IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Status Report: Emerging from the Trough of Disillusionment
Report Structure:
This report provides an independent and quantified view of what is happening in the industry with IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem), through the presentation of results from an industry-wide survey that encompasses 137 interviews (101 of with network operators). The report also includes operator and supplier case studies, presenting a factual based current state of the market, without the hype and marketing spin that has frustrated many people on this topic. These two objectives are reflected in the two main sections of this report: Market Survey Results and Case Studies which include Verizon, China Mobile, and Vodafone Spain.
- Network operators including mobile (CDMA and GSM), fixed, broadband and cable operators: Provides an independent status report to cut through the marketing hype to aid in the definition of a realistic network evolution plan.
- Network equipment providers: Provides the market analysis necessary to determine where and when to make product investments, better meet operator requirements, better aid operators in their network evolution, and guidance on where to focus sales resources over the next 5 years.
- Related network component suppliers (BSS and OSS suppliers, service broker / service middleware providers, SDP providers, customer premise equipment suppliers, mobile handset and software suppliers): Provides the market analysis necessary to determine where and when to make product investments and where for focus sales resources.
- Application developers: Provides information about where to invest in building IMS applications, and where to focus.
- Investors: Determines where the investment opportunities reside in the emerging IMS landscape.
Operators
AT&T
Belgacom
Bermuda Telecom
Bharti Airtel
BSkyB
BT
Cable One
Charter
City Telecom
Cox
Deutsche Telekom
Etisalat (and operating companies)
Hong Kong CSL
Indosat
KPN (and operating companies)
Kuwait Telecom
Maxis
Mobilcom
O2
Optus
Orange / France Telecom (and operating companies)
Qtel
Rogers
SingTel
Sprint
Swisscom
T-Com
T-Mobile (and operating companies)
Telecom Italia
Telecom New Zealand
Telefonica (and operating companies)
Telenor (and operating companies)
Telstra
Telus
Three (and operating companies)
TWC
Verizon
Vodafone (and operating companies)
Suppliers
4dk
Alcatel Lucent
AppTrigger
Argela
Camiant
Cisco
Comneon
Comptel
Converged Network Systems
Dialogic
Ecrio
Espial
Genband
HP
hSeind
HTK
Huawei
IBM
Intellinet
jNetx
Motorola
NeuStar
Nokia Siemens Networks
Oracle
OpenCloud
Sigma Systems
Tekelec
Telcordia
TM Forum
Veraz
Wipro
- IMS remains niche, with only 8% of those operators surveyed deploying IMS. (Note, none of those operators have completed the conversion of their network, all considered it a 5-7 year process) Another 12% are in an extended field trial, which is characterized by services being launched on the IMS core, with in some cases paying customers; but a decision has not yet been made to commit to service migration onto the IMS core.
- IMS does not appear to be entering a period of rapid adoption, rather a linear growth in initial adoption over the next 5 years, with by 2014 about 32% of operators commencing an IMS deployment.
- Regionally, NAR (North America Region) provides the bulk of the growth in years 2010 and 2011, while EMEA (Europe Middle East and Africa) and APAC (Asia Pacific) regions provide the bulk of growth in later years.
- Lack of business case, lack of standards compliance and BOSS (Business and Operational Support System) integration were the top three barriers to adoption as identified by operators.
FORWARD
Executive Summary
Operator Recommendations
Network Equipment Recommendations
Service Layer Component (e.g. Service Broker) Recommendations
Mobile Handset Vendors
Application Developer Recommendations
Investor Recommendations
Introduction and Background
Purpose
Brief IMS review
IMS Market Survey Results
Background on the Research
Operator Interviewee Analysis
Supplier Interviewee Analysis
IMS Activity
IMS Barriers
Vendor Perception RankingS
IMS Plans
IMS Pricing
Rich Communications Suite
Alternatives and paths to IMS
IMS Market Survey Conclusions
Case Studies
Verizon Communications Case Study
Verizon Background
Principles behind Verizon's IMS deployment
Breaking down the Silos
Service Delivery Ecosystem
Integration Experience
Conclusion
China Mobile Case Study
Vodafone Spain Service Broker
Explaining the Service Broker
Vodafone Spain HomeZone Service
AppTrigger Case Study of an APAC Operator
Case Study Review
Where the market is going: IMS prognosis
Conclusions and Recommendations
Operator Recommendations
Network Equipment Recommendations
Service Layer Component (e.g. Service Broker) Recommendations
Mobile Handset Vendors
Application Developer Recommendations
Investor Recommendations
Appendix 1 - AcroNyms
Appendix 2 - Companies Interview
Operators
Suppliers
Table of Figures
Figure 1. Operator IMS activity, and Distribution by Operator Type
Figure 2. Cumulative Percentage of Operators by year they anticipate starting IMS Deployment
Figure 3. IMS Barrier and Frequency of Occurrence from Operators
Figure 4. Supplier Ranking of Barriers
Figure 5. Estimate of the Initial Application of IMS
Figure 6. Alternatives and Paths to IMS
Figure 7. IMS Architecture
Figure 8. Split between Operator and Supplier Interviews
Figure 9. Geographical Distribution of Operators Interviewed
Figure 10. Operator Types Interviewed
Figure 11. Distribution of Operator Interviews by Role
Figure 12. Geographical Distribution of Suppliers Interviewed
Figure 13. Distribution of Supplier Interviews by Role
Figure 14. Distribution of Supplier Interviews by Type of Supplier
Figure 15. Operator IMS Activity and Distribution by Operator Type
Figure 16. Live IMS Services
Figure 17. IMS Barrier and Frequency of Occurrence from Operators
Figure 18. Supplier Ranking of Barriers
Figure 19. IMS Vendor Ranking (Perception based)
Figure 20. IMS Vendor Ranking Regional Variation
Figure 21. Cumulative Percentage of Operators by year they anticipate starting IMS Deployment
Figure 22. Estimate of the Initial Application of IMS
Figure 23. Potential Service Drivers
Figure 24. IMS Price Range per Region (Cost per Subscriber in US Dollars)
Figure 25. Rich Communication Suite Results
Figure 26. Alternatives and Paths to IMS
Figure 27. IMS Evolution
Figure 28. Verizon's IMS and SDE Vision (source Verizon)
Figure 29. Shared Infrastructure Vision (source Verizon)
Figure 30. Legacy Integration (source Verizon)
Figure 31. China Mobile Network Architecture (source Huawei)
Figure 32. China Mobile Target Architecture (source Huawei)
Figure 33. Service Roadmap (source Huawei)
Figure 34. Typical Prior Situation (source OpenCloud)
Figure 35. Service Broker Extending Pre-pay Applications (source OpenCloud)
Figure 36. Vodafone Spain Service Broker Scenario (source OpenCloud)
Figure 37. APAC Operator Situation (source AppTrigger)
Figure 38. Operator Decision Matrix (source AppTrigger)
Figure 39. Proposed Solution (source App Trigger)
Figure 40. Total Cost of Ownership Analysis (source AppTrigger)
Figure 41. Return on Investment Analysis (source AppTrigger)
