Jasper Wireless Manages Traffic on Networks

Jasper Wireless, a company that runs the embedded device management systems for some of the world’s largest mobile carriers, is buying policy servers from telecom equipment maker Telekec. Let me translate that into English: Jasper supplies some of the key enabling technology for the “Internet of things,” and it is installing some of the same equipment that operators use to shape traffic on their networks.

It may sound like another arcane bit of telco gear, but you’re probably much more familiar with policy engines than you might think. The policy server or manager is what throttles back mobile broadband speeds when you exceed your monthly data quota. It tells your operator when you’ve been using your phone as a mobile hotspot on the sly. And it charges fees for services that some operators restrict, such as VoIP.