February 23, 2006

IP Communications Consortium Transitions to IMS Forum

TMCnet News

(FREMONT, Calif., Feb. 22 /PRNewswire)

The International Packet Communications Consortium (IPCC), an international trade association dedicated to the advancement of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) over broadband cable, wireline and wireless technologies, today announced its transition to the IMS Forum -- The Voice of IP Convergence.

The mission of the IMS Forum will be to accelerate the adoption of IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) by providing an environment for discussion and resolution of real-world implementation issues, such as interoperability and standards-based architectures in the application layer. The Forum will also provide consultancy and expertise to the industry on best practices and approaches for IMS rollouts, interconnectivity and convergence.

"With VoIP proliferation continuing at a very aggressive rate, it has become quite clear that we are going through a major transition toward IP multimedia convergence and are witnessing the dawn of a new era of communications driven by bundled services, applications, multimedia content delivery, and telecommunications convergence," said Michael Khalilian, chairman and president, IMS Forum.

"We are witnessing an industry in motion and transition in regard to IMS applications, interconnection with service delivery and security," said Ahmed Bencheikh, Director Devices and Services Technology Architecture, Office of CTO, Sprint Nextel Corporation. "Against that backdrop, the IMS Forum will serve as the industry resource for widespread education. IMS allows for a converged services delivery and signaling and control platform. It is billed as the next-generation solution eliminating the barriers between wireline and wireless networks, allowing for the realization of true fixed-wireless convergence and the associated efficiencies and capabilities."

"IMS adoption is still in its early days, and these new integrated service platforms must be positioned realistically in the evolving telecom ecosystem to facilitate fixed/mobile convergence (FMC), said Yankee Group Chief Strategy Officer Berge Ayvazian. "As voice over IP (VoIP), digital media content and push to talk (PTT) become features on a common IMS platform with access via multiple wireline and wireless broadband networks, it is critical that the industry has a forum to share best practices and service integration strategies."

"IMS certainly represents one of the most ambitious and comprehensive standardization efforts to date specifically addressing the evolution to next-gen packet-based infrastructures by fixed, mobile and cable service providers," said Frost and Sullivan Emerging Communications Program Leader Ronald Gruia. "The IMS Forum can play a key role in bringing together carriers and vendors to tackle issues such as interoperability, business cases and deployment strategies, as well as in educating the people at large about IMS."

The IMS Forum is comprised of service providers, solutions providers, system integrators and government agencies translating industry standards into revenue generating services. Our members develop cost-effective technical frameworks for converged IP services over wireline, cable, 3G, WiFi and WiMAX networks.

The IMS Forum will leverage its heritage and build upon the existing foundation created by its predecessors: the IPCC, the International Softswitch Consortium (ISC) and the IP Multimedia Carrier Coalition.

IMS FORUM FOUNDING MEMBERS:
* Alcatel
* Aramco Services Company
* Brooktrout Technology/Excel Switching
* Cisco Systems, Inc.,
* Convedia
* CopperCom
* Cordia Corporation (BULLETIN BOARD: CORG)
* eLEC Communications / VoX Communications (BULLETIN BOARD: eLEC)
* Kancharla
* Lignup Corporation
* Newport Networks
* NewStep Networks, Inc.
* PBX.NET
* Sonus Networks, Inc.
* Spirent Communications
* Sprint Nextel Corporation
* Sylantro Systems Corp.
* TelKom RisTI,
* Tekelec,
* TMC
* Trendium
* Ubiquity Software
* UTStarcom, Inc.
* VoIP, Inc. (BULLETIN BOARD: VOII)
* XConnect

ABOUT THE IMS FORUM

The IMS FORUM is a global, non-profit industry association devoted to interoperable IMS services and solutions. The mission of the Forum is to accelerate the adoption of IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) by providing an environment for discussion and resolution of real-world implementation issues relating to interoperability, best practices, and standards-based architectures in the application layer. In addition, the Forum will provide consultancy to the industry, service providers, and vendors on best practices and approaches for IMS rollouts and interconnectivity. For additional information or to join the IMS Forum, please visit http://www.imsforum.org/.
The IMS Forum

CONTACT: Mostafa Razzak of 23-31 Communications, +1-646-442-3361,[email protected], for The IMS Forum

Web site: http://www.imsforum.org/