IMS Gains Momentum

Though “IMS” is a buzzword no more, operators have quietly been moving into the next stage of deployment with the convergence architecture.

"Our 2009 IMS service provider survey indicates that the IMS market is advancing from early-stage services to the next phase,” said Diane Myers, Infonetics Research’s directing analyst for service provider VoIP and IMS. “The two most important indicators are the higher number of service providers planning to offer services beyond fixed-line voice – such as video and mobile services – by 2011, and the shift in IMS deployment drivers, which include the opportunity to offer converged services, deploy new applications and services, and consolidate networks."

Infonetics found in a comprehensive survey of service providers worldwide that 80 percent of them run fixed voice over IMS today or will by 2011, making fixed-line VoIP service the current mainstay of IMS deployments. However, more than half of the service provider respondents plan to deploy video telephony and converged mobile/fixed-line services over the next 12 to18 months.

The top three IMS applications operators expect to offer over the next two years are mobile-related: FMC, mobile presence and mobile messaging.

"On the vendor front, Ericsson continues to be the leading IMS vendor, but Huawei has made the most progress in terms of deployments and vendor perceptions,” said Myers. “Huawei poses a credible and serious threat to Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens based on the number of providers with Huawei IMS products under evaluation, and overall perception of Huawei across a broad set of criteria.”