In The News

IMS - It's Not Just An Acronym

From the December 2007 edition of VanillaPlus - Volume 9, Issue 6

IP Multimedia Sub-systems, or IMS, has been touted as one the most efficient ways to enable the inter-relation of back office systems. Where it isn't already in deployment it is slated for roll-out. So, why has it failed to deliver on its initial promise? Mark Dye reports.

When we last left IMS there was talk of it being a turning point for the industry, but one that demanded a high capital investment [for a change). Even so, at that point GSM, CDMA, fixed line and cable operators were all planning to make their target architectures aligned with it.

And yet, according to research conducted at Comptel's annual Comptel User Group Forum, while a third of operators worldwide had decided to move towards an IMS architecture within the next two years, there still appears to be reluctance in some quarters. A third still have made no plans towards this.

Teething troubles

Like any other technology in its infancy, IMS has had its fair share of teething problems. This is in part due to compliance and interoperability issues, standards gaps, and some finding it difficult to see where the return on investment (ROI) comes from at this point.

"The fact is, not many operators have taken the plunge," says Olivier Suard, director of marketing at Comptel.

Indeed, according to Heavy Reading and analyst Graham Finnie, early optimism about IMS's impact on next-generation telecom services has been quickly replaced by outright scepticism.

"Not only is IMS running behind the schedule that telcos had optimistically set for themselves back in 2005, but there have also been rapid, and in some cases unexpected, developments in the mainstream internet that threaten the very concept of IMS," he says.

Finnie believes over-the-top (OTI) video services, including elements envisaged for IMS-oriented IPTV, are putting pressure on telcos to come up with quick fixes, with no IMS or IMS-like service yet adding value to IPTV.

Web 2.0

Most critical of all, he says, is that the major benefit telcos expect from IMS, a better environment for the creation and deployment of applications, could be undermined by rapid development of more open and easier-to-use Web 2.0 software tools.

Suard agrees, pointing out that IMS has brought network issues firmly into the realm of IT at a time where most operators are still struggling to bring together those two areas of business from an operations point of view. There are other problems too - IMS is not that well defined and vendors have created their own flavours of the standard.

Even so, most feel it is not a matter of 'if' but rather 'when' such technology is deployed.

"At every stage in the evolution of disruptive technologies, there are early adopters, who light the way for more conservative players intent on riding out their existing investments in old technologies. For example, look at the naysayers back in the early days of VolP," says Scott Poretsky, director of Carrier Network Engineering at Reef Point and technical cochair for IMS Forum.

As Sandeep Raina, product marketing director, Network Management, Tektronix, puts it, "The IMS market is in its nascent stage right now, which is to be expected as the convergence operators, who are the prime adopters of this technology, must overcome several technology and services issues before launching their new convergent services.

Despite this, testing continues and there have been several deployments, says Todd Mersch, product marketing manager, at Continuous Computing.

"In the US, AT&T continues to evaluate trial IMS services and envisions a myriad of quadplay offerings that take advantage of their wireless and wireline assets," he adds. "While in Taiwan FarEastTone is already providing fixed-mobile convergence services using IMS."

He puts this success down to the company's desire to deliver FMC, including WiFi, HSPA cellular, and a single number service for multiple client types. "It (FarEastTone) envisioned a service and realised IMS was the most scalable and future proof approach to delivering that service," he says.

So far, says, Eran Sharar, director of IMS Marketing, Comverse, those deployments that have shown success in the short-term are around VolP services.

Success in VolP

"VolP solutions are part of the marketing strategy of various types of service providers, be it mobile trying to monetise home calls, ISP or cable providers trying to expand to telephony services, or ILECs reacting to regulations around LLU and Naked DSL and saving on apex," he says. "IMS in this respect, is not only an enabler for such marketing aspirations, but also the right platform for the technical department's needs in terms of standardisation and future proof to convergence of networks and for additional services."

Comverse has tasted success in Hungary where Magyar Telekom recently chose to develop an IMS network implementing the company's converged services.

Although at present some barriers do exist in terms of business case development, interoperability challenges, internal telco rivalries and competitors to IMS, Dante lacovoni, marketing director at Tilgin, remains hopeful.

"Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, etc. have all made a big impact," he says. "However, the industry should consider these as complementary to, not instead of IMS. Today's operators need to offer more than simply a bitpipe, or they face commoditisation of services and decreasing revenues.

"In my opinion IMS-based applications will be complementing Web 2.0 applications, it's not a case of one or the other," lacovoni adds. "Instead they will co-exist with potential integration between the two."

"Ultimately all communication services will be migrated to IMS," says Sharar.

Too soon to call

Andy Huckridge, director of IMS Solutions at Spirent, feels it could go either way but says it's too early to make a call.

"It does seem that the likes of Google and Yahoo are working against standard service providers to some extent," he adds. "It is likely that there will be a balance between those who are prepared to pay for service and those who want their services provided for free in an advertisement supported way."

However, not all Web 2.0 applications will need to operate in an IMS-based architecture. "Offering social networking applications such as YouTube does not require the service provider to build an IMS network," explains Jay Stewart, director of IMS strategy, JDSU. "Another example is that VolP and IPTV can be run independently without an IMS network or they can be integrated as part of the IMS arch itectu re."

Having said this, there seems to be a general feeling that the swift movement of Web 2.0 tools will force slower moving service providers to catch up and make their play. "There is essentially no alternative to an NGNbased network with an IMS core," adds Huckridge. "The service providers have to adopt it or go out of business to the Web 2.0 companies. There are plenty of users out there who will gladly pay an amount of money per month for a guaranteed service."

In addition, Stewart thinks it is important that people understand that IMS is a reference architecture though. "Some of the perception of 'failed promise' may be the result of a misinterpretation or expectation of what IMS architecture could offer," he says. "Some promises simply have yet to be realised." "IMS is still seen as the main harbinger of convergence, to pave the way for seamlessness in multi-play networks and services," adds Raina. It's left to Hugh Roberts, senior strategist at Patni Telecoms Consulting, to deliver the final verdict.

"IMS, or something very like it, is almost an inevitability," he says. Early adopters will without doubt experience teething troubles and will most likely allocate development resources in as many wrong areas as right ones. Whilst new services will inevitably drive the hunger for more effective and efficient ways of delivering them, there is no guarantee that the service providers will recoup their investments in IMS or maintain profitable margins from them, particularly as the industry itself is undergoing a structural realignment from vertical technology-defined stove pipes to horizontal layering."