Skip to main content

Look to Europe for IMS & FMC Transformation

Two thirds of the world's total VoIP households or 58 million in total, will be served by IMS platforms by 2010 states Pyramid Research's latest report.

"The majority of initial FMC rollouts are expected to be delivered with UMA and without IMS," states Svetlana Issaeva, the report's author. However, several alternative carriers � for example, Softbank in Japan � are planning to deliver FMC via IMS from the start.

Issaeva states that carrier service migration strategies will determine the short- and long-term adoption and revenue potential of IMS-based services. The report found that several IMS migration options are emerging, depending on the type of carrier and geographic location.

Carriers and vendors agree that it will take at least another 24 months before all required pieces of IMS architecture are in place and full IMS services are ready to be delivered. Pyramid anticipates that incumbent telcos in developed markets will start migrating their VOIP subscribers to SIP and IMS platforms no earlier than 2008.

The report concluded that Europe will lead the way in the adoption of SIP voice over IMS, with 35 million subscribers in 2010. IMS trials are most advanced in Europe where the first IMS applications, such as video sharing, are already under commercialization. Most European incumbent operators also have plans to launch FMC services as they fight subscriber and traffic losses to web companies, altnets and MSOs. IMS will be deployed in emerging markets as well, where a combination of WiMAX, EDGE and CDMA1x networks will be used to deliver future SIP services.

Popular posts from this blog

The Smartphone Market's Premium Pivot

The global smartphone market closed 2025 with a story less about recovery and more about transformation. Premium product, ecosystem lock-in, and manufacturing scale are now the forces shaping competition. For business and technology leaders, the latest IDC market study data confirms that smartphones remain a critical indicator of consumer demand, supply chain health, and AI commercialization at the edge. Smartphone Market Development Global smartphone shipments grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q4 2025, reaching 336.3 million units and bringing full-year volumes to 1.26 billion units — a modest 1.9 percent annual increase, according to IDC. This smartphone growth emerged despite a memory shortage crisis, tariff volatility, supply chain disruption, and macroeconomic headwinds. What stabilized demand? Two factors: sustained growth in premium devices and strong foldable momentum, combined with accelerated purchases as consumers bought ahead of anticipated price increases. Buyers weren...