The total next generation network (NGN) voice and IP
multimedia subsystem (IMS) core market contracted 20 percent sequentially in Q3
2011 to $1.5 billion.

The significant decrease is due in part by seasonal
weakness, delays in capital spending, some of which will boost Q4 2011, and
volatility in the IMS Core market, according to Exact Ventures.

“The SBC market continues to experience strong
growth and to attract investment.  Metaswitch recently entered the market
with its new Perimeta product line and Avaya acquired security and E-SBC vendor
Sipera to bolster its Aura unified communications portfolio and specifically
its SIP Trunking solutions,” said Greg Collins, founder and principal
analyst at research firm Exact Ventures. 

Business VoIP continued to fuel the growth categories in
the wireline voice core market as enterprise session border controller (E-SBC)
and voice application server (VAS) sales partially offset declines in other
wireline voice core product categories.

“Such investment is likely to continue, as VoIP
services still comprise less than one quarter of fixed lines and a negligible
amount of wireless lines. As the transition to VoIP continues, so will the
growth of the SBC and VAS market segments,” Collins added.

Despite contracting on a sequential basis, the IMS core
equipment market was up year-over-year.  Market growth is forecast to
accelerate in 2012 as IMS continues to gradually displace NGN voice equipment
and as voice-over-LTE deployments begin to boost the market.

By Telecomlead.com Team
[email protected]