SBC on Tuesday followed sister company Cingular Wireless in announcing that it will deploy a next-generation network architecture from Lucent.

Both SBC and its cellular affiliate will deploy IMSes (IP Multimedia Subsystems) from Lucent. The IMS will help SBC roll out new services that customers can use on both wired and wireless devices, the carrier said in a press release Tuesday. The carrier, one of the largest U.S. providers of telephone and broadband service, expects to being offering services made possible by the IMS in late 2006 or early 2007.

IMS is an architecture that defines how an IP network should handle voice calls and data sessions. It essentially takes the place of the control infrastructure in a traditional circuit-switched phone network, but it separates services from the networks that carry them. As a result, services can reside on central application servers and be delivered over any type of connection. IMS is based on open standards and has been embraced by several wired and wireless telecommunications organizations around the world.

With the Lucent IMS, SBC plans to deliver voice, video and data services to its customers anytime, anywhere, according to the carrier. Among other things, SBC will use the IMS to implement a managed consumer VoIP service, it said.

Cingular, the nation's largest mobile operator, is a joint venture of SBC and BellSouth and is 60% owned by SBC. Cingular and SBC will implement their IMSes separately, but the fact that they are both using Lucent will enhance their opportunities to give users a seamless wireless and wireline experience, according to SBC.

On Monday, Cingular said it had awarded Lucent a four-year agreement to build an IMS. Under the agreement, Lucent will provide components of its Accelerate Next Generation Communications Solutions portfolio and the Lucent Technologies Bell Labs Service Enhancement Layer, a set of software elements developed by Lucent's Bell Labs division. Lucent Worldwide Services will help Cingular with deployment and integration of the infrastructure, including multivendor integration and technical support services, the companies said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.