IMS Technology Holds Considerable Potential for Communications Test Equipment Vendors

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) technology remains an important part
of the seamless mobility between mobile telephony and fixed wireless.
Industry-wide adoption of IMS will enable service providers to expand
their service offerings to a wider range of market segments, while
allowing subscribers to experience a level of integration not
witnessed in previous networking technologies.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan
(http://www.testandmeasurement.frost.com), World IMS Test & Monitoring
Equipment Market finds that the market earned revenues of $274.1
million in 2007 and estimates this to reach $1.2 billion in 2013.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides
manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an
overview of the investment analysis and growth opportunities in the
World IMS Test & Monitoring Equipment Market, then send an e-mail to
David Escalante, Corporate Communications, at
david.escalante@frost.com with your full name, company name, title,
telephone number, e-mail, address, city, state and country. Upon
receipt of the above information, an overview will be sent to you by
e-mail.

"The need for fixed mobile convergence is driven by greater
customer needs in terms of wireless coverage, triple play services to
the handset, and delivery of carrier-grade quality of service (QoS),"
notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Olga Yashkova.

"IMS could also essentially and seamlessly add extra functionality
for triple play customers," adds Research Analyst Lakshman Koundinya.

Service providers will benefit from IMS implementation because it
allows for quick service creation through means of simple modular
elements resulting in more rapid time-to-market. Moreover, it proposes
the same structure for wireless, cable or wireline access and VoIP,
data and multimedia traffic. The idea and goal behind IMS will
ultimately move all voice and multimedia communication -- both mobile
and fixed -- to much more flexible, packet-based technologies
consequent from Internet protocols.

In addition, IMS reduces capital expenditure (CAPEX) and
operational expenditure (OPEX) by providing a quick and efficient
transition of all voice services from TDM to VoIP. Its flexible
architecture makes it possible for service providers to construct
their own services and combine different applications for possible
customization.

"A critical challenge to the continued expansion of the IMS market
relates to its significant complexity; besides involving a number of
standards such as 3GPP, 3GPP2 and TISPAN, as well as a number of
protocols such as SIP, COPS and SS7, IMS also defines several separate
functions and specifies support for a number of network interfaces,"
cautions Koundinya. "The variety of communication media,
communications equipment, protocols as well as hardware and software
platforms found in the network and the complexities associated with
such networks poses a serious obstacle to market growth."

A major area of concern in IMS deployments exists in providing the
capability to work with different equipment manufacturers. For
example, customers want the ability to link through Siemens base
station or Motorola base station, follow the signals and the call as
well as track the call quality. However, with undefined standards,
interoperability among different vendors with varied perspectives can
be particularly frustrating.

"No single vendor can provide solutions for all applications in
one platform for successful IMS voice implementation," explains
Yashkova. "In addition, integration of legacy networks is highly
significant for the success of VoIP services, making multi-vendor
interoperability and network interoperability a key challenge in the
IMS voice test and monitoring space."

Overall, prospects for IMS remain extremely positive. Being new to
the test and measurement industry, the IMS architecture offers
tremendous opportunities for test equipment vendors, service providers
and future subscribers. The key to the sustained growth of the IMS
test and monitoring market will be successful IMS deployments and
usage of the architecture.

IMS offers high potential growth in all platforms, including
service providers, network equipment manufacturers and enterprises.
With successful IMS implementation, vendors can guarantee service
level management to end users.

"The success of IMS also relies on how well this architecture can
function in any new infrastructure in addition to deployment in
existing ones," notes Koundinya.

"Moreover, with IMS likely to be involved in new services such as
video deployment, delivering such services in an efficient manner will
create many opportunities for test vendors in the IMS test and
monitoring equipment market space," concludes Yashkova.

World IMS Test & Monitoring Equipment Market is part of the Test &
Measurement Growth Partnership Service program, which also includes
research in the following markets: World Triple Play and Next
Generation Services Test & Monitoring Market, World Wireless Protocol
Analyzer Market, World Security Test Equipment Market. All research
included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and
industry trends that have been evaluated following extensive
interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are
available.

Frost & Sullivan, the Global Growth Consulting Company, partners
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empower clients to create a growth focused culture that generates,
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than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost &
Sullivan's Growth Partnerships, visit http://www.frost.com.

World IMS Test & Monitoring Equipment Market

N1C2

Frost & Sullivan
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David Escalante, 210-477-8427
Fax: 210-348-1003
david.escalante@frost.com
or
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Copyright Business Wire 2008