VoLTEAn updated report from the GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) published this month confirms 61 mobile networks in countries have launched HD voice services in 45 countries. The number of mobile networks supporting HD voice is 55{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} higher than a year ago.
HD voice services are now commercially launched on mobile networks in Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Rep., Denmark, Dominican Rep., Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mauritius, Moldova, Netherlands, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Uganda, UK, and the USA.
Mobile HD voice uses Adaptive Multi Rate Wideband (W-AMR) technology, enabling high-quality voice calls in supporting mobile networks and an improved user experience. It provides significantly higher voice quality for calls between mobile phones supporting the feature, and is market reality on many GSM, WCDMA-HSPA, and LTE networks.
HD Voice service is offered by competing mobile operators in 12 markets – Austria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Poland, Russia, Slo venia, South Korea, Switzerland, Turkey and UK. HD voice calling between users on different networks in-country is expected to become more common in 2013. International HD voice calling has been introduced between users in some different countries and will be another trend in coming months. Most operators deliver HD voice service using their WCDMA-HSPA networks, with some using GSM systems. HD voice using W-AMR technology is also being commercially offered on some LTE networks (VoLTE). Several operators in most regions of the world are also preparing to introduce VoLTE with HD voice service.
Alan Hadden, President of GSA, said: The number of countries where HD voice is commercially available on mobile networks has grown 45{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} in under a year. Some operators reported 10 times the number of HD voice calls are currently being initiated compared to a year ago. Given that users need to be calling another HD voice device it shows how penetration is building towards a crit ical mass. To continue the market development, all smartphones need to ship with W-AMR activated by default.
GSA reported in October 2012 that 127 HD voice phones had been announced by 14 manufacturers, including the most popular brands and products.
It is exciting to see so many operators using HD voice to offer their subscribers high quality voice services, said Jan Derksen, Head of Technical Marketing at Business Unit Networks at Ericsson. With the major components for HD voice in place, including devices and network support, we can expect many more networks to be launching HD voice services in the near future.
There is a strong business case for Mobile HD Voice. Customers make more, or longer, calls with HD Voice, and highly value the service. HD Voice helps operators to clearly differentiate their offerings and enable high quality services to voice dependent business like call center services, information services, emergency services, etc. HD Voice is also ideal for conference calls and can contribute to a reduction in business travel and raise productivity while reducing the environmental impact. Calls which are easier to hear and understand reduce the fatigue typically associated with long conference calls.
