Alcatel claims world first IMS services via WiMAX

Stuart Corner
Monday, 26 September 2005 18:12

Business IT - Technology

Alcatel claims to have achieved a world first: it has combined two of the hottest technologies in telecoms to deliver IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) based services over a WiMAX radio access network.

Alcatel says its IMS solution connected over three different access technologies: DSL, 3G/UMTS and WiMAX. According to Alcatel "This demonstration clearly showed that the IMS promise of rich multimedia services delivered over any kind of access is now a reality. As a consequence, early WiMAX adopters will instantly be able to communicate with all of their friends and associates connected via DSL or 3G/UMTS worldwide."

The demonstration scenario included typical IMS services such as community management functions combined with audio-video and data messaging, as well as video telephony, push-to-speak and push-to-show.

IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) is a standardised framework, initially specified for mobile networks and then extended to fixed networks, for providing IP-based telecommunications services, independent of the access technology used

IMS is seen as a key technology for the future converged all IP network. According to market researcher, In-Stat, which has just released a new study into IMS, says it "believes that IMS provides a unifying vision for the future of telecommunications...IMS is a revolutionary vision for the future of the telecommunications industry, leading to new multimedia services, new network architectures, new business models and relationships, and new end-user devices with new capabilities."

In the long term, In-Stat says, "all telecommunications services (voice services, business networking services, the Internet, IPTV) will be provided through IMS...[It] will deliver the 'Holy Grail' of convergence of access to multimedia services/applications across any end-user device that all service providers are seeking to offer their customers in the future."

However, In-Stat cautions that "providers have a long list of challenges facing them that must be overcome to fully migrate to a converged network architecture for their entire wireline and wireless businesses."