MOBILE WEB 2.0 AND IMS - Finding the common ground
Ajit Jaokar examines the synergies between Mobile Web 2.0 and IMS, defining the 
terms, and exploring how these two concepts complement each other
At first glance, Mobile Web 2.0 and IMS have no synergies. After all, they operate at different layers of the stack - Mobile Web 2.0 is at the Web/services layer, and IMS is a networking paradigm.
However, market forces have conspired to bring these two ideas together because many IMS services can be implemented on the web (often for free). In a nutshell, the telecoms industry cannot ignore the web. It must instead think of how it can add value to the web and identify elements that can be uniquely implemented in the core of the network (and not the edge).
Web 2.0 and Mobile Web 2.0
Since Mobile Web 2.0 extends the meme of Web 2.0 - it is necessary to understand Web 2.0 before we explore Mobile Web 2.0. In spite of all the hype, the distinguishing characteristic of Web 2.0 lies in its use of the web as a platform. If we now extend this idea to mobile devices, then at a minimum, a Mobile Web 2.0 service must use the web as a backbone.
On first impressions, Mobile Web 2.0 is simple enough. However it's implications are profound, as we shall see below.
The first implication is: The web is the dominant player and not telecoms. This is not a comforting factor for many in the telecoms industry. Yet we, as users, accept these ideas. Even the youth today are spending more time on the web and less on mobile devices (for instance with applications such as Facebook). In addition, the web is 'free' - which is immediately adds to suspicion from the telecoms side
Secondly - in a Mobile Web 2.0 scenario, the device and the service become more important than the network itself. This is a natural by-product of the intelligence shifting to the edge of the network.
In addition, we have the 'deep blue sea problem'. If we end up capturing content from a phone and uploading it on the 'deep blue sea' of sites like Flickr - then the unique mobile advantage is lost (ie once the content is on the web, it can be treated as any other piece of content). Hence there is a need to consider the question of 'uniqueness of mobile' when it comes to interacting with the web.
It is against this backdrop that we explore IMS - ie we are exploring what IMS can add to a service that can be uniquely performed by the network
IMS
IMS brings IP (Internet Protocol) to the telecoms world. A complete definition of IMS is outside the scope of this article - however the Wikipedia entry on IMS gives a good introduction. IP traditionally implies dumb pipes and smart nodes (aka net neutrality principles - all packets are created equal and intelligence shifts to the edge of the network). However, although IMS is IP based, it is philosophically opposite to the principles of net neutrality since it seeks to make the network intelligent.
On one hand, thinking of IMS applications is a bit like thinking of 3G applications. Every application will be a 3G application but in most cases, the bearer does not matter. Consequently, if you flip this argument, then an ‘IMS application' needs to be an application that will make use of the (bearer) telecoms network itself.
So can such applications be possible?
In theory - yes.
In itself, making the network intelligent is not such a big issue. Consider delay tolerant networks - which are used in military and space applications. In that case, all packets are not created equal especially when operating in hostile environments.
The real question is - are all packets created commercially equal?
Hence, the question spans more than the technical remit and is directly tied to business models and can be reframed as: Will people pay for applications with differential charging and differential QOS?
If such applications may be found and/or they add value uniquely from the network core - then they would be 'IMS' applications in the true sense of the word (otherwise they are likely to be implemented by the web/application layer itself and are likely to be free).
The context within which IMS operates cannot be ignored as well. The Internet and the web are dominant. They are options for most IMS applications. The Internet and the web are global and they are free. That does not help for IMS applications.
So, IMS applications must:
a) Uniquely leverage the network
b) For an operator - and let's face it, IMS is mainly driven by operators - be chargeable to the end user and
c) Must take the Internet into account - ie competing against the Internet else it will not work.
One key observation is: The web is global. IMS is national at best - and in most cases sub-national in coverage (more than one operator within a country). Also, end-to-end IMS connectivity issues are still not solved - and that hampers many IMS applications.
IMS applications
Is there an example of an IMS application?
Consider the case of ‘Mobile Multimedia Twitter'. Twitter is popular microblogging service .. and according to Wikipedia:
"Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send ‘updates' (or ‘tweets'- text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter website, via short message service, instant messaging, or a third-party application such as Twitterrific. Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and instantly delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them. The sender can restrict delivery to those in his or her circle of friends (delivery to everyone is the default). Users can receive updates via the Twitter website, instant messaging, SMS, RSS, e-mail or through an application."
The idea of a media rich twitter is not new and, indeed, there are some services already in existence, and, of course, Twitter itself is already 'mobile' in the sense that you can get updates via SMS.
However, to take the idea of video twitter to mobile devices, would be a complex proposition, and would need optimisation of the network (hence an IMS
application).
The idea of mobile video twitter could combine a number of different ideas - most of which we know already:
a) Twitter itself, ie short updates
b) Video
c) Maybe presence
d) Maybe location
e) Maybe push to talk
f) Client side optimisation
However, most importantly - it will need the mobile network to be optimised. Push to Talk (PTT) has been around for a long time - it's biggest proponent being Nextel. However, PTT has not taken off in most places in the world - partly because it needs the network to be optimised - and in most places, you end up delivering voice over the non optimised GPRS network, which is not really feasible from a performance and user experience standpoint, as we can see from the experience of Orange which attempted to launch PTT back in 2004 without much success.
However, the networks themselves have come a long way since that time, and indeed, one of the most common questions we see today is ‘Where are the IMS applications?' - which translates to ‘Where are applications that can uniquely use the network?' The service will need client side optimisation as well as network side optimisation if it is to be truly useful and friction free to the end user. From an end user perspective, we can view it almost like ‘video push to talk'. I have been sceptical of the idea of end to end (person to person) IMS, and I don't think person-to-person mobile video twitter will work (yet). However, a web terminated service can certainly work.
Interestingly, it is one of the very few services I have seen where an operator can have a competitive advantage over a similar web application (because the service needs both device side optimisation and network side optimisation)
Many IMS services can be implemented by Web 2.0 (often for free). However, as we have seen above - not all IMS services can be implemented by Web 2.0. To identify truly unique IMS services, it is necessary to leverage those tasks that can be uniquely performed by the network.
Ajit Jaokar is the founder and CEO of the publishing company futuretext. He believes in a pragmatic but open mobile data industry - a vision which he fosters through his blog OpenGardens. Ajit is the co-author of the book 'Mobile web 2.0' . He chairs Oxford University's Next Generation Mobile Applications Panel (ForumOxford) and conducts courses on Web 2.0 and User Generated Content at Oxford University. He is currently doing a PhD on Identity and Reputation systems at UCL in London
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