Service Delivery Platform Deployments to Reach Nearly 950 by 2013

(Business News & Technology News, 11 Nov 2008)

Deployments of Service Delivery Platforms (SDP)—those combinations of hardware, software, applications and professional services that bridge other elements of telephone networks to allow delivery of converged multimedia services to subscribers—are occurring at a slightly increased rate, according to a new study from ABI Research, which has increased its previous estimates by 15 percent. The firm expects nearly 950 deployments to be completed by the end of 2013. But the reasons for deploying them, and the roles they are expected to play, are changing.

"In the beginning, SDPs were considered to fall under the umbrella of IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem)," says ABI Research Vice President Stuart Carlaw. "As IMS went, so went SDP. Because IMS has not quickly delivered the multimedia services it was designed for, and is a very expensive and complicated technology, many vendors are saying 'We have to have IMS eventually. But we have a pressing need for some of its functionality right now'."

So SDP is increasingly seen as an interim, pre-IMS solution that can deliver some of its multimedia services immediately at a fraction of the cost. The result: a less expensive bill of materials, and the ability to do more with a smaller budget.

"Using SDP, operators can offer a seamless mix of very cool applications that blend voice, video and data," adds Nadine Manjaro, senior analyst. "But the research revealed that many of the applications currently being deployed via SDP are not new or converged: they are messaging, music downloads, and other legacy applications. Operators can and should be bolder in their vision of what SDP can do for them and their subscribers."

Click here for more information on ABI Research