IMS Week-in-Review for May 29-June 2, 2006

By Mae Kowalke

TMCnet Associate Editor

 

This was a short business week because of Memorial Day on Monday, but that didn’t stop the presses in terms of IP Multimedia Subsystem (News - Alert) (IMS) news.

 

In this edition, we bring you updates from TeleSciences, MetaSwitch, Convergin, BTC, BridgePort, and Ditech. Plus, a look at the current state of the IMS market and a discussion comparing IMS and UMA.

 

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On Tuesday, telecommunications equipment provider TeleSciences announced a partnership with MetaSwitch, a manufacturer of network products for next-generation voice services.

 

TeleScience’s 600i Mediation Platform, and Metaswitch’s multimedia-enhanced telephony solutions are now interoperable. As a result, operators making the move to converged networks using IMS can now easily set up blended billing systems to support new service offerings.

 

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Also on Tuesday, a report from Infonetics Research examined the worldwide service provider, next-generation voice and IMS equipment industry. According the report, revenues for the industry dropped 7 percent during the first quarter of 2006, but are up 48 percent from the same quarter last year.

 

Infonetics predicts continued growth for the industry over the next few years, possibly reaching $6.2 billion during 2009.

 

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On Wednesday, Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd. (BTC) announced a deployment deal with fixed-mobile convergence solutions provider Convergin, in order to bring IMS capabilities to the Bahamas.

 

BTC plans to deploy Convergin’s Accolade platform, making possible converged services on BTC’s wireless, wireline and broadband networks.

 

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The news continued Wednesday with BridgePort Network’s launch of its Device Developers Program, designed to spur IMS innovation. The company is providing resources and technical support for device manufacturers and client software developers who participate in the program.

 

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On Thursday, Ditech Networks (recently renamed from Ditech Communications) outlined its upcoming exhibit at GlobalComm 2006 (June 4-8 in Chicago).

 

This year, Ditech will be highlighting its VoIP and mobile solutions, with experts on hand to discuss the company’s IMS-related initiatives designed to deliver high-quality, converged communications services.

 

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Also on Thursday, yours truly published an article about the differences between the IMS and UMA standards, in which telecommunications provider Accuris Networks presents IMS as the best route toward fixed-mobile convergence.

 

The topic of IMS vs. UMA has been around for a while (e.g., see this 2005 report from TMCnet reporter Robert Liu) and is unlikely to go away anytime soon. Watch this space soon for details on follow-up perspective from Kineto Wireless, describing how IMS and UMA can work together to deliver converged communications solutions.

 

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That’s it for this week. See you next time!