3. IMS

A lot of noise has been made about IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystems), to the extent that it has been declared dead more than once. Pipeline has been covering IMS since 2005, and while the platform didn’t exactly live up to its hype, it also didn’t go gently into the night. IMS finds an ally In the world of Wi-Fi competition, as it can handle voice, messaging, and video calling across multiple types of connectivity. Leveraging IMS is an important piece of the puzzle for operators, as it can deliver the QoE customers expect as they roam between various networks, 4G, Wi-Fi or otherwise.

The next steps for Wi-Fi competition

Operators face a level of complexity that is staggering, but there are more tools available that ever before as well, and many types of connectivity. Competing with Wi-Fi is a potentially powerful strategy, but it requires significant planning. Some important questions to ask include:

• What Wi-Fi or hybrid cellular service plans should be offered to deliver differentiation and what are the specific use cases?
• What are the subscriber device requirements for embedded clients and for multiple domain native dialers?
• What are the provisioning flows for different devices and scenarios?
• How do these requirements differ from the capabilities of new and existing handsets?
• What mechanisms are required to handle voice call continuity across Wi-Fi and 2G/3G?
• Will the MSO use voice over LTE (VoLTE) as an MSO-owned asset?
• What IMS capabilities are required to adapt to the various subscriptions and scenarios?

MNOs, MVNOs, and MSOs who ask the right questions of their network assets and traffic management software capabilities will benefit greatly from a Wi-Fi first approach. From traffic offload, to added capacity, to premium service offerings, Wi-Fi is a competitive battleground like never before because it offers so much value and it is unregulated spectrum. At Pipeline, we were surprised to see Wi-Fi vendors at Mobile World Congress six years ago. Not any longer! Embracing Wi-Fi as a competitive advantage will only become more effective as cellular networks become more overwhelmed and services themselves (like voice) become lower cost.