IMS Creates New Revenue Opportunities 

By Dag Aberg, Director of Product Marketing, Ericsson

Operators need to offer value-added and premium services such as personalization, combinational service packages, quality-of-service guarantees and more if they want to attract and retain subscribers.

The ability to bundle content and services in an attractive, fresh and flexible way will give an operator a strategic advantage. IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is the next stage in the evolution of converged networks, and will offer the tools and technologies that will allow operators to roll out these new services quickly.

A study by the Yankee Group reports: “In the next 18 months, carriers will implement IMS platforms largely for specific applications, creating beachheads for its market penetration. Beyond that, IMS will become a standard service environment for wireless operators and for creating converged mobile and fixed services.”

Among the initial services to be offered are push to talk, VoIP, video telephony and presence services. But it doesn't stop there. The flexibility of IMS will allow new types of services that can combine voice with multimedia content such as pictures, video, music and games. Every call can have the potential to generate additional revenue.

Björn Qwinth, principal consultant for IMS back-office integration at Ericsson, says IMS is the next step in communication. “Users today pick up their phones and start talking. If they want to share something, a photo for example, they have to end the call and then send an e-mail or multimedia message. With IMS, a user can move between different types of communication all in the same session. In the same call, users can share files or work on a collaborative whiteboard, for example.”

IMS will have significant impact on charging. Data services today are charged by volume because of a lack of ability to differentiate between the types of content being carried. IMS will allow operators to identify data uses and types, and charge appropriately. It brings a level of differentiation to charging that is not easy to accomplish in current networks. “IMS allows greater control over charging without adding additional nodes,” Qwinth says.

This flexibility will strengthen operators’ ability to introduce different charging schemes. With built-in support for real-time charging for all customers, including those with pre-paid and hybrid plans, operators can try different charging schemes and offer service bundles and promotions for a limited time. In this way, they can tailor service offerings for specific target groups – for example, targeting the fans of a football team with an offer valid only during a specific match.

This control of charging will also allow pre-paid customers to access premium services on a pay-as-you-go basis, opening a new revenue stream.