IMS is a chicken and or an egg, claims HP

IN A REMARKABLY frank admission, HP's Peter Dragunas conceded that a killer app for IMS - the standard for all-IP mobile networks - has yet to emerge.

But multi-player gaming sessions could prove to be a major incentive.

Currently the majority of mobile operators are still running their networks on legacy equipment - circuit-switched for voice and packet for data. Converting their backbone networks onto an all-IP basis means adopting the IMS standard and installing IP-based infrastructure.

That involves considerable investment and, according to Dragunas, it's a chicken and egg situation. Without a critical mass of IMS-ready mobile networks, third parties like ISVs won't develop innovative services and the handset vendors won't produce low cost handsets capable of fully utilising IMS services.

Push-to-talk - or PTT - hasn't provided the necessary impetus, nor has Instant Messaging (IM). Dragunas conceded, for example, that a simple 'presence' for a mobile user could be created without IP.

To establish presence, all the network has to do is interrogate the HLR to see if a subscriber's handset is powered up.

Offering VoIP as a reason for installing IMS is a non-starter, too. Why go to the cost of having sufficient QoS (Quality of Service) to support voice over IMS when it's much cheaper to simply drop the cost of circuit switched calls?

But it's not all gloom and doom. Multi-player gaming is one area where IMS makes sense since it enables a handset to easily support multiple sessions in real-time.

So besides playing the actual game, the handset user could be chatting with his or her opponents via text, IM or even email. Opponents could even speak to each other too!

Dragunas also revealed that HP is showcasing one IMS enabled application at 3GSM Barcelona - video karaoke. That should have great appeal in certain Asia markets.

In effect, we'll have to wait until handsets with sufficient processing power; internal memory and removable storage become affordable not just high end before IMS can take off.

It might take some time. We had to wait for the Blackberry and push email to arrive before GPRS became a 'must-have' option. µ