Linux, WAP 2.0 come together in new gateway

All right, all you open-source wireless fans: Linux is coming to WAP 2.0. Santa Barbara, Calif.-based 724 Solutions, which makes next-generation IP-based network applications and data services, will announce on Monday that its X-treme Mobility Gateway (XMG) is now available on Linux, in addition to Solaris and HP-UX.

Elda Rudd, 724’s vice-president of marketing, said the company believes this is the first WAP gateway able to work on all three platforms.

“The biggest business value of XMG is that it allows our carrier customers a much higher level of flexibility when it comes to deploying data services on the edge of the network with Linux systems — and at the same time the core of the networks, with Solaris and HP-UX,” Rudd said.

Rudd also pointed to Linux’s overall lower cost of ownership as a major consideration for carriers. “At the same time, Linux provides a high-performant, scalable engine to drive the system,” Rudd said.

The XMG Gateway gives mobile network operators the flexibility to manage
capital expenditure and tighten network security through multi-tier
implementations, Rudd said. “Mobile operators can now choose to maintain back-end
stateful processes on servers running Sun Solaris or HP-UX, and at the same
time deploy Linux for front-end processors to achieve the right balance on
total cost of ownership.”

Yankee Group wireless analyst X.J. Yang said that “implementing an industry open standard such as WAP 2.0 on an open source OS is a natural choice. The high performance 2.4 kernel is an ideal entry point for mobile network operators seeking to benefit from the technical and cost advantages of Linux.”

724 Solutions (NASDAQ: SVNX; TSX: SVN) is a global company with development operations in
Toronto, Switzerland and Germany.