'The market for SIP-based elements could grow to over $3 billion in 2007'

Ulticom, a leading provider of signaling software for wireless, wireline and Internet communications, has successfully integrated Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) on to its Signalware software. Signalware has been successfully deployed by over 300 service providers in more than 100 countries. VOICE&DATA talked to
Osman Duman, VP-marketing, Ulticom on the new VoIP protocol. 

While SIP is being incorporated into IP phones, IP PBXs and desktop software applications, why are telcos reluctant to implement it as the signaling protocol for VoIP?

SIP signaling will be initially used to offer new services at the edge of the network. We see ISPs and service providers focused on VoIP services developing IP-islands using SIP as the core signaling protocol. Traditional network operators, on the other hand, have made significant investments in circuit-based voice networks. They will first migrate their core SS7 signaling to utilize IP-based transport using SIGTRAN so as to lower cost and add signaling capacity in a flexible manner.

Osman Duman

VP-marketing, Ulticom

When SIP usage reaches a critical mass, it will prompt traditional network providers to offer peer-to-peer (P2P) SIP signaling and gateway services more
aggressively. 

How is ITU’s insistence to continue having H.323 as the signaling protocol for VoIP going to affect the IETF-developed SIP’s roadmap?

SIP has significant advantages over H.323 in terms of scalability and flexibility. Most current H.323 vendors are incorporating SIP into their product plans. Ulticom’s customers have expressed interest in developing H.323 to SIP inter-working gateways and Session Controllers that provide interoperability for service providers and enterprise users during the migration to SIP-based solutions. SIP has considerable support not only within the IETF community but also in 3G wireless and Packet Cable standards bodies and is likely to become the de-facto signaling standard for next generation multimedia services. 

Should service providers considering VoIP services go in for products that also support SIP or products based on SIP? 

We believe that the VoIP network coverage will grow over time. Adoption of VoIP will require end-to-end connections to traverse both circuit and packet networks for several more years. Products that are based on SIP will be utilized only in niche applications like P2P VoIP islands around a core SIP-based IP network. One could start with products that support both SS7 signaling and SIP. SIP is likely to become dominant once multimedia services become ubiquitous.

How big is the SIP solutions-provider market now? What is Ulticom’s market share in carrier-grade SIP solutions and who are your main customers?

Some SIP products claim to be carrier-grade but only use the Internet model for providing high availability, which is not enough to build reliable and mission-critical communication services. Ulticom’s Signalware is the only product in the market today that provides carrier-grade features out-of-the-box.  

The market opportunity for carrier-grade SIP solutions in the network is closely tied to the evolution from circuit- to packet-technologies. As islands of packet-based networks grow, so does the need for carrier-grade SIP 

signaling. 

At this point, the market for SIP is nascent and very fragmented with no clear leaders. Internal R&D teams in lab settings are doing much of the SIP development work. To get a better grasp of the potential for SIP, we must look at the equipment that will use SIP as a signaling protocol to enable services. The next generation signaling equipment used in this migration was roughly $300 million in 2002.  However, analysts predict that the market opportunity for SIP-based elements could grow to over $3 billion in 2007.

Where does SIP figure in India? What plans do you have for India?

The deregulation of the telecom market and the increased adoption of wireless and IP services provide great opportunity for SIP in India–as service providers begin to offer 3G services, differentiate their service offerings and leverage IP networks to offer intelligent network services.

India is a very important market for Ulticom. Apart from providing signaling solutions, Ulticom is working with a number of system integrators in India to incorporate Ulticom’s Signalware into the solutions that they are developing. We will continue to invest resources to increase our market share and deployments in India.

Nareshchandra Laishram