Simplifying IMS

IMS, VoLTE, RCS and LTE

Guy Redmill
About Us
A brief overview of Redmill Marketing Associates

• Outsourced marketing and strategic consultancy services for the

TMT sector
• Strategy
• Communications
• Analysis
• Deep knowledge of marketing and strategic needs of the TMT 2
industries
• Clear, insightful communications and actionable marketing
programmes
• An experienced, multi-skilled team to complement your in-house
resources
Before we begin...
Some Clarifications

• How to simplify the IMS network to associate

greater deployment of VoLTE, RCS and LTE
• Creating seamless and integrated user
experience across multiple networks and
devices is key
• Standardisation and how to successfully 3
migrate
• Future plans and the importance of
interoperability to prevent OTT spread
Before we begin...
Questions and Assumptions

• Do we need to simplify IMS?

• Do we need standards?

• Why do we want to halt the spread of OTTs? 4

• Isn’t there an alternative?
IMS
Why is it so complicated?

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IMS
Why is it so complicated?

• All encompassing
• Evolved by accretion - may contain defunct / obsolete genes
• Must support basic, as well as advanced telco services
• Legacy preservation and protection
• Complex call scenarios
• Multiple network peering / interop 6
• Emergency calling
• Regulatory compliance
• Local resolution
• Security and Scale
But...
It’s not just IMS that should be simplified

• It’s the processes around it...

• Technical
• Organisational
• Cultural
• Financial
• Purchasing and integration 7
• Virtualisation and new business models will help
• Turning of the PSTN to help too
Positive Signs...
But not enough

• Virtualisation removes need for proprietary hardware

• Combines multiple entities into fewer elements
• Depending on scale and approach
• Enables more IMSaaS models or hosted offer or outsourcing 8
• But business processes still need rethink
• Too many complex processes
Seamless Experiences
What do we mean by this?

• On a single device or between devices?

• For what applications?
• Have expectations changed?
• How will expectations change? 9
• Increasing real-time demands will have an
impact
Experience vs Expectation
Users demand consistency across devices

10
Seamless Experiences
How is this to be achieved?

• Network connectivity / coverage

• Behaviour
• Nomadic
• Mobile
• Quality of Service 11
• Controversial but something needs to be done
• Sufficient bandwidth
• Transition / persistence
• Integration
Standards & Interoperability
Complicated but necessary

• Why?
• For complex functionality to be easily replicated
• For choice and flexibility
• To enable a seamless experience
• But achieving standardisation is complicated 12
• Process orientated
• Time consuming
• Must be selective over when & where
standards are used
Standards & Interoperability
Complicated but necessary

13
Interoperability
Within and between networks

• Interoperability within and between networks

• Commercial benefits
• Can be achieved without standards
• But hard work
• Processes help accelerate process 14
• Not the same as SAP integrating with AWS
• Need interop for seamless service delivery
• And to deliver mandated requirements
Islands of Messaging
OTT’s problem with interconnectivity

15
The Messaging Archipelago
How to navigate

• OTT threat depends on subscriber acquisition

• Each community gathers its critical mass
• There are big islands but the biggest is the mobile
community with IMSI
• Most of the rest are walled gardens
16
• Mobile has the potential to unify
• Not the other way round
• We use multiple services but I am only universally reachable
via my phone numbers
The threat...
Is there one?

• Is there a consensus about messaging erosion?

• Conflicting views...
• Apocalypse Now!
• Nothing to see here, chaps
• An opportunity 17
• Portio research:
• 2017 - 2.5 billion OTT messaging users
• 2017 - 6.7 billion SMS users
 The threat... Revenue
The research Per
Hour
SMS
Vs
OTT $3 $15 18
Million Million

OTT SMS
Portio Research
Usage Patterns Change
OTT and SMS use

• 2017 revenue per hour forecast (Portio Research)

• OTT $5.2 million
• SMS $13.4 million
• OTT and SMS are perceived as direct competitors 19
• Zero sum game
• RCS has been positioned as a response / challenge to OTT
RCS and VoLTE
Driving IMS adoption?

• VoLTE is coming
• HD voice quality and making effective use of data network
• CSFB is fine as an interim step but VoLTE will grow
• Phase 2: SRVCC
20
• Anchors voice session on IMS and enables voice services to be
delivered across LTE and legacy networks
• Most expect VoLTE to drive IMS adoption in mobile operators
The Future
What’s in store?

• Interoperability, by whatever means, is essential

• All IP networks also enable OTTs to offer better experience from the
their data-intensive applications
• WebRTC is a big disruptor both for OTTs and operators
• Alternatives to IMS will emerge but voice drives further deployments 21
for mobile
• New network service delivery models are instructive
• Only operators with network coverage can ensure full continuity and
Parasitism?
What’s in store...

22
Symbiosis?
What’s in store...

23
Mutualism
What’s in store...

24
OTT Spread?
What’s in store...

25
OTT Spread?
What’s in store...

• What’s to fear?
• RCS etc won’t change anything
• But it (or something like it) is essential
• Legacy mindset must change - App download
26
• Must embrace change and offer:
• A better experience
• Something different
Embracing Change
How to do it...

• Make interoperability work

• Provide a means of communication that is seamless and not
restricted to specific client applications
• VoLTE / RCS
27
• Voice is critical
• Don’t think about challenging OTTs - consider developing symbiotic/
mutualistic relationships
• OTTs won’t replace MNOs...they need you!
In Conclusion
Summing up

• Simplifying IMS may be desirable, but it is not essential

• Changing organisational processes is
• Standards are important, but not for everything
• Interoperability is easier with standards than without
• OTT is not necessarily interoperable and users need this 28
• OTT is an unstoppable tide - but universal messaging and
voice capabilities plus APIs offers most potential for MNOs
to monetise beyond basic service revenues
Post Script
Summing up

• What services can add value and attract a premium in an

MNO network?
• Enterprise?
• SME?
• SoHo?
29
• Consumer?
• My MNO offers me no value added services at all and
probably makes more from my insurance policy...
What are all of these?

30
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Contacts
How to get in touch with us

www.redmillcommunications.com

@redmill_mktg
32
info@ redmillcommunications.com

+44 (0) 203 137 2070