Almost 1.2 Billion SIP Users by 2012

Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) services will become the norm after 2010 and will rapidly begin to dominate the world’s telecom markets. By 2012 almost half of all telecom users will be using at least one SIP-based service, but more than likely will have many services from multiple devices able to communicate with other users and services across the Web and between enterprise and public networks. This will generate over $150 billion in service revenue annually with cumulative infrastructure capital expenditure of over $10 billion by that date.

A move to all-IP networks is the chosen path for introducing new services, with NGN the ultimate goal.

“The path to this all-IP goal is complicated: migrating existing services onto IP networks while retaining resources until they can be taken out of service is not a straightforward process,” says ABI Research analyst Ian Cox. “Mobile operators’ voice services are already optimized to reduce network traffic, and the move to VoIP is not an easy choice until the introduction of LTE or HSPA. One method that has gained some momentum is to use an IP overlay based on SIP. This allows new services to be designed and launched using a well-supported standard that also opens the way to bring Web services, service delivery platforms, and ultimately IMS into the network.”

Cox further comments that, “Using SIP, telephony becomes another Web application, which can be integrated into other Internet services. It allows service providers to build converged voice and multimedia services.”

By 2012, ABI Research expects almost 1.2 billion VoIP users to be active, most users also subscribing to several forms of messaging and video sharing driven by the interest in user-generated content. Additional services supported by SIP will include presence, click-to-dial, buddy lists, email and Web access which are assumed to be “core” services and will be included as standard in any service offering, and bundled with broadband access. A portion of the VoIP users will also be connected to a fixed-mobile convergence service.

Ericsson, Others Top FT's IMS Shortlist - Telecom News Analysis

Talk of FT's impending decision comes as the IMS community faces something of a backlash: Carriers and analysts are increasingly stating that IMS can deliver only some of the features and capabilities service providers will need in the future, and that service delivery platform (SDP) and Web 2.0 application development capabilities are equally as important. (See AT&T Defines Service Creation Platform, Carriers Surf the Web 2.0 Wave, and IMS's Web 2.0 Problem.)