Skip to main content

Next Generation Voice and IMS Forecast

Worldwide service provider next generation voice and IMS equipment revenue dropped 7 percent to $722 million in the first quarter of 2006, but is up 48 percent from the first quarter of 2005, according to Infonetics Research.

Strong annual growth will continue over the next few years, driven by media gateways and softswitches, with the total next generation voice market hitting new highs each year until it reaches $6.2 billion in 2009. Phenomenal growth in residential and SOHO VoIP subscribers is forecast as well. Worldwide, the number of subscribers is expected to nearly double between 2005 and 2006 to 47.3 million, and will continue to skyrocket through 2009. In 2006, there will be:

- 21.3 million subscribers in Asia Pacific, up 50 percent from 2005
- 13.6 million subscribers in EMEA, up 151 percent from 2005
- 12.3 million subscribers in North America, up 184 percent from 2005

"As usual, the first quarter for next gen voice was weak, but year over year, it continues to grow well," said St�phane T�ral, directing analyst at Infonetics Research. "We're keeping our eyes on three emerging trends. First, session border controllers could be used as the traffic cop ensuring VoIP security, and as the security gateway in IMS acting as a P-CSCF. Second, media servers are evolving to become the MRF (Media Resource Function) in IMS architecture. And third, while softswitches are still growing, the pace of IMS deployments -- along with service providers' willingness to find alternatives -- may lead to a diminishing role of softswitches."

Market Highlights:

- A total of $21.6 billion will be spent on service provider next gen voice and IMS equipment worldwide during the five-year period between 2005 and 2009.
- Although softswitch revenue was flat in 1Q06 and will remain flat in 2006, it is expected to grow to $2.6 billion in 2009, as they are the core of next gen voice networks.
- The session border controller segment is growing fast, up 29 percent sequentially and 99 percent from a year ago in 1Q05.
- In 1Q06, media gateways and softswitches made up 86% of total service provider next gen voice and IMS equipment revenue; as more traffic becomes IP, softswitches will increase their share at the expense of media gateways.
- Sonus leads the trunk media gateway segment, Nortel leads the softswitch segment, Acme Packet leads the SBC segment, Cantata leads the media server segment, and Broadsoft leads the voice application server segment.
- In 1Q06, Nortel continued its lead in the combination media gateway/softswitch market, Siemens takes second place, and Huawei emerges in third.

Popular posts from this blog

Open Banking Usage to Grow by 470 Percent

The Open Banking business model has been advantageous for Third-Party Providers (TPPs), helping them to extend their offerings into other areas of financial services with new capabilities. Open Banking is also advantageous for traditional banking institutions, despite the perceived loss of custodianship over their data, by providing greater accessibility to more bank services. Furthermore, Open Banking can help serve Mobile Internet providers that are able to leverage it to create tailored services according to customers’ preferences and/or economic limitations. Open Banking Market Development Since traditional banking services are made more convenient by TPPs via greater data access, customers can proactively manage their finances and shape the development of new financial offerings. This is particularly noticeable in the realm of Digital Payments, where retail merchants and customers transact through eCommerce, which has the greatest number of use cases for Open Banking. These includ

Why Instant Issuance Payment Cards Evolved

The global financial services sector continues to grow as more progressive organizations seek to gain a meaningful competitive advantage from their digital transformation initiatives. Across the globe, many regions are seeing a significant rise in 'instant issuance' activity from a physical and digital perspective, from both traditional and emerging innovative banking institutions. Digital Payments Market Development Customers increasingly demand instant access to banking services, with physical instant issuance enabling them to leave their branch equipped with a ready-to-go payment card. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, the market for instantly issued physical payment cards will increase from 243.2 million shipments in 2022 to a forecast of 471.1 million in 2027. "Critically, instant issuance of payment cards is no longer limited to the physical," said Sam Gazeley, industry analyst at ABI Research . Indeed, the growing digitization of p

Global Digital Business and IT Consulting Outlook

Across the globe, CEOs and their leadership teams continue to seek information and guidance about planned Digital Transformation initiatives and the most effective enterprise organization change management practices. Worldwide IT and Business Services revenue will grow from $1.13 trillion in 2022 to $1.2 trillion in 2023 -- that's a 5.7 percent year-over-year growth, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The mid-term to long-term outlook for the market has also increased -- the five-year CAGR is forecast at 5.2 percent, compared to the previous 4.9 percent. Digital Sevices & Consulting Market Development IDC has raised the growth projection despite a weak economic outlook, because of vendor performances across 2022, growth indicators from adjacent markets, increased government funding, and inflation impacts. The actual 2022 market growth was 6.7 percent (in constant currency), which was 87 basis points higher than forecast last year, alth