MWA: IMS Catalyst unites the lifecycle

DALLAS--Seamless and profitable services are ideal goals for the IP Multimedia Subsystem. And a group of TM Forum members, including service providers from China and Taiwan, got together in one of the forum’s Catalyst projects at Management World Americas to show that the goal is achievable.

The project--sponsored by China Unicom and Chunghwa Telecom and including Microsoft, ZTE and Amdocs--will present the lifecycle of an IMS-based video-telephony service (deployment, activation, charging and management, real-time audio-visual communication) offered across a range of devices, including Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phones and laptops.

“Catalyst projects enable us to work together with a number of vendors to make something real,” said Cassandra Millhouse, director of product marketing for Amdocs’ OSS division. “It gives us an opportunity to stretch the imagination of service providers to see what they really can achieve in a fairly straightforward manner.”

It also gives operators who might otherwise not have the opportunity to partner to do so in an intellectual way and share results in a more collaborative environment, Millhouse said.

Microsoft’s Connected Services Framework will stand as Chunghwa Telecom’s One Stop Service Manager for service activation. ZTE will contribute its multi-network convergence solution for session control, and Amdocs will showcase its IMS charging and mediation solution.

The goal is to provide a unique industry reference model for transforming IMS technology into a business value. Both China Unicom and Chunghwa telecom will be rolling out IMS platforms to allow centralized support for all services.

China Unicom ran a full-year IMS trial from August 2006 through July of this year in which it verified the fundamental functions of IMS network elements. It is now turning its sights on the OSS/BSS aspect of IMS services.

Having come through part of that process, Zhang Zhijiang, general manager of China Unicom’s technology department said, “It is clear to us that next-generation OSS and BSS are crucial for monetizing IMS services.”

Lu Shyue-ching, president of Chunghwa Telecom, followed that statement by saying the IMS platform rollout will enable the company to offer new services more rapidly at a lower cost. “This will help us establish a competitive edge for our future growth into emerging markets,” he said.

China Unicom has more than 140 million wireless subscribers and is the third largest mobile operator in the world. Chunghwa Telecom is the largest multi-play provider in Taiwan, with more than 20 million subscribers.

Lu Shyue-ching said any system that can help it achieve its goals must be NGOSS compliant.

Amdocs will work with HP to demonstrate IMS charging for rich media file-sharing using Amdoc’s IMS Charging solution and HP’s IMS Applications Evaluation Environment. Their aim is to simplify the extraction of key billing and real-time rating variables from an IMS end-user transaction through simple-to-use graphical user interface screens, resulting, if all goes well, in a new level of charging and billing flexibility for ensuring the maximum revenue potential of an IMS session.

Millhouse calls this project a proof point that puts these players at the forefront of standards for charging in IMS. “We are trying to demonstrate how return [on investment] can be achieved in the space of a single project,” she said.

Although this is a Phase I project, it builds on the output from last year’s One Stop for FTTx Services Catalyst project. Ultimately the group will propose a methodology for provisioning of IMS services using the NGOSS framework, show how IMS-related standards such as MTOSI, SuM and Tispan can be leveraged and apply a charging policy to future IMS features.