2Q 2009 • info@IMSForum.org • www.NGNForum.org • www.IMSForum.org

Dear NGN Forum Members and Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that our eighth NGN and IMS PlugfestTM will be held October 5 thru October 9th, 2009 at the InterOperability Lab (UNH IOL) in Durham, NH. The NGN and IMS Forums' Plugfests are the industry's only interoperability events covering NGN services over 3G, LTE, WiMAX, wireline, cable broadband and IMS architectures. Plugfest 8 will focus on Interoperability for IP Applications & IP BSS/OSS & Security in IMS Meshed networks in the following areas:

• End-to-end interoperability testing for interconnected NGN and IMS networks, applications and services
• Control Plane and Diameter Protocol
• OSS and BSS Management and Charging Plane

Plugfest 8 is a cooperative effort between a number of our most important working groups, including the Diameter and Control Plane, InterOperability and Test, and BSS/OSS and Security Working Groups. It will showcase the great progress that these groups have made in advancing NGN and IMS architectures. The Plugfest 7 Diameter and Control Plane test plan will be incorporated into the first part of Plugfest 8. More detail on plans for this Plugfest is provided under the Plugfest 8 Test Plan update Section of this newsletter.

Participation in NGN IMS Plugfest 8 is open to all companies. For online registration and info contact the forum at: info@ngnforum.org or visit www.NGNforum.org.

We are excited about the creation of the BSS/OSS & Security Technical Working Group which was announced at the Billing & OSS World Conference & Expo in April. This working group will help guide industry momentum for an integrated BSS/OSS framework to enable cost-effective transition to IMS/NGN environments. It will focus on the billing and charging, policy control and security functions required by service providers to capture the value promised by NGN networks. HP will chair the working group with support from vice-chairs, Comverse and Mu Dynamics.

We also recently did a joint announcement with member company, Aricent, announcing the launch of www.TestNGN.org. The www.TestNGN.org site hosts an industry-wide collaborative platform of comprehensive test cases for the validation of IMS and NGN equipment and services, the first collaborative repository for next generation equipment and service testing. More information on the BSS/OSS & Security Technical Working Group and the Aricent announcement is available in the Technical Working Group section of this newsletter.

We look forward to your participation in our Working Groups and in Plugfest 8. For more information please contact info@ngnforum.org.

Regards,

Michael Khalilian
Chairman and President
NGN Forum and IMS Forum

The International CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment 2009 Convention October 7-9, 2009 San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA

No matter what your business is - healthcare, entertainment, fleet management or financial planning - wireless can transform how you do business and International CTIA WIRELESS I.T. & Entertainment brings this possibility to life. This is the event where attendees and exhibitors converge to generate dialogue, share ideas and debate the economics of mobile business. Register Now! www.ctiashow.com

Market Research Corner

AT&T, Verizon Looking at IMS in a Bad Economy
Several Economic Macro-Trends Are Making the Case to Invest in IMS
By Tara Seals, senior editor, xchange, VON and PHONE+

The economy is in a tailspin, but that might be good news for IMS and the converged, all-IP, anywhere/anytime, revenue-generating applications it can enable. For instance, the IMS/NGN Forum told VON that there are definite "rumbles in the industry" about AT&T deploying more IMS in order to leverage its U-verse network for efficient content porting across its wired and wireline networks, while Verizon Communications is internalizing IMS as part of its roadmap for the same reason.

For its part, Verizon has been deploying IMS in a building-block fashion, and now specifically wants to address complexity concerns in the integration of fixed and mobile services, especially IPTV. The carrier is looking at release 8 and 9 of the standard to bring in the functionality it needs to justify more deployment, it has divulged.

Perhaps most tellingly for the IMS ecosystem, the two American heavyweights aren't alone in taking a look at extending their IMS plans. While IMS right now lives almost exclusively in core networks, with the access side and carrier interconnection pieces largely absent, economic-related macro-trends are emerging that are affecting carriers' network transformation priorities across the board. For instance, CDMA-based mobile carriers moving to LTE (like Verizon Wireless, incidentally) will have a tough time without IMS stitching their disparate, non-standardized legacy equipment together with the new IP-based standard network to provide the same user experience to all subscribers.

"Frankly, carriers don't have a choice but to continue with IMS," said Manuel Vexler when asked about this. Vexler, CMO, Huawei, and chairman of the IMS Technical Working Group for the Forum, has been hard at work testing the blueprint for abstracting applications over a common IP network topology, most recently during the Forum's Plugfest 6 in January.

"They're continuing to roll out LTE for wireless and DOCSIS 3.0 for cable, and there is a clear push towards IP access otherwise," he explained. "Those technologies are more efficient, and they can deliver services at a lower cost per bit, which is critical. If you want to leverage broadband, then you move to VoIP. For video and multimedia to take off, which is the future, you need an all-IP architecture end-to-end and the ability to bridge legacy and new networks, and not just IMS in the core."

It's also a question of considering specific services. "They are in fact moving beyond thinking of this as a core technology because there are relevant end user products and services that you need IMS for in order to deliver a great user experience and interface," said Nicolas Appert, CEO at software platform developer Inexbee.

For instance, Vexler noted that the trend towards cloud services, managed offerings and Web applications makes a case for leveraging the cross-network traffic prioritization and QoS that IMS enables. With more and more businesses willing to leverage these cost- and IT resource-saving apps in the face of a down economy, carriers have a big opportunity in enabling their delivery. "It's increasingly necessary for service provides to go from best efforts to offering some form of quality of service, and it absolutely has to happen if you're providing a mix of services from the cloud," Vexler said. "We have always-on connections now, but that doesn't mean the network understands your service issues, and Web 2.0 without QoS means moments of lapses and freezing-not good for business uptake."

The movement in terms of these drivers playing out is a mixed bag. "It's clearly not a one-size-fits-all proposition," said Vexler. "We're seeing a lot of discussion around all of this, with the first full-scale IMS deployments in greenfield situations, such as in Pakistan."

Besides AT&T and Verizon, other telco hotspots include Telecom Italia in Italy and Telefonica in Spain, which both have teams researching IMS. "They have Latin American networks as well, and both fixed and mobile arms," said Vexler. "I've seen no specific plans, but I'm speculating the interest is because they want to converge all of that."

British Telecom plc is another carrier to watch. "I think it embraced IMS for its 21C Network too early, so it had to go back to the vendors' interop issues," Vexler noted. "Since then they're really in real need of IMS because they put everything on IP and VoIP."

Michael Khalilian, president and chairman of the IMS Forum, does caution that for 2009 most of the interest will translate, much like Verizon's progression, into a building-block kind of approach. "We're seeing more and more service providers using elements and modules of IMS in their networks, service offerings and back office, even if they aren't in full deployment mode. We'll see much more of that this year."

Ultimately, deployment plans depend on where an individual carrier feels IMS can help it make money first. "We are seeing a number of opportunities shape up," said John Nye, vice president of corporate marketing at VoIP vendor Sonus Networks Inc. "For us, enterprise FMC seems to be a first mover. The general view that we're seeing is a gradual commitment to IMS on the part of operators, tied to real ROI. So they're deploying it at first to support specific business cases around specific bundles and services they know will be revenue generating right now."

It's a trend that while piecemeal, will make IMS more ubiquitous as time goes on, according to Vexler. "I think what we're seeing with IMS is a normal progression," he said. "People have been talking about it the same way PCs 20 years ago went through hype. PCs made the cover of Time with the prediction that soon everyone will have a PC on their desk. Then when it actually happened, there was no article saying hey, everyone has a PC on their desks. That's sort of the same thing I see happening now with IMS. One day you'll just realize that it's everywhere."

Commercializing IMS

Carriers might need IMS, but the architecture still has a way to go to fully prove out commercial support for critical tasks like intercarrier roaming. In January the IMS/NGN Forum went some distance to close the gap, demonstrating roaming of services on a multi-operator network for the first time, using commercial endpoints.

"One very important data point for me is the availability and involvement in the ecosystem of end user equipment, not just core infrastructure," said Manuel Vexler, chairman of the IMS Technical Working Group for the Forum. "You know something is real when you have end user devices."

Other priorities for the Forum in Plugfest 6 included addressing OSS and business concerns, like enabling real-time billing and proving federated identity security.

"It's so important that we're addressing real-world issues," said Vexler. "The federated identity support is a big thing because consumers don't like to log on again and again-with IMS the network automatically and securely awards them the right to use the services they subscribe to regardless of how they are accessing them."

Going forward in the two other Plugfests slated for this year, the Forum will test IPTV, and will wrap in access networks based on WiMAX and LTE, with other priorities to be determined by its members as time goes on.

Published with the permission of VON Magazine. Read the article at: http://www.billingworld.com/articles/att-verizon-looking-at-ims-in-a-bad-economy.html

Parks Associates forecasts over two billion 3G subscribers will motivate convergence in mobile and fixed-line services

A new report from Parks Associates finds worldwide growth in the number of 3G subscribers will motivate service providers, under pressure to maintain customer satisfaction and build revenues, to expand on traditional voice offerings to include converged fixed-mobile services.

The Report, Fixed-Mobile Convergence: Consumers and Business Models predicts that the number of 3G subscribers will exceed 2.5 billion worldwide by 2013, with over one billion in Asia alone. The tremendous expansion of this large service population will catalyze the development of fixed-mobile convergence (FMC), creating new service options where users can access video, audio, and community offerings via mobile devices once limited to traditional voice applications.

"Service providers have to offer personalized services that fit individual needs, instead of uniform sets of services," said Jayant Dasari, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. "Consumers rely on their mobile phones for communications and for entertainment and social networking."

Demand for personalized services will expand mobile services from traditional voice to multimedia applications. Parks Associates predicts operators will rely on femtocells to realize FMC as these devices enable them to better monetize their 3G infrastructure.

"Fulfilling such needs used to be impossible because carriers' networks and business divisions operated separately," Dasari said. "By moving voice and data to a single IP-based network, service providers can now put together the required infrastructure and associated back-office frameworks to provide truly converged services."

Fixed-Mobile Convergence: Consumers and Business Models examines the current state of 3G deployments worldwide and the drivers for fixed-mobile convergence. For more information, visit www.parksassociates.com

NGN Forum Q & A

Q & A with Dan Bantukul, Director of Product Management, Tekelec

Please provide us with some brief background on your company.

Found at the heart of most global networks, Tekelec enables the secure and instant delivery of calls and text messages for more than one billion mobile and fixed-line subscribers. The company's session management solutions allow operators to manage diverse applications, devices, technologies and protocols, across existing and evolving networks, to meet the demands of today's consumer. Tekelec uniquely ensures that operators have a clear migration path to SIP-based IP networks, and whatever comes next, with the flexibility to deploy solutions at a pace dictated by their business needs.

What IMS and NGN services and products does your company offer today and what are some of the key differentiators for your company in this market? What are your future product plans?

Tekelec's family of EAGLE® signaling platforms provides a future-proof solution for operators migrating to NGN IP connectivity and deploying hybrid networks requiring interoperability between SIP- and SS7-based network elements. The EAGLE 5 performs key functions such as STP, signaling gateway, intelligent routing, screening services, number portability and integrated performance and service management. In February, Tekelec extended the EAGLE 5 capabilities with the EAGLE XG. The upgraded platform provides a cost-effective, scalable migration supporting IMS and LTE networks with several applications, including a SIP Signaling Router, Call Session Control Function, Service Broker and HLR Router. All of these applications leverage a converged database that will support up to one billion subscribers.

How do the NGN and IMS Forum's Plugfests benefit your company and its customers?

The Plugfests accelerate the interoperability testing of IMS technology and unite global technical expertise to bring the next level of network architecture to operators. The cumulative effort among members streamlines interoperability, educates both operators and technology providers, and addresses variants in technology standards. The collaborative effort eliminates potential issues in the design and development phase and gives operators more robust and proven solutions.

How does a verification and certification process aid in the development of NGN and IMS interoperability/standards?

Verification and certification processes help operators understand the level of standards compliance when investigating NGN or IMS equipment. The processes help establish solution testing requirements against a certain set of standards by recognized organizations. This does not, however, replace interoperability testing that suppliers and operators must perform. This is because equipment may have gone through certification testing against a generic set of test cases that may not match an operator's target deployment environment. Industry-supported interoperability testing provides a venue for verification of common interpretation of the standards documents. Final interoperability testing within an operator's environment may be required to verify the proper operation of the equipment against the target deployment environment.

Who are some of your customers and what NGN and IMS services are they deploying?

Tekelec's network signaling, mobile messaging and performance management customers include eight of the top 10 wireless operators and six of the top 10 wireline service providers. Our customers span 106 countries, and we added 37 new EAGLE customers in 2007 – 2008. The EAGLE XG HLR, SSR and Service Broker are used in Tier 1 operators.

What are some areas of NGN and IMS where you have found challenges for operators?

Interoperability and complexity are two of operators' biggest challenges. Network evolution shows that as technology advancements become available from suppliers for various network elements, operators have more devices, protocols and standards to support, while maintaining a reliable and seamless user experience.

Are there any other critical benchmarks that need to take place in this IMS NGN evolution?

One of the critical benchmarks to measure is the comparison between the same -level key performance indicators (KPIs). As an example, for IMS-based voice services, operators should setup a benchmarks system that measures various voice KPIs against TDM-based voice service. Another example is for data services, where the benchmarks should be measured against pre-IMS data service (e.g. non-IMS IP TV service).

What are some of the key factors for NGN and IMS success in the industry?

As more IP-enabled devices connect to the network, service providers will need new ways to efficiently handle and route their signaling traffic, cost-effectively maintain interoperability between SIP and SS7 network assets, and meet subscribers' demands for new services. Progression to NGN and IMS architectures requires that operators continue leveraging their existing assets to derive maximum value and determine the pace of their network evolution to new technology.

To have your company considered for a profile in the Q & A section of this newsletter send an email to pr@ngnforum.org.

NGN Forum Working Groups Update

Plugfest 8 Test Plan update

Plugfest 8 will focus on Interoperability for IP Applications, IP BSS/OSS & Security and NGN Interoperability in Meshed networks in the following areas:

• End-to-end interoperability testing for interconnected NGN and IMS networks, applications and services
• Control Plane and the Diameter Protocols
• OSS and BSS Management and Charging Plane

Examples of topics to be included in Plugfest 8 include:

• Application and Feature Testing: Applications that are able to interoperate across the interface; different implementations using different methods to meet the Control Plane and Diameter requirements On-line and off-line charging
• Basic Diameter Protocol Conformance: Connectivity and Peering, Routing and Relaying of messages and Redirect Agent providing routing instructions to peer nodes
• Interface Compliance testing: The 3GPP standard interfaces that use Diameter
• Expanded usage of fully qualified domain names within both the SIP and Diameter interfaces. Use of DNS to provide round-robin load balancing to multiple I-CSCF systems
• Extended use of NAPTR and SRV records by limiting the number of records
• Multi-domain scenarios
• Further study of IPsec on the Gm interface
• Inclusion of IPv6 within the core network
• Topology hiding scenarios: IMS/NGN Control Plane interoperability
• Topology hiding border controllers, legacy network gateways, service location function, and policy control elements

Participation in NGN/IMS Plugfest 8 is open to all companies. All interested parties are invited to join the group ASAP to help with the planning of this next test event. For online registration and info contact the forum at: info@ngnforum.org or visit www.NGNforum.org.

NGN Forum IMS Forum Technical Working Groups Update

The creation of the BSS/OSS & Security Technical Working was announced at the Billing & OSS World Conference & Expo in April. This working group will help guide industry momentum for an integrated BSS/OSS framework to enable cost-effective transition to IMS/NGN environments. It will focus on the billing and charging, policy control and security functions required by service providers to capture the value promised by NGN networks. HP is the chair of the working group and Comverse and Mu Dynamics are vice-chairs. Other industry leaders such as, Acision, Aricent, DSET, Marben Products, NE Technologies, Tech Mahindra, and Tekelec are also founding members.

The Working Group will develop guidelines on the business and technical aspects of BSS/OSS and security in IMS and NGN services and will define the architecture and requirements for network interoperability and reliable, real-time IP service application deployment. It will focus on the operational and management aspects of converged IMS/NGN applications and services delivered over wireless (3G, LTE), wireline (DSL, optical) and cable broadband. Working Group participation is open to all members. For more info. send an email to admin@ngnforum.org.

The Diameter/Control Plane working group is progressing to the last stages of work prior to Plugfest participation. The Diameter group started the year with working on the Test strategy document and having ratified it with all the members of the working group moved to developing detailed test plans for the Plugfest participation.

The group plans to have a detailed test plans on IMS Control plane functionality focused on the Diameter protocol. This test plan is targeted at ensuring IOT between the various nodes of the IMS architecture interacting through Diameter interfaces and will exercize these interfaces at protocol, application and service level. It fully complements IMS end to end testing already established by IMS Forum by ensuring a greater IMS control plane IOT coverage at IMS node interface level.The test plans will be ratified by the group members and approved in July 2009. The test plans will be executed in October 2009 at the IMS/NGN Plugfest 8 Lab.

For more information on the test plans or participating with the group in Plugfest 8, please contact Mansoor Basha, Technical Director, techdir@imsforum.org or Bruno Deslandes, Working Group Chair, dchair@imsforum.org.

Our other technical working groups were very busy since the beginning of the year with the "Next Generation Policy" white paper, and the planning for the 2009 technical events.

To start, we would like to introduce our readers to a seminal white paper by Kushanava Laha, Chief Systems Engineer at Aricent. The paper, available on our website, discusses revenue policy monetization and OpEx optimization. The White Paper addresses the challenges of optimizing network resources under the influence of subscriber, service, network and administrative policies for delivering Next-Gen user experience across heterogeneous accesses and across multiple administrative domains? The paper covers how to:

• Progress the use of Diameter in IMS and NGN networks through the technical and marketing activities of the IMS/NGN Forum.
• Develop Diameter interoperability test plans and execute tests drawing on IMS/NGN Forum Plugfest events
• Establish liaisons and contribute to the IETF, 3GPP, ETSI, Cable Labs and ATIS Diameter standardization efforts
• Explore the use of Diameter in related areas, such as WiMAX and Long Term Evolution networks.

The group is open to both NGN Forum and IMS Forum members and non-members. To subscribe please send an email to Techchair@ngnforum.org.

We also did a joint announcement with member company, Aricent, announcing the launch of www.TestNGN.org. The www.TestNGN.org site hosts an industry-wide collaborative platform of comprehensive test cases for the validation of IMS and NGN equipment and services, the first first collaborative repository for next generation equipment and service testing.

www.TestNGN.org offers the industry's first community-based, open repository for NGN testing that allows network equipment manufacturers and service providers to significantly reduce the time, complexity, and cost required to introduce next generation networks and services, including equipment such as multimedia gateways, home subscriber and application servers, and services including voice and multimedia over IP, converged Web-telephony services and IPTV.

The repository will allow equipment manufacturers and service providers to download, post and share global testing experiences, quickly creating a high value knowledge base. This approach will help minimize the time spent on test case development, planning, writing and preparation, and accelerate the testing cycle for NGN architectures while reducing complexity and time to market.

Aricent has developed an extensive NGN testing practice, employing more than 1,600 test engineers and test consultants. The practice has over 70,000 test cases for wireless, VoIP and IMS, all designed to speed the worldwide delivery of Next Generation Networks.

NGN Forum Calendar of Events

See the NGN/IMS Forum at the following events:

• Sept. 3: Internet Telephony Conference & Expo, Los Angeles, CA - Using IMS to Deliver Services Across 3 Screens; Is VoIP Dead? Where do we Stand?
• Sept. 15-18: 4G World, Chicago, IL
• Sept. 21: VON Conference & Expo 2009, South Beach, FL - The Apps Race: Building a Developer Community in the New Telecom World
• October 6-9: CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment 2009, San Diego, CA
• October 11-14: CompTel, Orlando, FL
• October 21-23: Supercomm 2009, Chicago, IL - Presentation of Plugfest 8 Results
• October 25-30: Cable Connection, Denver, CO

Showcase Your Expertise and Leadership: Call for Speakers

The NG Forum and IMS Forum invites members to join its exclusive Speakers' Bureau. Member companies have an excellent opportunity to market their companies and senior executives while representing the Forum at future trade shows and conferences. Simply contact us with a copy of the proposed speaker's bio and indicate any specific NGN and IMS-related speaking topics and expertise. Speaking topic abstracts of one or two paragraphs are especially helpful. Please send to: pr@ngnforum.org.

NGN/IMS Forum in the News

Recent NGN/IMS Forum Press Releases

Why Join the IMS Forum

The NGN/IMS Forum's mission is to accelerate the interoperability of NGN and IMS applications and services, enabling enterprise and residential consumers to quickly benefit from the delivery of quadruple play voice, video, Internet and mobile services over broadband via cable, mobile and fixed networks.

NGN/IMS applications and services comprise residential VoIP, entertainment including IPTV and gaming, IP Centrex / IP PBX and unified communications for business including fixed-mobile converged services, videoconferencing and web-collaboration. NGN and IMS networks include DSL, Cable, GSM, UMTS, Wi-Fi and WiMAX implementations.

The NGN/IMS Forum Plugfests, typically held every 3 to 4 months, bring together dozens of industry-leading NGN and IMS vendors from around the world, all of whom build real, full-featured, NGN and IMS networks during the test event.

If you are interested in joining the NGN/IMS Forum, Plugfests or in participating in any of the working groups or marketing programs, please contact the NGN/IMS Forum.

All are invited to participate in the industry's first open NGN/IMS Community where Forum members, those involved in various NGN and IMS working groups, the IMS Linkedin group, our industry and colleagues around the world can participate in active, mutually beneficial discussions. Take a moment to register now.

Our members are shaping the future of the NGN and IMS. Joining the NGN/IMS Forum enables members to:

• Verify and certify interoperability, reduce costs and accelerate time to market
• Participate in technical working groups focusing on service creation and applications for NGN/IMS architecture, framework and deployment issues
• Gain additional visibility through the NGN/IMS Forum's Speakers Bureau, public relations and marketing programs
• Showcase member companies at major telecom, cable, and wireless events in North America, Asia, and Europe
• Receive current market and technology information through newsletters, reports, white papers and conferences
• Gain access to an informed professional network of industry consultants and accredited experts

Have a request? We welcome your feedback on this newsletter.
NGN/IMS Forum Press & Newsletter Contact: pr@imsforum.org