few years, there has been a rapid increase in smartphone sales globally, and in
North America in particular.
Figure 2: Regional Smartphone Penetration
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[7 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
The amount of software in mobile phones is growing steadily, now reaching several hundreds of
megabytes per device. Based on more than 1,500 phone images analyzed by Red Bend since 2004,
the average image size has grown by more than 600 percent, with the largest smartphone images
now exceeding 500 MB.
Figure 3: Rapid Increase in Mobile Phone Firmware Image Size
For example, Android 2.3 is more than 100MB. With hundreds of millions of smartphones
receiving multiple software updates throughout their lifetime, it translates into a lot of Tera Bytes
running through the IP and the cellular networks, potentially deteriorating the performance of
data services.
Updating smartphones using a delta-based FOTA technique2 has become essential to keeping
these complex devices operating efficiently without burdening the network.
2 For more information about delta-based FOTA, read the Red Bend white paper, “Principles of Updating Mobile Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA).”
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[8 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
2.2
Android Version Race
Android as an open source operating system (OS) has many contributors, and the pace of
innovation and change is much more frequent than a typical proprietary OS.
Mass-market demand for FOTA in Android devices began after the introduction of Android 2.0
Éclair in Q4 2009. This leap-forward version caused consumers to look for ways to upgrade their
devices to the 2.0 version, and consumers then began demanding updates from the Operators and
the OEMs.
This caused Operators and OEMs to be much more aware of consumers’ need to get the most out
of their device with up-to-date software. OEMs started to provide to their customers information
about the version roadmap for each of their devices.
Figure 4: Motorola Publishes Plan3 for Android Software Upgrades
Operators that delay providing software updates risk churn. For example, AT&T delivered an
Android 2.1 update to the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 almost seven months after the OS version was
provided in other regions, generating consumer complaints.
3 https://supportforums.motorola.com/community/manager/softwareupgrades
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[9 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
To help ensure that Android updates are provided to consumers in a timely manner, the top U.S.
Operators (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile) and the leading Android OEMs (HTC, Samsung,
Motorola and LG) together with Google announced the formation of an initiative to guarantee
Android software updates to phones.
2.3
Avoiding Recalls
Strategy Analytics estimates a product recall costs wireless carriers and handset manufactures
between $42 and $72 per handset. Typically, Operators and OEMs negotiate recall expenses,
which can spike up to a few million dollars per case. Another aspect to consider with respect to
device recalls is brand damage, low consumer satisfaction and loss of subscriber loyalty due to the
hassle of device recalls. During a device recall, the consumer can lose the device configuration,
downloaded applications and even personal data. In the U.S., handsets are mainly sold by
Operators, so device recalls can negatively affect the carrier’s brand identity as well.
2.4
Fixing Defects
As presented in Figure 2, more U.S. consumers are using smartphones. These devices have more
software and greater software complexity, increasing the probability for software defects. During
the lifecycle of the phone, when a critical-level defect is found either by the Operator or by the
consumer, the OEM is required to provide a fix as soon as possible and create a new version. Once
the OEM has approved the new firmware version, it creates a delta package which is then
provided to the Operator for distribution over the air (OTA) to the affected subscribers. If the
device does not include FOTA technology, the OEM must recall the device, such as in the case of
the LG Spyder 830, or advise consumers to perform the update via a cable connected to their PC.
Samsung recently provided a perfect example of how to use FOTA. The Galaxy S was released in
the U.S. in 2010 with four customized models available from each of the four tier one Operators:
Samsung Captivate for AT&T, Vibrant for T-Mobile, Epic for Sprint and Fascinate for Verizon.
However, each model suffered from a GPS performance issue (locking problems).
A few weeks later, Samsung released a software update that included defect fixes and
performance improvements. The software update was deployed over the air to consumers
through the Operators.
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[10 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
2.5
New Features
With the great buying power of the U.S. Operators and the fierce competition among smartphone
providers, many mobile phones and tablets are first introduced in the U.S. and later in other
markets. Those devices are often getting new features and services ahead of the rest of the global
industry.
With such pressure on time to market, sometimes the device software is not ready at launch time,
so the device is released without the full functionality. After the software is ready, the device gets
an update over the air that activates the new functionality. Operators and or OEMs send
notifications to update their customers about the availability of a new software version with new
features. For example, Motorola issued a software update with feature enhancements less than a
month after it launched the Motorola Xoom.
Figure 5 : Motorola XOOM Software Update Announcement
2.6
Optimizing Performance
The performance of the mobile device is an important parameter that influences the consumer
experience. Battery life, throughput and responsiveness can greatly influence the success of the
device in the market. In some cases, devices are released when their performance is not fully
optimized and only later they get an updated version over the air.
When the LG Optimus 2X was introduced, it was the first dual-core CPU device in the market with
leading performance over the competition. It would seem that the device came out to the market
a bit too quickly, since users reported issues with device performance, crashes and freezing. A
group of users even opened an online petition where more than 1,500 people signed up to create
pressure on LG to issue a software update. In July, LG released the version that fixed this issue and
more.
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[11 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
Figure 6 : Online Petition vs. LG Optimus 2X
2.7
Uniform Device Management
FOTA also is proving increasingly valuable to U.S. Operators as a way to manage the growing
number of machine-to-machine (M2M) connected devices. In its Q1 2011 results announcement,
AT&T reported net addition of 2 million subscribers, of which 1.3 million were connected devices.
The M2M market recognizes the importance of FOTA for managing software and applications
remotely. By keeping these devices up to date with the latest features and improvements,
Operators can ensure quality, avoid product recalls, reduce support costs and improve customer
satisfaction. With FOTA support integrated into the M2M device, only hardware-related failures,
which occur less frequently, need to be repaired manually in the field.
According to ABI Research’s Senior Analyst Sam Lucero, FOTA is becoming more important in the
M2M market: “For M2M, the benefits are operational efficiency and cost reduction. With M2M
modules growing in complexity, FOTA enables Operators to perform software improvements over
the air, without needing to send a technician on-site.”
Another important aspect is the ability to extract only the essential changes between firmware
versions, thereby reducing the update file size by up to 97% when using Red Bend’s FOTA solution.
This leads to a sharp reduction in the data traffic passing within the network.
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[12 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
3
Why FOTA Is Better Than a Cable Update
While the majority of U.S. Operators and OEMs use FOTA as their main update technology, a
minority still use cable-based updates. Cable updating is when the software update file is posted
to a Web site, and consumers must download the file to their PCs, and then transfer the file via a
cable to their mobile phones. There are many reasons why FOTA is better than cable updating.
3.1
FOTA Yields a Higher Update Success Rate
Research from application analytics company Localytics shows that OTA updates are more
effective than cable-based updates. Localytics compared two update campaigns: the first by Apple
– moving to iOS 4, and the second by Motorola – moving to Android 2.2.
Motorola used over-the-air update technology. It used a combination of network-initiated and
client-initiated FOTA updates. For network-initiated updates, Motorola sent a specific message to
the device to start the update process. For client-initiated updates, consumers started the update
process themselves using the menu in the device user interface.
Apple used an over-the-cable method by making users connect the iPhone to the iTunes computer
application in order to initiate the process.
During the first week of the update campaign, the success rate of iOS4 was much higher than
Android 2.2 because there was no limitation in the number of users receiving the update. During
the first week of the Motorola FOTA campaign, Operators provided the update to a small test
group of consumers, in order to validate that the update process was running smoothly. After this
short test period, the Motorola update was deployed widely.
It is clear from this research that the best method to achieve the highest acceptance rate of a new
firmware version is by using FOTA technology. In June 2011, Apple acknowledged the superiority
of FOTA compared to cable updating when it announced it would provide firmware updates OTA
beginning with iOS5.
Figure 7 : Apple iOS and Android 2.2 Percent of Phones Upgraded
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[13 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
3.2
Better User Experience
FOTA also provides the best user experience: it’s faster, easier and fail-safe. During the FOTA
process, the consumer’s personal data is not affected, and if there is a communication problem or
the battery is exhausted in the middle of the update, Red Bend’s FOTA process can overcome it
without damaging the device.
The following example shows the process of updating the Blackberry Bold 9650 smartphone in the
Sprint Support Web site and the simplicity of an OTA update compared to a cable update method:
Figure 8 : OTA Update Process
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[14 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
Figure 9 : Cable Update Process
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[15 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
4
Sprint’s Business Approach to FOTA
Sprint is one of the best examples globally of a mobile Operator that has made FOTA part of its
services strategy. Sprint is fully committed to providing FOTA updates according to the Open
Mobile Alliance (OMA) Device Management (DM) standards. According to Sprint, the combination
of FOTA and OMA DM has enabled Sprint to manage all mobile devices uniformly, decrease
customer care expenses and improve customer loyalty. Sprint’s strategy to operate FOTA includes
the following actions:
•
Sprint ensures a consistent user experience by requiring OEMs to follow Sprint’s device
management specifications
•
OEMs must provide maintenance releases during the first two years of the device
•
Sprint has streamlined the process for testing, approving and deploying new software
versions to as short as 24 hours in some cases
•
Sprint commits to providing multiple updates per mobile phone model, including broadband
and module devices
•
Consumers do not pay for the data traffic associated with the FOTA update process
•
Sprint has implemented a standards-based infrastructure of OMA DM servers that enables
Sprint to perform FOTA updates without compromising the backbone performance and with
the ability to meet the desired campaign schedule
Figure 10 : Sprint Software Update Explanation
Sprint implements OMA DM and FOTA on all of its device types, from smartphones to feature
phones, to tablets, modems and M2M devices. Based on this successful approach, OEMs
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[16 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
constantly provide software updates, consumers accept and seek out new updates and Sprint
benefits from lower costs while enjoying higher customer satisfaction, causing the entire valuechain to move quicker and generate higher revenue.
4.1
FOTA Testing Validation
Through perfecting its business processes combined with the maturity of FOTA technology, Sprint
has built a high level of confidence in FOTA. Before announcing and deploying a software update,
Sprint and its OEMs test the new version of the firmware, the features and the FOTA flow.
One of the crucial points of FOTA implementation is the ability to test it without adding time and
complexity to the version release process, which by itself is complicated.
Sprint has optimized the FOTA update process such that typically in 5 days from the moment that
the OEM delivers the tested version to Sprint, Sprint completes the internal process and delivers
the update to its consumers.
The OEM provides the new version after completing internal tests, and then Sprint performs its
pre-deployment tests. The final approval to deploy also takes into consideration many other
aspects, such as completion of backend preparation, database, customer care and more.
Sprint supports many FOTA deployment methods such as IOTA, Google and RIM, but the most
used one is Firmware Update Management Object (FUMO) which is part of the OMA DM standard.
Up to
5 days
OEM Internal
Tests
Sprint PreDeployment
Tests
Approval by
Sprint
Deployment
Figure 11 : Sprint Has Perfected the FOTA Deployment Process
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[17 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
4.2
FOTA Delivery
A critical success factor with FOTA is the distribution process of the updates. There are a few
things that must be considered when choosing an update strategy:

OTA vs. Cable – What is the method of delivering the updates to the devices? Is it by
connecting the devices to the PC or by sending the update over the air? As demonstrated
in chapter 3, FOTA is superior in both success rate and user experience.

Standard vs. Proprietary – The most common standard for managing the distribution of
FOTA updates over the cellular network is the Open Mobile Alliance Device Management
(OMA DM) standard. The OMA DM standard specifies the Firmware Update Management
Object (FUMO) for the management of FOTA updating. Some OEMs that manage the FOTA
service themselves use proprietary methods. However, most Operators are working with
OMA-DM based solutions. This provides independence between the client and the server,
meaning the Operator can choose the best-of-breed solution for server and client
separately, enabling a uniform cross-device/platform solution, better time-to-market and
future-proofing.

Operator Owned Infrastructure vs. OEM/Platform Provider Infrastructure – Who has
strategic, end-to-end control of the FOTA service infrastructure and is responsible for the
service quality and also the content and features of the new OS version? If the Platform
provider (for example, Microsoft, Google) is responsible for the update, it means they can
theoretically put any content on the device, breaking the bond between the device and
the Operator. In addition, the owner of the infrastructure can decide on the update
campaign Service Level Agreement (SLA), for example, when the update will be delivered,
who gets it first and how long the campaign will take. In addition when the Platform
provider is doing the update (as in the example below) there is no ability for the
Operator’s customer care representative to take the ownership of the process which can
lead to unsatisfied customers.
Figure 12 : Update via the Platform Providers
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[18 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
4.3
Support for Standards
As a leading Operator in the U.S., Sprint is a world pioneer in developing and implementing a
device management strategy. Sprint has chosen to work with OMA DM as the delivery and
communication method between its back-end management system and its devices in the field.
One of the main reasons that Sprint selected OMA DM is because the cost of adopting standards is
much less expensive than a proprietary environment because the integration with devices and the
certification with networks are quicker.
Sprint also decided to use standards-based FOTA as the main method for updating device
firmware since it provides the best user experience, highest success rate and fault-proof
operation.
Since Sprint anticipated the market trends regarding smartphones and the open platform software
race together with an analysis of the alternative solutions, the Operator decided to invest in OMA
DM infrastructure for managing the updates to Sprint devices and not to be dependent on the
OEM or Platform provider.
Sprint currently is capable of updating more than 3.5 million devices per week. Red Bend considers
this as the highest volume FOTA network in the world.
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[19 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
5
Consumer Experience
In the U.S., there is a high consumer acceptance rate for FOTA updates thanks to the good
relationships maintained by the Operators with the consumer, the carrier’s proactive update
practices and the simple and smooth software update process. In addition, consumers do not need
to pay for the update package download, which removes a potential financial concern for the
users.
5.1
Operator and Consumer Relationship
One of the main contributors to the success of FOTA adoption in the U.S. is the close relationship
between the Operators and their subscribers.
Operators communicate with their subscribers to inform them about software improvements and
new features, as well as FOTA usage. Consumers are notified in advanced about the specific cases
where FOTA is required. The far majority of consumers respond positively to the availability of
FOTA updates.
In addition, U.S. Operators maintain detailed information on their Web sites about software
updates and repaired defects and available new features.
The following examples are taken from the Sprint and Verizon Web sites. The consumer needs to
choose the device and check if there is an available update, and can find information including the
specific documents about the FOTA process for that model, and the estimated time for completing
the update process.
Figure 13: Sprint Software Update Information
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[20 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
Figure 14: Verizon Software Update Information
In addition to Operators communicating with consumers, the OEM and the Platform providers
take part in informing consumers about FOTA updates. Since the competition between OEM and
Platform providers is no longer only on the hardware specification (for example, camera, CPU) but
now also on the software capabilities (for example, cut-and-paste, pinch), OEMs and Platform
providers promote new software updates just as they promote new devices.
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[21 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
5.2
Update Methods
5.2.1
Pull-Mode
The pull-mode approach is when the consumer utilizes the device menu to intentionally activate
the updating process. Since there are several operating systems in the market, such as Android,
iOS, BlackBerry OS or WebOS, finding the pull-mode update menu varies per OS. For example, in
Android the software update feature can generally be found by going to the menu, under
Settingsabout PhoneSoftware Update. Once activated, the consumer is asked to agree to the
terms and conditions. The updating application automatically connects to the update server,
which is compliant with OMA DM, and starts the download and update process automatically. In
Figure 15, there is a description of a pull-mode with the associated consumer UI, as implemented
in a Verizon Palm Pre device.
Figure 15: Verizon Palm Pre Pull Update Process
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[22 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
5.2.2
Push-Mode and Automatic Updates
To significantly improve the consumer experience, Operators like Sprint and Verizon changed the
device update agent application configuration so that it can be activated at all times and respond
to the update server requests (push-mode). Operators use the update server to trigger the update
process by sending a notification message that prompts the consumer to accept the update.
Figure 16: Verizon Software Push Update Process
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[23 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
Figure 17 : AT&T Software Push Update Process
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[24 of 25]
Confidential
FOTA Usage in the United States
Case Study and Success Story
6
Summary
During the last three years, the U.S. cellular industry has made a hefty leap forward to become the
most advanced mobile market in the world. The combination of high speed infrastructure
(including 4G), large smartphone penetration and increasing numbers of connected devices and
advanced services poses new challenges for mobile Operators.
One of the important cornerstones for the success of the Operators in this unique environment is
the ability to manage remotely the devices in the field, which includes capabilities such as
configuration, provisioning and updating the software over the air.
Operators in the U.S. have a tight control on device specification which helps put the
infrastructure in place and build the right processes and expertise on how to update devices in a
very large-scale environment.
All the participants involved in the FOTA update process (Operators, OEMs and consumers) benefit
from the availability and adoption of FOTA in the U.S.
The fast growth of the smartphone segment and the battle for the dominance of operating
systems are influencing the way software is managed on mobile devices. Bringing the most
updated software is a key factor in unleashing the mobile device potential and providing the
consumer a continuously better device experience.
The experience and the knowledge that U.S. Operators have in managing a very successful end-toend FOTA service can be easily duplicated by other Operators around the world and with the same
benefits to Operators, OEMs, and subscribers.
© 2011 Red Bend Software
[25 of 25]
Confidential