Verizon says its A-IMS, or "Advance to IMS," deployment will plug some holes that IMS leaves open. The carrier worked with Cisco, Lucent, Motorola, Nortel and Qualcomm to develop A-IMS, which the group claims will take a comprehensive, network-wide approach to security, treat SIP- and non-SIP-based applications equally and provide end-to-end management for VoIP apps. As some industry pundits have pointed out, however, these various features are somewhat contradictory. A-IMS enables wVoIP, but also allows the carrier to continue running its non-SIP-based (read cellular) phone services, too (the more expensive ones.) So, an IMS infrastructure won't compel Verizon to switch to VoIP until it's good and ready, or ever.

For more on A-IMS and Verizon:
- see this smart commentary from voip-news

And if you want learn more about IMS and wVoIP:
- register for our IMS Executive Summit (use the code "LUNA" for $200 off)
- and attend our wVoIP Executive Summit in November