Europe / ASIA : Ericsson customer Softbank Mobile Corp in Japan has launched the world's first live IMS network over 3G, powered by Ericsson's IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) solution. IMS allows the operator to launch new exciting 3G services on the demanding Japanese market.

Softbank Mobile launched its new IMS-based services on November 23. The end-to-end IMS system has been supplied solely by Ericsson. Services include Circle Talk (push-to-talk) and HotStatus (presence, group list management). Under the contract, announced earlier this year, Ericsson has provided all the infrastructure, system integration and support services.

Rory Buckley ( inset ), head of Ericsson North East Asia and president of Ericsson Japan, says: "Japan is one of the most demanding markets in the world and the contract is strategically very important for us. Softbank has both fixed and mobile content and access networks and is an ideal IMS user. This introduction of IMS in Softbank's mobile network will help the customer launch new services for quick market uptake."

Ericsson IMS is an end-to-end solution that gives operators immediate revenue opportunities when evolving to all-IP operations. It enables seamless access to a wide range of new multimedia services across both fixed and mobile networks. Ericsson's IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) includes a converged IMS core infrastructure, as well as application servers and service enablers for common functions that can be reused for multiple fixed and mobile applications.

Ericsson leads the IMS market with 28 IMS system contracts for commercial launch and 60 additional trials distributed around the world.

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