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To hasten the telephone industrys migration to IP infrastructure, IBM is heralding a new line of Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystems-based offerings.
The IMS products and services aim to speed the migration from legacy telephone facilities to converged infrastructure by using open standards to integrate components from the two environments, according to company officials in Armonk, N.Y.
Specific offerings, which the company has not provided details on, will include hardware and software that help service providers create an IMS-compliant delivery platform. The technology will operate on IBMs eServer BladeCenter T and CarrierGrade Linux platforms. The IMS technology will be sold in components to lower the cost of integration and allow a service provider to upgrade its network in a way that is custom-tailored to its environment. The IMS projects are being tested in Telecommunications Solutions Labs that IBM unveiled earlier this month. The centers—in Beijing; La Gaude, France; Hursley, England; Beaverton, Ore.; Austin, Texas; and Montpelier, Vt.—were conceived to help service providers make use of all IBMs offerings, from research and software to consulting services, IBM said.
Legacy telephone operators are gradually embracing IMS architecture. Last month, San Antonio-based SBC Communications Inc. announced it will use IMS-related offerings from Lucent Technologies Inc. to integrate wireless and wire-line services, which Lucent plans to introduce late next year or in early 2007.