In 1Q17, the PCRF market fell 4% on a sequential basis, but was up 22% year-over-year, to $255 M. The sequential decrease was due to seasonal weakness while the year-over-year increase was due to increased VoLTE related shipments, especially from Asia Pacific as well as sustained demand for more traditional billing and charging use-cases. For the full-year 2016, the PCRF market grew 22% to $934. We continue to forecast that market growth will slow slightly to 18% in 2017 and that the market will reach $1.1 B. Please note that these revenues do not include services, like installation, network planning, outsourcing, consulting and other professional services. The inclusion of these service revenues would add another 40-50% to the total size of the market.

The PCRF is a critical network component that enables operators to implement rules that not only prioritize and direct network traffic, but also assist operators in mitigating costs and complying with regulatory requirements. The PCRF is also critical for operators to efficiently deploy multifaceted revenue generating and customer segmenting services, such as data share plans, complex family plans, usage tiers, and or sponsored data applications that allow use of the network for free for certain applications and/or content. The PCRF is also become the key network component to enable operators to develop services to target specific vertical markets like healthcare, MVNOs, enterprises, and connected-cars.