Telcos' IMS spend to hit $4.5bn

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Investments in IMS - a type of next-generation network architecture for telcos - are set to reach more than $4bn before the end of the decade when the market peaks, analysts have predicted.

A new report from Informa Telecoms and Media has found that IMS (IP multimedia subsystems) will flourish in the mobile world where 188 million users will be taking advantage of IMS-enabled services by 2011, including push to talk over cellular (PoC) and IM.

IMS will also make a slight impact in the fixed world, with approximately 39 million users experiencing IMS services such as voice over IP (VoIP) and IPTV, a way of piping on-demand video down phone lines.

According to the analysts, IMS will find its feet in the next two years, when ongoing pilots start to firm up into tangible strategies.

Despite potential cost-savings, the business case for deploying IMS is not yet proved, Informa Telecoms and Media said. Most operators will however, start deploying IMS in order to roll out new services.