ENABLING ENHANCED SERVICES THROUGH IMS TECHNOLOGY

Sebastian Schumann Slovak Telekom 24. April 2013. Barcelona, Spain.

SLOVAKIA

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ABOUT SLOVAK TELEKOM

Slovak Telekom Group is the telecommunication market leader in Slovakia Former fixed and mobile incumbent (merger in 2010), Zoznam, Posam

We provide fixed network services, mobile communications, Internet access + content, data services, CPE, ICT services (data center + cloud), radio and TV broadcasting as well as commercial call center services.

The major shareholder is Deutsche Telekom AG, one of the largest telecommunications operators worldwide.

Successful deployments in SEE as well as in DT group: §  One of the biggest national-wide deployment of NGN technology in Europe in 2004,

whole city migrated to all-IP NGN in 2007 §  Fixed network IMS migration started in 2011 (class 5 replacement) §  Leader in IPTV (since 2006), offering also hybrid satellite TV (since 2009) and OTT app

(since 2012) §  Extensive FTTx deployments (360k households)

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SCOPE SLOVAK TELEKOM CASE STUDY

Enabling Enhanced Services Through IMS Technology §  Mobile integration status

§  Overview of new IP based services §  Evolution of the integration platform

Fixed network evolution from PSTN & NGN towards the IMS. Mobile and IPTV architecture overview.

The road ahead…

Focal Points

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COMMUNICATIONS PLATFORM AT A GLANCE CORE NETWORK (FORMER FIXED)

Fixed platform in transition towards IP for a long time Migration from TDM to softswitch based NGN to IMS in the last years

2 NGN platforms 1 IMS platform

Fully software based telephony since 2006 Residential VoIP “Smart” based on open-source Business VoIP “Virtual Voice Net” (Hosted PBX) based on commercial solution Business trunk, IP hubbing for VoIP interconnection

à  Long experiences with many SIP based architectures à  Live customers on the fixed IMS

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COMMUNICATIONS PLATFORM AT A GLANCE CORE NETWORK (FORMER MOBILE)

Mobile platform still “two-fold” “Legacy communications” with circuit switched technology Fast packet-switched broadband access IP is used in the core network (ATM, SIGTRAN), not to connect customers or other networks

First IP based integrated customer-facing services start now

RCS-e on top of the existing IMS VoLTE plans, but no LTE licenses yet available

à  No direct IP integration for core services yet à  RCS-e integration started re-using the existing IMS platform

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COMMUNICATIONS PLATFORM AT A GLANCE CORE NETWORK (IPTV)

Generic IPTV architecture Non-IMS based (ST involved in TISPAN R3, but no decision for implementation) Test/staging/production Microsoft Mediaroom platform (head-end, middleware) Set-top-boxes (with and without HDD)

Web based in-house framework

Application development for IPTV (portal, free.sk, Facebook, e-shop) Web integration (web EPG, iPhone EPG) Magio Go TelcoOTT application

à  IPTV “off-the-shelf” solution has been enough in the beginning à  The need for a flexible integration environment rose quickly à  Different approach (no “legacy”) and no historical role in IPTV business

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APPROACH FOR THE “CONTENT EXPERIENCE”

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Get what you are used to, the way you are used to.

Enriched experience of the traditional product.

Any device.

Customer Experience/Service Experience

"Traditional Stream"IPTV

"Alternative Stream"Web/OTT

Any location. Any network.

APPROACH FOR THE “COMMUNICATIONS EXPERIENCE” FIND PARALLELS

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? ? ?

Customer Experience/Service Experience

"Traditional Stream" "Alternative Stream"

? ?

APPROACH FOR THE “COMMUNICATIONS EXPERIENCE” TECHNICALLY THERE HAS BEEN AN EVOLUTION ALREADY

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NGN

Business Telephony PSTN

IMS

“Best-effort”

Trunking

§  Migrate everything to IMS? §  Migrate something to IMS?

§  Keep all streams separate? Maybe some?

What is the platform strategy?

VoLTE MSC Voice

RCS SMSC Text PLMN

Mobile VPN

APPROACH FOR THE “CONTENT EXPERIENCE”

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Get what you are used to, the way you are used to.

Enriched experience of the traditional product.

Any device.

Customer Experience/Service Experience

"Traditional Stream"IPTV

"Alternative Stream"Web/OTT

Any location. Any network.

ADD VALUE BEYOND

TRADITIONAL EXPERIENCE

APPROACH FOR THE “COMMUNICATIONS EXPERIENCE” IMS HAS TO SHARE ITS GLORY

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Get what you are used to, the way you are used to.

Enriched experience of the traditional product.

Any device.

Customer Experience/Service Experience

"Traditional Stream"IMS

"Alternative Stream"Smart/Web/OTT

Any location.Any network.

More!

+

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Pro’s §  Classical supp. services off-the-shelf

(MMTel) à universal service obligation §  Existing CPE’s/HAG’s/MSAN’s easily

capable of being integrated §  Standardized mechanism to integrate new

services Con’s §  Usually huge IT load for transformation §  Technical challenges (UNI/NNI, multi-

vendor setups, standard deviations) §  Technical vs. commercial perspective §  No “standardized innovation”

PLATFORM STRATEGY EVALUATION

IMS platform & application server

Pro’s §  Flexible and fast in terms of configuration

and integration §  Fraction cost to get started, no licenses/user §  Easily extensible, even if not standardized §  In-house/in-country resources Con’s §  Case-by-case design needed §  Service mash-ups require additional

resources (API modifications, customization)

Lightweight platform

DEPLOY SERVICES FLEXIBLY & ACCESSIBLE IMS APPLICATION SERVERS

ST started migrating IN services to the IMS using a Service Delivery Platform (SDP) SDP spanning fixed and mobile call control for flexible routing & charging

Vendor independent application logic New efforts usable within new and legacy networks Existing services can be easily extended with IMS access INAP, CAP for legacy support integrated, SIP for IMS support

Development on IMS integrated service layer should be future proof

Legacy integration can be achieved by direct integration or through IMS Northbound integration should not be an option, but a must! … and should be done with Web 2.0 technologies/protocols

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DEPLOY SERVICES FLEXIBLY & ACCESSIBLE PLATFORM STRATEGY EVOLUTION

That’s not it – where is experience built in the future? a)  On the IMS (aka “existing stream”) b)  On OTT platform (similar to ST IPTV strategy) Existing services

IMS services proven so far for migrated existing services (main business, real money) Keep existing platforms separate (no immediate integration of trunking or hosted PBX)

New services Once focus is on innovation, the IMS can become very costly very quickly §  For large IMS scale & premium vendor deployments §  Unfeasible for freemium services, trial-and-error

Re-use and granularly extend alternative platforms for innovations around communications §  Development/enhancement of existing best-effort services §  Existing application framework for communications services

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WHAT IS THE ULTIMATE PLATFORM STRATEGY?

Question not easy and universally to answer. Reflection needed on the focal points: §  New telephony platform with similar features as the old one to get started? §  New services fits in concept of sessions? §  Deep network integration needed? §  Is the IT flexible enough (or no advanced requirements for integration)? §  Will the business case fly considering different pace for innovations? à  Case-by-case decision, not just use because it is there (efficiency, suitability). à  Technical pureness vs. commercial feasibility (e.g. trunking). à  Application layer convergence using SDP helps partially (mid-term legacy support).

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SUMMARY

Migration of legacy platforms to the IMS is currently mainly cost driven Lower OPEX and class 5 migration main motivation IMS seen as the best alternative at the moment – following the legacy view of telephony

No innovations from customer perspective Business telephony was there before PSTN emulation is nothing new for the customer

What can Telco’s do once they have an IMS/RCS infrastructure (for whatever reason) Wrong: Look at what we can do with it. Create need or technical motivation. (joyn?!) Right: Check what we need! And what our customers need à Look how the IMS and transitioned Telco infrastructure can help à Be open for alternative approaches

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CONCLUSION

Business is king, not the architecture. §  Main business still legacy à IMS §  Highly competitive market §  To remain competitive, an alternative strategy should be followed in parallel

§  Not the cure for everything §  Bridge to emerging markets §  Faster innovation, trial and error §  Find new business models §  Consider the web (also with regard to payment options, feature activation, etc.) §  Integrate, but offer also means to be integrated (messaging, voice) §  Focus on user’s needs & experience - tech driven services and features are wrong!

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THANK YOU! Sebastian Schumann Senior Designer Slovak Telekom, a.s. Sebastian.Schumann@telekom.sk +421 903 419 345

@s_schumann

sschumann

REFERENCES

[1] Open Clipart [2] Flickr

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