Concurrent remote management of CPE by multiple service providers

Configuration and management of devices in the home is becoming ever more complex for the user. The trend is, therefore, that it will be performed remotely by network and service providers using dedicated configuration servers. The current remote management architectures do not support an environment where multiple parties are involved in the delivery of services and have a stake in the management of a single device in the customer’s home network, such as the Residential Gateway. In this paper, three models are presented to describe the ways in which Multi-Provider CPE Management can be organized to resolve or prevent configuration conflicts. The pros and cons of these models are presented, both on a technical and on an operational level. It appears that the centralized model has the most technical advantages and incurs the lowest costs. However, this model increases the risk of monopolistic behaviour by the operator that configures the user equipment