Just when you thought IMS had dropped off the map, Spanish carrier Telefonica has tapped Chinese vendor Huawei to deliver a Service Delivery Platform (SDP) for its Latin American operations.

The SDP platform, to be commercially launched during the first half of 2009, allows Telefonica to deliver value added services and eases the process of implementing new services such as universal email, mobile newspapers, 3G messaging systems or mobile advertising.

The SDP also opens up the possibility of offering converged services, for both fixed and mobile networks, as well as for residential and enterprise markets.

The carrier reckons it will greatly reduce time-to-market; operational expenditure (OPEX) and capital investments (CAPEX) related costs.

Under the agreement, Huawei will provide a service oriented architecture (SOA) based centralised SDP solution to serve whole of Latin America, including 13 countries. This platform can then be leveraged by third parties to develop new services and implement them faster.

“This platform allows us to integrate a seamless range of services for different networks and countries, so we can continue leading innovation for the mobile market throughout the Latin American region”, said Luis Miguel Gilperez, director of mobile business, at Telefonica Latin America.