I was at a NORTEL roadshow last week on IMS. It looks like all carriers are going to adopt IMS into their core network, where the main feature is indeed the ability to have the network reach right into the application layer, and police the packets. More details: http://jules.squarespace.com/tech-whisperer/2006/5/9/ims-the-fruits-of-the-devil.html cheers, jules