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SIP-a-dee-doo-dah, SIP-a-dee-ay |
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Thursday, 05 July 2007 |
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Wonderful days beckon for Session Initiation Protocol…
According to a new analysis from ABI Research Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) services will become the norm after 2010 and will rapidly begin to dominate the world’s telecommunication markets. By 2012, judges ABI, almost half of all telecom users will be using at least one SIP-based service, but more than likely will have many services from multiple devices able to communicate with other users and services across the Web and between enterprise and public networks. ‘The Worldwide SIP Services Market’ estimates that this will generate over US$150bn in service revenue annually with cumulative infrastructure capital expenditure of over US$10bn by that date.
ABI argues that a move to all-IP networks is the chosen path for introducing new services, with NGN as the ultimate goal. “The path to this all-IP goal is complicated: migrating existing services onto IP networks while retaining resources until they can be taken out of service is not a straightforward process,” ventures ABI Research analyst Ian Cox. “Mobile operators’ voice services are already optimised to reduce network traffic, and the move to VoIP is not an easy choice until the introduction of LTE or HSPA. One method that has gained some momentum is to use an IP overlay based on SIP. This allows new services to be designed and launched using a well-supported standard that also opens the way to bring Web services, service delivery platforms, and ultimately IMS into the network.”
“Using SIP, telephony becomes another Web application, which can be integrated into other Internet services. It allows service providers to build converged voice and multimedia services,” adds Cox.
By 2012, ABI Research expects almost 1.2bn voice over IP (VoIP) users to be active, most users also subscribing to several forms of messaging and video sharing driven by the interest in user-generated content. Additional services supported by SIP will include presence, click-to-dial, buddy lists, email and Web access which are assumed to be ‘core’ services and will be included as standard in any service offering, and bundled with broadband access. A portion of the VoIP users will also be connected to a fixed-mobile convergence service.
John Williamson
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