(Updates with additional company and analyst comments)

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Juniper Networks Inc. (JNPR) is set to unveil software designed to improve the performance of mobile networks hit with surging wireless traffic.

The announcement, which will officially be made at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week, is part of the network gear maker's larger push to address the part of the wireless network that directly affects the customer experience, an issue that has garnered a lot of attention thanks to the lingering problems associated with AT&T Inc.'s (T) ability to handle the Apple Inc. (AAPL) iPhone.

"What was a convenience is turning into frustration with the experience," Kim Perdikou, general manager of Juniper's infrastructure products group, said about smartphones. "You need to be able to deliver, or you'll get a customer rebellion on your hands."

Juniper's software offerings are designed to divert nonessential mobile traffic, optimize the network to improve the delivery of video and ease the way to upgrade to next-generation wireless technology.

The announcements underscore the growing need for equipment providers to create a full slate of products to address not just the traditional fixed-line network, but the wireless infrastructure as well. Rival Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), for example, acquired Starent Networks for roughly $3 billion to bolster its own mobile infrastructure services.

"It's that tipping point where carriers really have to start looking for network transformation," said Godfrey Chua, an analyst at research firm IDC.

In October, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Juniper said it was working on routers and software specifically geared for handling immense traffic across cellular networks. The project, which it dubbed Project Falcon, was designed to enable the company to better compete against Cisco, as well as telecom vendors like L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. (ERIC). The latest offerings represent the first developments from that project.

In the second quarter, Juniper will release Traffic Direct, which will be able to reduce network congestion by moving up to 70% of the wireless traffic into the landline infrastructure. Perdikou said that the software will reduce the need for more expensive network upgrades and that one large telco is already using the service. Juniper also will release Media Flow, designed to push higher quality video across the network.

Toward the end of the year, Juniper will release Mobile Core Evolution, made to help service providers reduce the cost of delivering mobile traffic, as well as to pave the way for a smooth upgrade to fourth-generation, or 4G, wireless technology.

Juniper's offerings, however, face significant challenges. The company is a smaller player competing against incumbent providers such as Cisco.

Juniper's outsider status, which means the company isn't burdened by existing infrastructure, means it can be more flexible in delivering services, Perdikou said.

The larger carriers, meanwhile, are more willing to take a look at smaller players than before, giving companies such as Juniper an opportunity to win new business, Chua said, adding the company will need to stand on the strength of its products rather than existing relationships.

A majority of the largest telcos, most of which are already Juniper customers, have expressed interest in the offerings, said Perdikou, who declined to specify the cost of the software.

Before the Project Falcon announcement, Juniper had worked in the backbone of the network as well as the part known as backhaul, or the ground line connecting cellular towers to the central office. But the issues with service over the past few months have been centered closer to the edge, where consumers are directly affected.

In recent trading, Juniper shares rose 11 cents to $25.11.

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