Airvana and VeriSign Team for Femtocell Network Authentication

(Business News & Technology News, 25 Jun 2009)

Airvana Inc., the company transforming the mobile experience, and VeriSign Inc., a trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the networked world, announced that the two companies are working to deploy device certificates for Airvana's HubBub UMTS Femtocell. The certificates will be embedded into the HubBub UMTS femtocell, allowing operators to authenticate these devices before allowing access to core networks and services.

Device certificates are unique digital identifiers that are embedded into a device -- for instance, a femtocell -- to enable strong authentication and encryption. By seamlessly and securely authenticating devices on the operator's network, device certificates eliminate the need for passwords or any action from the end user. As a result, network operators can ensure that only trusted devices will be authorized to make connections while rogue devices will be easily identified and blocked from gaining access.

The work between VeriSign and Airvana builds on efforts currently taking place within the Femto Forum and the 3GPP SA3 security standards group to establish an implementation standard for network authentication for femtocells using a certificate-based model. The use of certificates has already proven successful for similar technologies such as cable modems -- with VeriSign providing trusted solutions for that community. The collaboration between the two companies will provide an authentication solution for operators deploying Airvana HubBub femtocells. The joint effort will also help drive authentication requirements for femtocells, which in turn will accelerate industry efforts toward a common approach that will facilitate large-scale, multi-vendor femtocell implementations. This activity represents a meaningful step forward in the implementation of 3GPP's overall femtocell-to-core network interface specifications including Iuh communications protocol and device management.

"Collaborating with Airvana, a leader in the femtocell market, will once again allow VeriSign to implement security into a device-driven network at the earliest stages of development of a technology ecosystem," said Adam Geller, vice president of PKI solutions at VeriSign. "As with other network access technologies, security is of critical importance to the long-term prospects for widespread adoption. Operators need to know that their deployment of femtocells will not compromise their core networks, and subscribers want assurance that their home networks are secure. Using certificates to manage the relationship between the femtocell and the core network is one of the most efficient and cost-effective methods to provide this level of trust to all parties involved."

"Both operators and subscribers must be confident that femtocell technology is highly secure in order to embrace it fully," explained Glenn Laxdal, vice president of femtocell product management, Airvana. "Airvana has been at the forefront of solving tough femtocell implementation challenges including RF interference and femto service management. Through our work with VeriSign we are tackling one of the last implementation hurdles and will deliver to operators and subscribers femtocell technology that is backed by a recognized leader in security and authentication technology and services."
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