Will IMS Fail? In Other Words, Does OTT Win?

If you have been in the telecom business long enough, you have seen a few different "next generation networks" come and go with somewhat mixed market success. 


ISDN was, for some, the first such network. Then there was B-ISDN, known better as "asynchronous transfer mode." 


Then there is IP Multimedia Subsystem, whose ultimate success seems yet uncertain, if its fundamental architecture and goals certainly will be a foundation of future networks. 


And now there is Rich Communications Suite, which builds on IMS. Observers might further note that picture messaging, essentially a broadband version of text messaging, likewise has failed to garner much success.


Pessimists might point out that, so far, none of the would-be "next generation networks" has been a raging success.

To be sure, the functions often are accomplished, but sometimes in other ways. Who would have guessed that a "legacy" protocol such as IP would become, as much as anything else, the "next generation network," in large part.

Optimists keep trying, as standards, whether created by the market, or by standards bodies, are crucial for the global telecom business.

Tyntec is the company Thorsten Trapp formed to provide products based on the mobile industry’s Signalling Connection Control Part protocol used by GSM networks.

Apparently, Tyntec's software is what allows Pinger to provide over the top text messaging services. And Trapp apparently doesn't have much confidence that some of the newer proposed architectures are going to succeed.

Specifically, he is doubtful that IMS or RCS will succeed. The issue is why he believes that. Without widespread handset support it’s not going to become ubiquitous, and even if it does, users will be hit by roaming costs and interoperability issues.

But OTT players merely need an IP connection for their apps.Will RCS Fail? It's a challenging notion, but not historically unprecedented.

There will be standards. The only issue is which standards, and how they eventually take hold. In recent decades it has been "the market" more than the standards bodies that have succeeded.