IMS update: In Utero, In Limbo

The I in IMS stands for ‘Internet Protocol’, but lately it seems to stand more for ‘In Limbo’. Although vendor press releases still frequently mention IMS, many their service provider customers have become relatively mum over the past year. That is not to say that service providers have shelved IMS implementations. Instead, they are pushing forward but keeping quiet because they and their vendors are facing a variety of implementation challenges, some expected, some not.

IMS is part of the larger, longstanding trend away from closed, proprietary systems and toward open, standards-based platforms. It is designed to enable more flexibility and convergence – for both service providers and their customers – than today’s networks do. For example, IMS should make it easier for service providers and their business partners to develop and deploy services that span triple (wireline voice, broadband and video) and quadruple (wireline voice, broadband, video and wireless) plays. Some of that is possible today, but IMS would go a few steps further by eliminating the seams that, for example, force a different user experience on different networks and different devices.

That grand vision is easier said than done. As one major service provider told iGR privately: “The IMS technology based on the standards is not mature enough to provide cost-effective solutions and carrier-grade resilience or scale. Services built on a stricted [sic] IMS architecture are too costly and lack reliability to be commercially attractive. The real issue in rapid deployment of services is OSS/BSS, which is not addressed, and this is predominantly the main restriction in offering services.”

This brief provides an overview of IMS in terms of functionality, standards work and U.S. service provider deployments and initiatives. It also looks at A-IMS, Verizon Wireless’ proposed variant, and AT&T’s CARTS initiative.

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