Quality of Service (QoS)

When defending the case for IMS, QoS is often mentioned. When defending the case against IMS, namely that the Internet already exists (so why bother with IMS?) QoS is brushed aside as a marginal benefit. One dismissal of QoS is based on the "good enough" argument, which claims that fat pipes abound means that QoS is almost a non issue, or an unnecessary expense and complication over and above just fattening the pipes.

If we all lived in the USA, or other select locations, perhaps fat pipes everywhere means that QoS really is marginal. But, we don't all live in network utopia - not yet, anyway. When I Google-Talk to my brother in the UK (from the UK), the service is fantastic. When I Google-Talked today to someone in Asia, the service was patchy. According to a colleague well versed in inter-operator connectivity in Europe (which includes all those newly adopted Eastern nations), the "good enough" connection argument doesn't hold, never mind parts of Asia and most of Africa. It seems that until the planet is illuminated by giga fibre everywhere, QoS matters. Admittedly, that isn't a convincing argument for IMS, but it is a benefit.

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