Ericsson and VoLTE. Update.

Information from MWC2013.

See also VoLTE and VoLTE news

Tele2 is the first operator in Europe with VoLTE

Tele2 is the first operator in Europe successfully implemented voice over LTE (volte) test calls in Tele2 deployed Swedish LTE network. The talks in the IP-based LTE network showed a much better voice experience compared to 2G and 3G networks. The talks in the IP-based LTE network showed a much better voice experience compared to 2G and 3G networks.

VoLTE uses twice as much battery as a current 2G call

The report came from wireless testing and measurement vendor Spirent Communications, which was acquired by Metrico Wireless in September.

A 10 minute call used 680 milliwatts (mW) on CDMA an 1358 mW on VoLTE. Spirent estimated that on a full charge, and with all other data communications turned off, its test smartphone could deliver 502.6 minutes of talk time using CDMA, but only 251.8 minutes of talk time using VoLTE.

Test network was not named, but it is MetroPCS for sure.

//examiner.com

ZTE trials VoLTE call service

Chinese vendor ZTE is trialling a commercial VoLTE call service in Hong Kong.

The trial uses enhanced single radio voice call continuity (eSRVCC), a voice solution that enables higher quality voice calls while the network is upgrading to LTE and provides end-to-end QoS assurance, the company said. //telecoms.com

eSRVCC: Voice over LTE now ‘ready for widespread commercial deployment’

The path to all-LTE networks just got cleared up a bit. After Qualcomm and Ericsson announced the handover of a voice call from the ’4G’ standard to 3G back in February, Huawei and T-Mobile Austria – and Qualcomm again – have revealed a much smoother transition that should actually lead to commercial deployment this time.

Why is this important? Because LTE has only seen a patchy deployment so far. The networks know how to do all-IP Voice over LTE (VoLTE), but that’s of limited use if the call dies as soon as the user steps out of LTE coverage. VoLTE only makes sense if the users can continue the call while switching between network types, without noticing.

It’s a virtuous circle. Once VoLTE becomes viable for operators, phone manufacturers can start building their phones around it. Gradually, they will be able to stop putting 2G and even 3G voice capabilities into their handsets, which will make it viable for operators to turn off those old technologies and reuse the spectrum for 4G.

And it’s the smoothness of the handover that’s crucial here. The demonstration back in February used a technology called Single Radio Voice Call Continuity (SRVCC), and involved a pause of more than a second while the call was handed over. This time we’re talking the enhanced version of that tech – eSRVCC – and the pause is less than 300 ms. 

read more //gigaom.com 

Will voice-over-LTE become a casualty of the T-Mobile-MetroPCS merger?

MetroPCS is the most aggressive operator in the country when it comes to VoLTE, but its proposed merger with T-Mobile might put its rollout of mobile VoIP on hold. If the merger passes, the combined T-Metro would no longer face the same capacity constraints.  //gigaom.com 

T-Mobile/MetroPCS merger could spur VoLTE innovation

"We will increase our contiguous spectrum for LTE by 40 percent by the end of 2013," said T-Mobile CEO John Legere

MetroPCS launched VoLTE service this summer in the Dallas-Ft. Worth market and last month pledged to have VoLTE in all 14 of its LTE markets within the next six months.

"I think it's going to be cool for T-Mobile to add exposure to VoLTE," said Kissel. "Obviously as T-Mobile starts to make its network optimization, this is going to be a good thing."

//fiercebroadbandwireless.com/ 

VoLTE billing architecture explained

Charging can be based on

• Duration Based Charging
• Event based charging
• Volume based charging

//lteconference.wordpress.com

VP product management, MetroPCS: “With RCS users will have a unified way to connect in real-time”

Solyman Ashrafi is vice president of product management at MetroPCS and is on the LTE North America advisory board. He is speaking on the Voice over LTE track on Day Two of the LTE North America 2012 conference, taking place on the 14-15th November 2012 at the Fairmont Dallas Hotel, Texas. Ahead of the conference we speak to him about where MetroPCS is with its VoLTE deployment and what the challenges it expects to face in the future.

What have been the main developments for you over the last 12 months with regards to LTE?

In early August MetroPCS reached another innovation milestone by announcing the world’s first commercial launch of Voice over LTE (VoLTE) services, the availability of the world’s first VoLTE-capable handsets, and the first sale of a VoLTE-capable handset.

The addition of VoLTE capabilities to MetroPCS’ 4G LTE handsets is transparent to consumers as they continue to enjoy all the voice and 4G LTE data services with which they are already familiar. Calls to and from the handset will use VoLTE, regardless of the handset or network used on the other end of the call. //telecoms.com

LG U+ launches Voice over LTE services with Ericsson

LG U+ users in South Korea get access to voice over LTE (VoLTE) services. This is thanks to a decision made by South Korean operator LG U+, in partnership with Ericsson's majority-owned subsidiary LG-Ericsson, to make subscribers in South Korea benefit from commercial VoLTE (GSMA IR.92) services. 

The demand for LTE data services in South Korea has increased rapidly ever since LG U+ became the first operator in the country to launch LTE commercially on July 1, 2011. As of August 2012, LG U+ has confirmed that LGU+ is the second largest LTE provider in South Korea, serving 3.1 million of LTE subscribers. 

\\reuters.com

IGR Study Discussed the potential of VoLTE

VoLTE Promises to Significantly Lower Voice Infrastructure Costs and Improve Both Voice Quality and the Overall Customer Experience.

iGR believes that VoLTE is very important to LTE operators as it enables them to eventually terminate their legacy, circuit-switched voice 2G/3G network infrastructure in favor of consolidating voice traffic on the all-IP LTE network platform.

This promises to significantly lower voice infrastructure costs and improve both voice quality and the overall customer experience. In addition, VoLTE allows voice service to be integrated into other applications and content, such as games and social networking apps.

"However, the path to VoLTE is likely to be challenging for all parties. It will not be until much later this decade that the majority of U.S. voice traffic is on VoLTE and not traditional circuit connections", Iain Gillott, president and founder of iGR.

\\virtual-strategy.com

Is it right time to wrap up voice into LTE data packages?

Wireless carriers are in no rush of folding their voice services into their LTE data packages ignoring fact that ARPU go up as a result of deploying LTE as their data technology. More of it, Infonetics says that roughly one-third of carriers survayed said thay "plan to use their 2G/3G networks for voice services as long as possible".  \\bgr.com

Voice over LTE Infrastructure Revenues Topped $200 Million in the Past Year

Overall Carrier Voice Market was $1.5 Billion in the Second Quarter 

Redwood City, Calif. – August 17, 2012 –Dell’Oro Group, the trusted source for market information about the networking and telecommunications industries, announced today significant growth is being driven by Voice Over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) projects. VoLTE-related spending over the past four quarters now exceeds $200 million on devices such as IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Core devices and Telephony Application Servers. The $1.5 billion carrier voice market, on the other hand, is experiencing challenges as service providers evaluate this new infrastructure architecture and as the number of new voice subscribers slows.

“The most important trend underway in the telecom voice market is VoLTE. It is stimulating significant spending both in the wireless infrastructure, but also in the wireline infrastructure.“ said Chris DePuy, Analyst at Dell’Oro Group. “In the third quarter 2012, we now have three operators commercially operating VoLTE services. The success of these services will very likely influence the continued adoption of VoLTE by other operators“ continued DePuy.

In addition, there has been a pause in spending on hot-selling devices such as Session Border Controllers and wireline Voice Application Servers, which together experienced a 3% annual decline. This deceleration is most directly related to low adoption rates of SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) Trunking, an affordable business-class telephony service, in regions outside the United States. Bucking the declining trend are Alcatel-Lucent, Broadsoft, Metaswitch, and Sonus Networks. 

\\delloro.com

LTE Telephony Finally off the Ground, but Take-up Will Be Slow

Some opinions about the nearest future of VoLTE in the real world from Mikael Richnäs, IDG News. \\pcworld.com

MetroPCS lights up Voice over LTE (VoLTE)

MetroPCS (USA) has officially launched its VoLTE services, as well as SK Telecom (S.Korea). Customers in Dallas/Fort Worth has possibility to buy LG Connect 4G VoLTE-capable phone.

\\engadget.com

SK Telecom deploys VoLTE - world first!

SK Telecom launches VoLTE today. World first! Sprint plan VoLTE before 2012 end. South Korean company prefer to use HD Voice name for the new service. HD Voice over LTE is meant to vastly improve call quality and reduce latency for the customers, while lessening network strain and offering new revenue-making opportunities for SK Telecom.

HD Voice means 50-7000 Hz bandwidth instead of 300-2400 Hz like in GSM/3G.

Who can use it? At the moment only users of Samsung Galaxy S3, with software that enables HD Voice capability.

Worldwide, Infonetics expects Voice over LTE to gain 300,000 subscribers by year's end.

\\engadget.com  \\arstechnica.com

SK Telecom showcases VoLTE on Island

SK Telecom took team of journalists and photographers to the remote island of Baekyeong (near border between South and North Korea). There they saw a number of locals test voice and video calls on LTE-enabled handsets provided by the carrier. And the quality of communication seemed to range between solid and exceptional!

SK Telecom officials claim VoLTE will provide enough of value-added experience that customers will be glad to pay for. SK Telecom branded its VoLTE offerings as "HD Voice". Compared to the existing 3G voice calls, it offers up to 2.2 times better sound quality and a twice faster call connection speed, requiring less than 0.3-2.5 seconds in call connecting time. \koreatimes.co.kr

VoLTE - what it promise to You

Voice over LTE - what does it mean for you? Basic level explanations in PCWorld's article. What is VoLTE? Why is VoLTE necessary? When will VoLTE start to show up? and so on. \pcworld.com

VoLTE is a service to make and recieve voice calls though LTE network. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and MetroPCS will support VoLTE soon (until the end of 2013 I assume) and a lot of operators worldwide. VoLTE probably will put to end "minuts of talk" paradigma, so be prepared!