Ericsson wins IMS contract with Vodafone Germany

Ericsson has signed a contract with Vodafone Germany to be the sole supplier of IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem). Ericsson will also supply a comprehensive range of professional services to ensure a successful network implementation and integration by mid-2007.

The decision to adopt IMS reflects Vodafone’s MobilePlus Strategy, which involves IP-based communications combining the best of the mobile and internet/PC worlds. The contract also sees Ericsson providing professional services such as installation, integration, consultancy, testing and support.

Stefan Kindt, President, Ericsson Germany, said: “IMS will provide a smooth, service-driven, low-risk path that allows Vodafone to sustainably evolve its customer offering while supporting a range of applications that can generate additional revenue streams in the future.”

IMS is a standardized, cost-efficient system that allows operators to rapidly roll out new telecom-grade services to their customers. From an end-user perspective, IMS allows access to multimedia content and applications, and provides the same look and feel for end users, irrespective of which network or device they choose.

IMS allows users to access a common set of services and capabilities from any fixed or mobile device. It supports a variety of multimedia applications – such as Voice over IP, whiteboard and messaging – at the same time. The multi-service, access-independent architecture of IMS acts as an enabler of service and network convergence, and is a natural evolutionary step along the road to an all-IP network environment.