IMS Week-in-Review for May 1-5, 2006

By Mae Kowalke

TMCnet Associate Editor

 

This week, we bring you IP Multimedia Subsystem (News - Alert) (IMS) news from Siemens (News - Alert) and Time Warner, Technology Marketing Corporation, the Federal Communications Commission, and Cantata Technology.

 

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Let’s start with an announcement from Siemens Communications Inc. and Time Warner Cable that the two companies successfully demonstrated how IMS standards can be used to deliver fixed-mobile convergence.

 

The demonstrations—hosted at Time Warner Cable’s Herndon, VA facility—included fixed line, mobile, and WiFi (News - Alert) broadband technologies.

 

A Business Wire report said that the demos “show how consumers can now enjoy shared multimedia applications, entertainment features and communication sessions - including converged wired and wireless solutions.”

 

TMCnet blogger Tom Keating commented in a May 3 posting that “IMS is going to be huge due to its ability to go beyond Triple Play’s ‘simple’ offering of three services to instead offer customers a customized and personalized experience that integrates all three disparate services.”

 

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On Tuesday, Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) announced the launch of two new events—IMS Expo and Call Center 2.0—that are scheduled for Oct. 11-13, 2006.

 

“IMS Expo is the premier event focusing on IP Multimedia Subsystem, which is the next-generation networking architecture for service providers who wish to provide mobile and fixed multimedia services,” TMC said in a press release.

 

The event will be held at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Registration and other information is available at www.itexpo.com.

 

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On Wednesday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC (News - Alert)) issued an order giving all VoIP and broadband Internet providers 90 days to come into compliance with Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) security requirements.

 

Luckily for companies like SS8 Networks—which recently extended lawful intercept capabilities to the IMS architecture—the FCC is permitting carriers to use turnkey solutions from third-party vendors.

 

“However, the FCC made it clear that, if a carrier chooses to use the third-party option, it remains responsible for ensuring the timely delivery of call-identifying information and call content information to law enforcement agencies,” TMCnet News Analyst Robert Liu said.

 

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Finally, this week TMCnet profiled Cantata Technology, a company that provides communications hardware and software for delivery of anytime, anywhere IP-based applications. Cantata was formed in March through the combination of Brooktrout Technology and Excel Switching Corporation.

 

The company’s Director of Market Development (Greg Pisano) and CTO (Eric Burger) share a seat on the IMS Forum board of directors.

 

For those not familiar with it, IMS forum (formerly known as International Packet Communications Consortium), is an international, non-profit organization devoted to maintaining the IMS architecture and to promoting interoperability of IMS services and solutions.

 

“IMS has been widely adopted by wireline, wireless, and broadband service providers,” Pisano told TMCnet in a recent interview. Cantata, like IMS Forum, is dedicated to helping with initiatives that drive the growth of IMS adoption.

 

Some of those initiatives include establishing working groups, hosting events, providing guidance to IMS adopters, and driving alliances among industry groups.