Enabling IMS
Service providers pin their hopes on expanding delivery architecture
americasnetwork.com
"A likely integration partner for BellSouth is Cingular, the wireless joint venture that BellSouth co-owns with SBC. Not surprisingly, Cingular also sees converged services as a key benefit of IMS, to the point where it sees value in deploying IMS infrastructure even in advance of third-generation wireless network rollouts. "The youth market is a big focus for us," says Kelly Williams, Cingular executive director of core strategy. "It's clear the gaming market is huge."
Cingular anticipates deploying IMS "within the next year to two," Williams says, adding that IMS is one of a "handful of infrastructure initiatives" that the carrier is pursuing. In comparison with some of those other initiatives, which include integrating the AT&T Wireless network that Cingular recently acquired, "IMS is not an incredibly expensive architecture to roll out," says Williams.
"We see enough revenues to justify deployment of IMS," Williams adds. Although declining to provide an estimated payback period, he says all carriers aim to reach break even more quickly today than in years past. |
