China Mobile to complete IMS trials in August, launch equipment tender in September
Beijing. July 14. INTERFAX-CHINA - China Mobile is likely to complete commercial trials of IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) in August and launch an IMS equipment and service tender in September so it can provide multimedia services like video calls and video conferencing services across China, a source from China Mobile told Interfax.
"China Mobile is planning to build an IMS network ahead of the other two domestic operators. Major equipment vendors, application software developers and system integrators that were involved in China Mobile's trials are expected to participate in the tender. Although the contract value is not yet known, I expect that it will be a significant sum," the source said.
"IMS is essential for China Mobile to provide fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) services. At the moment, it lacks fixed-line network resources and users when compared with the other two operators. With IMS, users can access both fixed and mobile networks regardless of their terminals, which is a very useful service for high value users such as enterprises and government bodies," the source said.
China Mobile started large-scale IMS trials in October 2008, which covered network compatibility and control, as well as support for multimedia services. The operator is in the last phase of trials, which include billing, network resource management and system integration, according to the source.
ZTE Corp., Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks and Alcatel Shanghai Bell, among other companies, were selected by China Mobile to participate in its IMS trials.
-CG