Sprint taps Bridgewater for Xohm security

Sprint this week said it will use network access control technology from Bridgewater Systems to control access to its planned Xohm WiMAX network.

Bridgewater provides so-called authentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) services for Sprint’s existing CDMA network; the new deal will extend the solution to Xohm. The security controls will be particularly important for the WiMAX-based network, which, at least in theory, is offering more open network access.

In addition to providing basic network access control functions, Bridgewater’s technology will help enable over-the-air provisioning of new devices, subscribers and services.

Bridgewater’s AAA Service Controller features a common policy and subscriber profile repository that can simultaneously serve multiple access networks, giving service providers a unified view of their wireless subscribers. Sprint will use the security platform to concurrently support both its 3G and 4G networks from a common infrastructure.

Leveraging Bridgewater for both Sprint’s existing CDMA and upcoming WiMAX networks is “extremely cost-beneficial,” Douglas Smith, chief technical operations officer at Sprint Nextel, said in a statement.

Bridgewater said it has been selected by nine WiMAX operators to provide a range of service control solutions. Its AAA Service Controller is compliant with the WiMAX Forum’s Network Working Group Stage 3 specifications. It also features concurrent support for RADIUS and Diameter, as well as broad supplemental authentication protocols such as EAP-TLS and EAP-TTLS.