Global ENUM: The underlying infrastructure for service discovery in the migration to an all-IP communications future

JuLY 29, 2010

Today’s “net” generation expects feature rich services and access from anywhere. As operators add new multi-media services to meet this demand, they face the significant challenges of network interworking. How do operators provide for global interoperability without increasing costs and risks? A new approach that takes advantage of the flexible Internet and IP architectures is needed to ensure ubiquitous service connectivity.

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Yankee Group White Paper: Designing a Successful DNS Strategy

June 24, 2010

DNS works very well — so well, in fact, that most users are never aware of it. Users expect that when they type in a URL or e-mail address, they will be connected to the correct web site or e-mail box. Security may top the list of enterprise concerns, but too often the link between security vulnerabilities and DNS is not understood. Enterprises must acknowledge the importance of DNS to the operation of the Internet and, consequently, to any company that uses the Internet for sales, service, marketing or logistics. As the Internet expands in terms of users, devices and traffic, so does the opportunity for DNS mayhem. Enterprises and ISPs must protect their users and networks — sometimes from the hacker in the basement, but increasingly from organized crime and entire governments.

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Next generation multi-media service enablement in IMS

June 7, 2010

Neustar’s next generation multi-media solutions address the challenges faced by carriers by creating a richer communications experience; ensuring interconnectivity and interoperability of services; and providing rich policy-controlled exposure of network assets as a service. Neustar’s Telecom as a Service (TaaS) model for service delivery significantly reduces the costs and risks associated with new technology transformations while enabling the delivery of new revenue-generating services more quickly than ever before.

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When Smart Grids Grow Smart Enough to Solve Crimes

Joel Margolis, Senior Director of Legal Compliance / March 18, 2010

Electric utilities nationwide are transforming their facilities into IP-controlled networks called “smart grids.” Smart grids gather more detailed information about our electricity usage to help maximize energy efficiency. With all this new data-gathering, much of which reflects things we do in the privacy of our homes, how should utilities disclose the data to third parties such as law enforcement agencies? This question has scarcely been addressed by existing laws. However, similar issues have been thoroughly vetted in the context of communications law. This white paper examines how the precedent of communications law may help smart grid owners strike the proper balance between protecting customer privacy and serving the needs of law enforcement.

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The Irretrievable Losses of Malware-Enabled ACH and Wire Fraud

You are ALREADY a target -- and you may already be a victim.

Small and medium-sized commercial, educational, and state and local government organizations ("SMEs") in the United States are losing on average $100,000-$200,000 per day to criminals who steal their money using various forms of malware [malicious software] designed to leverage weaknesses in both the wire transfer and ACH [Automated Clearing House] process -- the rather mundane mechanism that lets banks and other financial institutions process checks and other forms of payments on a daily basis. As such, this is regular crime, carried out in the real world, resulting in real financial losses, but it is based on a technique that relies on the Internet. This briefing document will describe the general class and behavior of the malicious software that is used, the criminal gangs who use it, and the effects on the individuals, enterprises, and economies that fall victim to it. In addition it will identify recommended steps to mitigate some of the effects of the malware.

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IDC White Paper: Enhancing Mobile Messaging for Content Providers, Application Providers, and Aggregators

Mobile Messaging accounts for more than one-third of all mobile content revenues, and trends indicate this will continue to grow annually for some time. At the same time, rapid industry consolidation and competition in the mobile messaging market are forcing price pressures, whereby carriers are leveraging increased traffic volume for pricing considerations. These two issues combined mean it is now more important than ever to ensure that content providers, application providers, and aggregators can deliver the best service for the price by improving overall quality of service, features, functionality, and reliability.

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Frost & Sullivan White Paper: Neustar -- Playing an Essential Role in Everyday Communications

Today, more than ever before, we find ourselves surrounded by technologically -advanced convenience services. These services are so commonplace and ubiquitous that few, if any, of us ever stop to consider how they work – or what would happen if they stopped working. Consider electricity. We wake up each day, or come home from work at night, and one of the first things we do is turn on a light. We don't concern ourselves with how the light works or who makes it work; we simply expect that it will work.

In the telecommunications and Internet arena, Neustar is the company charged with figuratively "keeping the lights on." Founded in 1996, the company is the neutral, trusted, third-party service provider that works diligently behind the scenes to enable seamless communications, even though much of what it does is "invisible" to the end user.

To illustrate just how pervasive and important Neustar's work actually is, this paper follows the day-to-day activities of the hypothetical "Sterling family" as its members work, play, and interact.

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IDC White Paper: Mobile Instant Messaging -- The Next Major Mobile Opportunity

Mobile instant messaging (MIM) is the next major growth opportunity for mobile operators and is a highly flexible medium that can presence-enable services and open up new revenue opportunities in areas such as social networking, communities, blogging, gaming, advertising, and interactivity with other mobile media. Mobile operators have a unique opportunity to fully leverage their position in the mobile ecosystem with MIM through their established SMS subscriber bases and, crucially, their access to and management of a user's presence information. Many mobile operators have launched ISP IM services, some have launched their own branded services, and some have launched both. All services are driving increased data ARPU and revenue.

However, mobile operators should evaluate their strategic approaches to presence by building their own MIM capabilities and services and, at the same time, by mobilizing existing communities. Mobile operators can stay central in the rapidly evolving converged communications ecosystem by positioning MIM as a seamless and natural upgrade to SMS and building data services around it.

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M:Metrics White Paper: Common Short Codes: Cracking the Mobile Code

M:Metrics’ recently released report, commissioned by Neustar, spotlights the increased usage of mobile devices, mobile services and the number of diverse and unique mobile marketing initiatives available to brand marketers today. More and more options are now available – from mobile banner ads to mobile search to in-video mobile advertising to Common Short Code (CSC)-based text and multimedia messaging.

Marketers must first focus on their own objectives and audiences in order to deliver the best contextual experiences by which their brands can be promoted – and all of the methods listed above are deserving of consideration. However, the report cites short code-based mobile marketing as offering the broadest reach and greatest potential to create an interactive, direct and permission-based relationship with mobile subscribers everywhere. With CSCs, an organization is literally just a few digits away from reaching millions of consumers who have real, proven purchasing power.

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Frost & Sullivan Movers & Shakers Interview
Mark Foster, CTO, Neustar

November 27, 2006

Neustar, Inc. (NYSE: NSR) is a provider of essential clearinghouse and directory services to the global communications and Internet industry. Neustar announced that it had acquired Followap, Inc., a UK-based provider of next-generation communications solutions for network operators that delivers interoperability between operators and Internet portals in five different functional areas: instant messaging, presence, multimedia gateways, inter-carrier messaging hubs, and services for handset clients.

Frost & Sullivan spoke with Mark Foster, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Neustar, about the Followap acquisition and Neustar's plans for Mobile IM.

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IDC White Paper: Common Short Codes: The Time Is Now For Mobile Marketing & Outreach

In the recently released IDC White Paper sponsored by Neustar, "Common Short Codes: The Time Is Now For Mobile Marketing & Outreach," IDC highlights how brands can reach practically every mobile consumer in the U.S. right now by adding a mobile address – a Common Short Code – to their marketing mix. For any brand or enterprise this translates into "one common short code, one call to action" to reach over 200M mobile customers. CSCs are easy to get and use and becoming more and more popular in advertisements, in TV shows and on consumer goods. No organization or brand can afford to be left behind in the rapidly evolving mobile marketplace, and CSCs are an ideal way to quickly reach and engage with mobile consumers. Neustar is making the complete IDC White Paper available at no cost to you. Fill out the form to download the report now and learn more about how you can mobilize your marketing efforts.

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Frost & Sullivan White Paper: Mobile IM: The Next Big Opportunity in Real-Time Mobile Applications
November 27, 2006

Mobile Instant Messaging (Mobile IM) will likely be the next big mobile application market, eventually exceeding the SMS market. While that may seem hard to believe today, the ingredients are all in place to provide for an explosive growth in Mobile IM much like what we experienced in SMS a number of years ago. Once operators all agree to exchange Mobile IM messages, then the technology is in place to allow for hundreds of millions of people to use Mobile IM much like they use Web portal based IM today.

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