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Report in a Nutshell

This publication offers a valuable independent assessment on the status of IMS that can help all in the industry have a clear view on its current status and the likely paths operators will take in the evolution of their networks.

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.

Target Audience:

• 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 to 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.

Key Report Findings:

• 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.
  
  

Companies in Report*

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
  
  

*Note: This is not a complete list, representing only those willing to have their company name listed in this report. Many operators were happy to share their views but preferred not to be identified because of their PR (Public Relations) approval process.

Table of Contents

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)