­The mobile portion of the policy server (PCRF), DPI, and web/video optimization market as a collective whole is estimated to reach $1.4 billion in 2012 and will grow to $2 billion by end 2013. Of this, more than 70% of the market is standalone DPI and policy server related, which is growing at CAGR of 33% between 2012-17, according to ABI Research.

"While policy, DPI, and optimization have traditionally had separate ecosystem vendors, there are some indications that these functionalities might get integrated," says Aditya Kaul, practice director, mobile networks. Kaul adds, "Although there is an ongoing debate within the industry about the pros and cons of this integration, the interworking and cooperation of these three functions is necessary to deliver smart mobile traffic monitoring, optimization, and monetization solutions."

As for the other portions of the monitoring and optimization market, which include UE clients, radio test, radio probes, and routing/transport optimization, there is expected to be some level of consolidation with more and more of these functionalities becoming automated with SON.

By 2017, the overall mobile monitoring and optimization market is expected to reach $8 billion, with DPI, policy, and web/video optimization making up 73% of the market, from the current 50% market share. While network monitoring will remain important, the value will shift towards monetizing the traffic, making policy and DPI much more intertwined than they are today, but also be seen as a critical part of mobile infrastructure spend.