Alcatel-Lucent has captured the leading position in the VoIP and IMS equipment revenue market in the first quarter of 2014, ahead of Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia and Genband, said Infonetics Research.

The growth of Alcatel-Lucent was primarily due to growth of core IMS and voice application server revenue, particularly in North America.

Infonetics Research noted that voice over LTE (VoLTE) is positively impacting the service provider VoIP and IMS equipment market.

“The service provider VoIP and IMS equipment market will slow this year as operators commercially launch services and draw down capacity built over the past year,” said Diane Myers, principal analyst for VoIP, UC, and IMS at Infonetics Research.

The telecom industry has seen AT&T, PCCW/HKT, and other mobile operators launch VoLTE services, and NTT DoCoMo is set to do so in June.

There will be additional launches in 2014 by large and small providers alike that will hit the bottom line, but mobile does not completely dominate the picture. Spending on Class 5 replacement and voice over broadband (VoBB) and SIP trunking expansion will continue.

Infonetics Research said the service provider VoIP and IMS equipment revenue rose 37 percent to $992 million in Q1 2014, but a sequential decline of 9 percent is alarming the industry.

Most segments were down on a sequential basis following a strong Q4 2013.

The report said the core IMS and voice application server segment posted the strongest growth in Q1 2014, continuing to be driven by VoLTE activity in the large North American and Asian markets.

All regions grew with Asia Pacific and North America forming the foundation for the IMS rise due to activity from mobile operators.

Baburajan K